Bayfield Republican Hope Scheppelman, a former vice chair of the Colorado GOP, announced on Monday that she’s mounting a primary challenge from the party’s “MAGA wing” against first-term U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in the state’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District.

Calling the incumbent a “liberal Republican” beholden to the party’s “donor class,” Scheppelman said in a campaign video that she’s running “to stand up to the Koch funding machine trying to hijack our party again,” referring to the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity political network, which spent heavily to back Hurd in last year’s GOP primary.

“Jeff Hurd and his fake conservative puppet masters at ‘Americans for Chinese Prosperity’, the so-called AFP, tricked and lied to CD3 voters last year but they can’t deceive us any longer now that he’s exposed himself as just another liberal elitist who is dead set against President Trump and the millions of MAGA citizens like me who demand that Congress does the will of voters,” Scheppelman said in a statement.

“When the people of CD3 learn what Jeff Hurd has really been up to in DC, I know they will choose a real conservative who will fight for them and our real-world local interests, not the sold-out liberal elitists in BOTH parties who are thrilled with Hurd’s betrayal of our common sense values,” she added.

The Republican-leaning 3rd District covers most of Colorado’s Western Western Slope and part of Southern Colorado, including Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley.

Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney and first-time candidate, won the the seat last year by about 5 points over Democratic nominee Adam Frisch after Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert left it open when she moved across the state to run for a third term in the safer 4th Congressional District.

Two Democrats — political newcomers Alex Kelloff and Kyle Doster — have so far announced campaigns in the district, which is classified as a “likely Republican” hold by the Cook Political Report

In her announcement, Scheppelman cited Hurd’s “anti-conservative voting record, deceptive rhetoric to locals, opposition to President Trump and disdain for the MAGA wing of the Republican Party” as reasons for running. She didn’t respond to an inquiry from Colorado Politics, however, asking for examples of Hurd’s purported offenses.

While Hurd has routinely voted with GOP leadership on the House floor since taking office in January, he has occasionally expressed reservations about some of the Trump administration’s activities, including pardoning the Jan. 6 rioters. Hurd also sponsored bipartisan legislation this spring to rein in Trump’s ability to levy tariffs unilaterally without congressional authorization, citing a constitutional requirement that Congress sets tariffs.

A spokesman for Hurd’s campaign said Scheppelman’s complaints are misguided.

“Congressman Hurd is focused on delivering for the 3rd Congressional District, Colorado and America,” Hurd staffer Nick Bayer said in a text message. “He is proud to have played a role with President Trump in helping secure our border, unleash Colorado energy and extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs act.”

Last year, when she held the state GOP’s No. 2 position, Scheppelman attacked Hurd during the Republican primary and threw her support behind former state Rep. Ron Hanks, who was endorsed by the state party.

Scheppelman drew criticism in the week before the primary for posting one of Frisch’s campaign commercials online without including the ad’s disclaimer stating that it was paid for by Hurd’s Democratic opponent. She told Colorado Politics that she publicly apologized for what she characterized as “an honest mistake” and reposted the complete ad after learning it had been edited.

A Navy veteran and critical care nurse practitioner, Scheppelman lost a bid in March for a second term as state party vice chair. While serving in that position last summer, Scheppelman landed in headlines when she convened and immediately adjourned a meeting of the Republicans’ state central committee under a bridge in a public park in Bayfield, in the Southwest corner of the state, during a months-long struggle for control of the party that resulted in competing party meetings and multiple lawsuits, including one that’s ongoing.

Scheppelman said she plans to run a grassroots campaign in an effort to counter “massive spending against her to deceive voters in the media.”

Former state party treasurer Tom Bjorklund said in a statement released by Scheppelman’s campaign that he’s supporting her bid to take the party from “corrupted insiders.”

“With Jeff Hurd, there is no hope of returning the Republican Party to the ideals of Lincoln, Reagan, and Trump,” Bjorklund said. “But with Hope Scheppelman, we have great hope that the will of the American people will finally be put first and the betrayal of corrupted insiders will be exposed.”

Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib told Colorado Politics that Republican primary voters will have an unenviable choice between the two candidates.

“Jeff Hurd made two key mistakes. First, he committed a Republican sin by opposing Trump’s pardons of criminals who attacked police officers,” Murib said in a text message. “Then, he voted to strip his district of healthcare funding and food assistance to fund tax cuts for billionaires and introduced a bill to sell Colorado public lands.”

Added Murib: “Jeff Hurd stands for no one but Jeff Hurd. It’s surprising to think there’s someone out there who looks at his record and says, ‘I can do worse.’”