Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo formally endorsed Republican Ron Hanks in the primary for Colorado’s open 3rd Congressional District seat on Friday, calling the former state lawmaker the “only battle-tested conservative with a record” in the race.

Hanks, a retired military intelligence officer, is one of six Republicans running in the GOP-leaning district, which has been represented for two terms by Republican Lauren Boebert, who is running in another district this year.

“Ron Hanks is the only candidate with a proven conservative record,” Tancredo said in a statement released by Hanks’ campaign. “As a Colorado legislator he fought the Democrat swamp and defended our constitutional principles. He served our country for 32 years and will protect the 3rd District from the federal takeover. Our water, land and western way of life are under attack.”

Added Tancredo: “We must have a REAL battle tested conservative in Washington, DC.”

Hanks represented Fremont and surrounding counties in the Colorado House of Representatives for one term, from 2021-2023, and made an unsuccessful run for the 2022 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. He launched his congressional campaign and moved to Mesa County days after Boebert announced she was switching to the 4th Congressional District earlier this year.

Tancredo briefly ran for president in 2008 in an attempt to steer the GOP toward the hardline immigration policies he championed during his five terms in Congress. Since then, he’s run for governor three times, including in 2010, when he ran on a third-party ticket and received more than three times as many votes as the Republican nominee. Following a stint in the General Assembly in the 1970s, Tancredo served as regional director for the U.S. Department of Education under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Hanks told Colorado Politics he was honored to receive Tancred endorsement.

“I am truly grateful for Rep Tancredo’s confidence in this grassroots campaign,” Hanks said in a text message. “We have a tremendous team reaching out to the voters in CD3, and they remember well Rep. Tancredo’s strong positions on the border. Tom Tancredo was MAGA before it was a movement, and I thank him for his years of service and his support.”

The 3rd CD covers most of the Western Slope and parts of Southern Colorado, including Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley. The other Republicans running in the June 25 primary are State Board of Education member Stephen Varela and first-time candidates Jeff Hurd, Russ Andrews, Curtis McCrackin and Lew Webb.

The winner of the Repubican primary will face Democrat Adam Frisch, who nearly unseated Boebert in the last election and is unopposed in his primary.

Hanks is the second Republican Tancredo has endorsed in the 3rd CD primary this cycle, after first backing Varela.

“I am moving my support to Ron Hanks for CD3 because he is clearly the most qualified to win the fight, to secure our border, and to stop the radical Biden Democrats from ruining our country,” said Tancredo, explaining why he was pulling his earlier endorsement from Varela.

A spokesman for Varela’s campaign told Colorado Politics that Tancredo had offered his support to Varela at one point but added that Varela’s campaign hadn’t made the endorsement public.

Tancredo’s recent endorsement track record is mixed at best.

While he was one of the first prominent Republicans to endorse Boebert in 2020, soon after she launched the primary challenge that unseated five-term U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, most of the candidates Tancredo has endorsed since haven’t gone on to win their primaries.

Ahead of the 2022 election, Tancredo endorsed Erik Aadland in the U.S. Senate primary and then endorsed Gino Campana after Aadland switched to run in the 7th Congressional District primary, where Tancredo had already endorsed Laurel Imer. He stuck with Imer, who lost the primary to Aadland, while Campana failed to make the primary ballot.

Tancredo also backed Dave Williams’ primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn in the 5th Congressional District and endorsed Lori Saine in a crowded primary for the new 8th Congressional District seat, but neither won the GOP nomination.

Earlier this cycle, Tancredo endorsed Ted Harvey in the 4th CD primary. After Harvey fell short of qualifying for the ballot, Tancredo announced he was instead endorsing Boebert for the seat.