Republican congressional candidate Jeff Hurd hits the road to talk health care in a TV ad his campaign released Wednesday in Colorado’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District.

“I remember when mom got really sick with cancer, we had to travel out of state for help,” says Hurd as he navigates a wide-open highway from behind the wheel of a pickup truck in the 30-second spot. “Today, some Coloradans have to travel for hours for even the most basic care. We can do better.”

Adds Hurd: “I’ll make expanding health care access for rural Colorado a top priority. Protect Social Security and Medicare. I’ll always remember who I’m fighting for.”

Larger than Connecticut, Colorado’s sparsely populated 3rd CD covers most of the Western Slope, Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley. While the state saw its share of those without health coverage fall to historic lows last year, the Colorado Health Institute’s biennial Colorado Health Access Survey found that the Western Slope again had the highest rate of uninsured residents.

Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney and first-time candidate, is running against Democrat Adam Frisch for the seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who narrowly defeated Frisch two years ago and is seeking reelection in a safer district.

“Health care in rural Colorado is an extreme challenge. I know this first hand,” Hurd said Wednesday in a fundraising email that linked to the new ad, the first his campaign has aired for the general election. “We MUST do better for the citizens of the 3rd CD and we CAN.”

Hurd’s campaign is spending “six figures” to run the Republican’s ad on broadcast, cable, streaming and digital platforms, a spokesman told Colorado Politics.

Frisch, who reserved roughly $2.5 million worth of fall TV advertising over the summer, has been blanketing the same platforms with a series of ads for nearly a month.

The Frisch campaign panned Hurd’s new ad in a statement to Colorado Politics.

“After skipping nearly all of his primary debates, hiding from voters, and spending his time attending fundraisers with wealthy special interest donors and extreme politicians like Lauren Boebert and Jim Jordan, it’s nice to see Jeff Hurd finally hitting the road in CD3,” Hurd spokesman Andy Bixler said in a text message.

Although he challenged Boebert in the GOP primary last year before the incumbent moved across the state into the 4th Congressional District, Hurd has recently turned to his former rival for fundraising help. In early September, Jordan, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, appeared at a reception in Englewood for Hurd and other Colorado Republicans after headlining an earlier fundraiser for Boebert.

The largely rural 3rd CD is rated as a likely GOP hold by national election forecasters at Cook Political Report, who note that Republican Donald Trump is likely to carry the seat’s electorate by a sizable margin.

Mail ballots start going out to most Colorado voters in just over three weeks. They’re due back to county clerks by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.