The national House Democrats’ campaign arm on Wednesday added the Colorado congressional district held by Republican U.S. Reps. Jeff Hurd and Lauren Boebert to the list of targeted seats the party believes are vulnerable in this year’s midterms.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included the state’s 3rd and 4th CDs among 12 races added to its expanded map of “districts in play,” a designation for GOP-held seats whose challengers will receive assistance from the national group.

Democrats have to flip just three seats to take the majority in the narrowly divided Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The additions mean Democrats consider that all four of the Colorado congressional districts represented by Republicans are on the opposition party’s map — including seats President Donald Trump carried two years ago by double digits. The state’s four other seats are held by Democratic incumbents, who aren’t facing serious challengers.

The DCCC earlier put the districts represented by Republican U.S. Reps. Gabe Evans and Jeff Crank, who are both freshmen lawmakers, on its “Red to Blue” list, a step up from the “districts in play” category, which comes with financial help and additional assistance for the Democratic nominees.

Evans is facing a challenge from state Rep. Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City, in the Northern Front Range’s toss-up 8th Congressional District, the state’s most competitive seat. Crank, who represents the El Paso County-based 5th Congressional District, is running against former top Biden administration official Jessica Killin in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat once since its creation in the early 1970s.

The DCCC said that Democrats’ over-performance in special elections, coupled with the president’s low approval ratings and a steady edge for Democratic candidates in generic ballot polling, mean the party is confident that traditionally Republican seats could be up for grabs.

“House Democrats are expanding the battlefield deep into Trump terrain because we have a winning message focused on fighting for an Affordable America,” U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the DCCC chair, said in a statement. “At the same time, MAGA Republicans who historically have considered themselves ‘safe’ have let down the people they were elected to represent, passing disastrous policies that are crushing working families and our communities.”

A spokesman for the group’s GOP counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee, suggested to Colorado Politics that the Democrats are out over their skis in reliably Republican districts that haven’t elected the other party’s candidates in nearly 20 years.

Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney seeking reelection to a second term, is facing a challenge from Army veteran and former Aspen City Councilmember Dwayne Romero in the 3rd CD, which covers most of the Western Slope and Southern Colorado. Trump won the district by nearly 10 points two years ago, up slightly from his 2020 margin.

In the 4th CD, anchored by Douglas County and stretching across the Eastern Plains, Boebert is seeking a fourth term against retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, who has raised more than 10 times as much in campaign contributions as the incumbent. Boebert had moved to the 4th CD, a more reliable Republican enclave, from her previous district, which was more competitive in the general election.

DelBene said that Hurd’s allegiance to House GOP leaders and wealthy donors landed him on the target list.

“Jeff Hurd is a weak freshman known for kowtowing to Republican leadership and billionaires, even when it hurts Coloradans,” the DCCC chair said in a statement. “Voters are sick and tired of Hurd’s broken promises and cost-hiking agenda, and that’s why they’ll fire him this November.”

DelBene pointed to Boebert’s frequent appearance in the headlines as a reason voters could be souring on her.

“Lauren Boebert is more interested in her own political self-promotion and chasing national attention than actually delivering for Colorado families,” DelBene said in a statement. “Coloradans want a representative focused on lowering costs, not someone who treats public service like a self-serving media tour.”

Zach Bannon, a spokesman for the NRCC, dismissed the Democrats’ characterizations and told Colorado Politics the districts’ voters will reelect the two incumbents in November.

“Congressman Jeff Hurd is a commonsense leader who fights for western and southern Colorado, delivering real results,” Bannon said in an email. “Rural Coloradans have no interest in electing a far-left liberal who pushes the Democrats’ radical agenda and will reelect commonsense conservative Jeff Hurd this fall.”

He made similar points about Boebert’s challenger, predicting that she’ll win reelection “overwhelmingly.”

“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is a fighter for eastern Colorado who has a proven track record of advancing common-sense conservative principles in Congress,” Bannon said. “Voters across eastern Colorado are ready to reject today’s radical, far-left liberal agenda and overwhelmingly send Congresswoman Boebert back to Congress.”

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib welcomed the DCCC’s announcement and said the party will compete in every district across the state.

“Republicans have raised costs, threatened healthcare and let Donald Trump use Colorado families as political pawns,” Murib said in a statement. “Dwayne Romero, Eileen Laubacher, Jessica Killin and Manny Rutinel offer voters something better: leaders who know their communities and will fight for the people they represent.”

State GOP Chairman Craig Steiner scoffed at the notion that two of the state’s most heavily Republican seats could be endangered in a statement to Colorado Politics.

“Democrats have repeatedly thought Texas was in play; they keep being wrong,” Steiner said in a text message. “We are confident in our CD3 and CD4 candidates. Voters have a clear choice between socialists who have helped run our state’s economy into the ground and the Republicans running across the state.”