“The problem Frisch faces is just one of numbers,” Saunders said. “He can absolutely win, but it remains an uphill climb when there are so many more Rs than Ds in the district, even with this name recognition and big-money advantage.”

Andrews said that could open a more conservative path for him.

“I fill that lane that people want,” said Andrews, who proudly declares himself the owner of 19 firearms and a strong defender of gun rights.

The 66-year-old father of three takes a hardline position on immigration, calling for finishing the border wall, implementing “national security tariffs” on goods and services from China and Mexico, changing the nation’s asylum laws so that applicants must apply from outside the country and deporting all migrants who entered the U.S. illegally since Biden’s “first day in office.”

He calls Hurd a “nice guy” but part of the Republican “old guard.”

“I’m on Team CD3”

Frisch, who has spent a dozen years in the homebuilding business and another dozen in international finance, has a mantra he likes to repeat: “I’m not on Team Blue, I’m not on Team Red — I’m on Team CD3.”

“They want to hammer that I’ll be beholden to the (Democratic) party,” he said of his political opponents. “I’m going to say what I believe and that frustrates a lot of people. I’m called a DINO (Democrat In Name Only) all the time. But my message is not changing, my work ethic is not changing, my independence is not changing.”

The border, he said, is “out of control.”

“We need to figure out how to secure the border and reduce the number of people coming here illegally,” Frisch said. “We’re a nation of immigrants but we’re also a nation of laws.”

He’s also a critic of efforts by some in his party to restrain domestic fossil fuel energy production.

But on abortion, Frisch is firmly in favor of protecting access, an issue that has hampered Republican successes at the ballot box since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“It will be an important part of the conversation,” Frisch promised for the fall.

Varela, who will get top-line billing on the Republican primary ballot in June because of his dominant performance at this month’s GOP assembly, said he is a former Democrat and against abortion. Voters, he said, respect a candidate for staying true to a position even if it’s controversial.

“They don’t want the wishy-washiness,” he said.

In February, The Denver Post reported that Varela faces a federal investigation into his past management of a government employees union in southern Colorado, including improper spending; Varela called the allegations baseless.

Though Varela, 39, has only $23,000 cash on hand as of the end of March, his Latino roots and military combat experience in Iraq should resonate with voters, he said.

“People in CD3 aren’t for sale,” he said. “They want to know you’re going to represent them.”

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