President Donald Trump announced he withdrew his endorsement of Rep. Will Hurd and instead endorsed Hope Scheppelman in Colorado’s 3rd District.
The move followed Hurd voting against portions of the president’s tariff policy earlier in the week.
Background
Trump had previously described Hurd as an “incredible representative” when he endorsed him last October.
Hurd is a first-term member who represents a large western and southern Colorado district that includes Grand Junction and rural areas.
He clerked for a federal appeals court judge, practiced law, and returned to Colorado to raise his family before entering Congress.
Hurd won the 2024 Republican nomination and general election to succeed Rep. Lauren Boebert, who now represents the state’s 4th Congressional District.
Tariff Vote and Response
Hurd was one of six House Republicans who backed H.J.Res. 72 to limit the president’s emergency tariff authority and who opposed tariffs on Canada.
Trump criticized Hurd on Truth Social, saying Hurd protected foreign countries rather than the United States and announced he was withdrawing his endorsement.
The president also named Scheppelman as his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to be the next representative from the district in that post.
Scheppelman’s Campaign
Scheppelman is a U.S. Navy veteran with 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry and a former vice chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
She launched her primary challenge to Hurd last June and has campaigned as a pro-Trump candidate.
The Republican primary is scheduled for June 30, 2026.
Wider Context
The district has remained in Republican hands in recent cycles while encompassing diverse rural and energy-producing areas where trade policy matters to voters.
Rep. Lauren Boebert previously faced close contests that led her to move to a neighboring, more Republican district.
The withdrawal came a day after the Supreme Court limited parts of the president’s tariff authority, according to the report.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said administration policy would largely remain unchanged because the tariffs were reapplied under different statutes.
Trump then raised the global tariff rate by an additional five percentage points on Saturday morning.
