The House Democrats’ campaign arm on Tuesday added U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District to its list of targeted seats held by Republicans as the party aims to flip control of the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Crank’s district among an expanded roster of 44 “districts in play,” the group’s designation for vulnerable GOP-held seats. It joins Colorado’s longstanding toss-up seat, the 8th Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans is seeking a second term after winning the election in 2024 by one of the closest margins in the country.

In its announcement, the DCCC said double-digit over-performance by Democratic candidates in special elections across the country in the last year points to a “path to victory” in the El Paso County-based 5th CD, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress in its more than 50-year history.

“The DCCC will make sure that come November, Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District elects a representative that finally puts them first,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, a Democratic House member from Washington, in a statement.

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said his counterparts at the DCCC are “stuck in political hallucination.”

“Rep. Jeff Crank is a proven winner who has humiliated Democrats in this ruby red district because he delivers commonsense results for Coloradans, and this November will be no different,” said Zach Bannon, an NRCC regional press secretary, in a text message.

While inclusion on the list doesn’t come with direct financial assistance off the bat, Democrats running in the targeted districts have access to the DCCC’s guidance and training for candidates and staff. The DCCC also set up fundraising pages this week to support the districts’ eventual nominees. In addition, the list serves as a signal to donors that the seats are considered in play, potentially drawing more campaign cash.

Crank, a former radio host and longtime political operative serving his second term, won election in 2024 by a nearly 14-point margin and ran almost 5 points ahead of Donald Trump’s 9-point margin in the district — both spreads outside what’s typically considered swing-district territory.

Crank’s margin, however, was the narrowest yet posted by a GOP nominee in the district and was less than half of the 31-point margin his predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, tallied eight years earlier. Over the same stretch, Trump’s margin dropped from 22 points in 2016 to 11 points in 2020 and 9 points in 2024.

In other signs the district has lost its reliably deep-red hue, voters in Colorado Springs, the district’s largest city by far, elected Yemi Mobalade, an unaffiliated candidate, as mayor in 2023 over Republican Wayne Williams, a former Colorado secretary of state. In addition, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis came within 3 points of carrying El Paso County when he won reelection in 2022 by a 20-point margin statewide.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report lists the 5th CD as “likely Republican,” though in January the election forecasting site moved the district one step away from “solid Republican” status, following the same move months earlier by analysts at Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.

Also pointing to the district’s potential competitive status, the leading fundraiser among the five Democrats running in a primary to challenge Crank — first-time candidate Jessica Killin, an Army veteran and former chief of staff to second gentleman Doug Emhoff — started the year with $1.1 million in the bank, outpacing the nearly $1 million on hand reported by Crank, marking the first time in memory a Democratic challenger has out-raised the Republican in the district in an off year.

A spokesman for Crank’s campaign told Colorado Politics that the DCCC’s move doesn’t change the race’s direction.

 “Congressman Crank won his first election in 2024 easily; he’ll win again in 2026,” said senior Crank advisor Nick Trainer in a statement. “Washington DC Democrats have one of their own running in Colorado, so it’s not surprising that the Biden team is engaged.”

Killin, who has been endorsed by every Democratic member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, is facing four other Democrats in the primary: Army veteran and author Matt Cavanaugh, who launched his campaign last year as an independent candidate but joined the Democratic Party in early January; Joe Reagan, an Army combat veteran and nonprofit head who ran for the seat in 2024; nonprofit head and community activist Zurit Zuriel Horowitz; and activist Justice Lord.

Democrats running for the seat told Colorado Politics that the designation means Crank’s tenure in the district could be brief.

“The momentum of our campaign has helped put this district into play, and I know we can flip this seat together,” Killin said in a statement.

Cavanaugh, the former independent, said he wasn’t surprised that the district made the national Democrats’ target list.

“As usual, DC is way behind what we already know here in the Pikes Peak region. Jeff Crank’s going to be one and done because folks are fed up with his unwillingness to serve us, speak for us, or stand up for us,” Cavanaugh said in a text message, adding that he’s ready to do all those things.

Noting that the district hasn’t ever been held by a Democrat, Reagan warned Washington Democrats against intervening in the primary, arguing that to do so “risks handing the GOP an easy win in the general.”

“Voters in El Paso County are asking for real change in leadership,” he said in a text message. “Not a manufactured one.”

The Colorado Democratic Party said in a release that it’s been laying the groundwork to flip the 5th CD for years and expects to close the deal in November.

“When Trump ripped Space Command out of Colorado, Crank gave up the fight, walking away from a billion-dollar economic engine and thousands of good-paying jobs in Colorado Springs,” state Democratic chair Shad Murib said in a statement. “That’s not leadership. It’s choosing Washington politics over our national security and Colorado families. Colorado’s Fifth District deserves a representative who protects local jobs, supports veterans and families and puts Colorado first.”

The Colorado GOP didn’t respond to a request for comment.