The race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District seat, pitting incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd against Democrat Dwayne Romero of Aspen, is seeing an influx of outside spending on advertisements, specifically targeting Romero — with most coming from dark-money groups.
Romero, like many other Democrat House and Senate candidates across the country, outraised his Republican rival in the third quarter, boosting individual contributions. But Republicans, including Hurd, are benefiting from the massive support of super PACs (political action committees) tied to President Donald Trump and other outside groups.
As of Tuesday, about $3.2 million in outside spending has been poured into the 3rd District’s general election for political ads, according to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Outside spending refers to political expenditures made independently of candidates’ campaigns. This spending, which is not coordinated with the candidates, typically comes from super PACs, politically active nonprofits and political party committees. Of the $3.2 million spent, $2.1 million has been disbursed so far this month targeting Romero. As of Tuesday, outside groups have spent about $35,000 on behalf of the Democratic candidate.
Seven of the 11 PACs contributing to the outside spending in the race are either supporting Hurd or opposing Romero, and just four are backing Romero; four are super PACs, two are hybrid PACs and one is a lobby PAC.
Super PACs are independent, expenditure-only political committees that, unlike traditional PACs, can receive unlimited contributions but cannot contribute directly to a candidate’s committee. Although super PACs disclose their donors, some receive contributions from corporations or nonprofits that do not disclose the original source of their funding, a practice associated with so-called dark money. Instead, they can spend money independently in support of or opposition to a candidate, typically on political ads and text messages. A hybrid PAC uses two separate bank accounts: one that can be used to make direct contributions to a candidate’s committee but is subject to traditional PACs’ $5,000 cap, and one that can make unlimited independent expenditures, like a super PAC.
“The flood of money from the Republicans in this district means they’re scared,” according to a social media post on Romero’s campaign page.
Romero’s campaign manager, Ryan Paolilli, told Aspen Journalism that outside spending has been a challenge. “[Voters] are going to be more attuned to the negative attacks coming our way,” he said. “But we feel good about where we’re at, and we think it paints the picture of a very competitive race and a really, really good chance to flip the seat.”
Millions in outside spending favors Hurd
The Safety & Affordability PAC, a super PAC registered with the FEC on Sept. 1 and which received $25 million from MAGA Inc., Trump’s main PAC, spent $1.8 million on TV ads against Romero in the first half of this month. This includes $434,000 on Oct. 5, the same day the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced including Romero on its 2026 Red to Blue list, 46 Democratic candidates that the DCCC thinks can win their congressional races and are receiving strategic guidance and support from the party to increase their chances to flip these seats.
In late August, the National Republican Congressional Committee spent about $390,000 on ads for the 3rd District race, while the DCCC spent $50,000 in October. The NRCC’s and DCCC’s spending is considered “party coordinated expenditures,” which is separate from the outside spending made from super PACs and from direct contributions from PACs to the candidates’ committees. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 ruled that the Federal Election Campaign Act’s limits on political party-coordinated expenditures violate the First Amendment. Prior to this ruling, the NRCC and the DCCC would have been allowed to spend only $65,300 on the Western Slope race.
Another MAGA Inc.-funded super PAC, No Going Back PAC, has spent more than $789,000 on the 3rd District race since it was registered Sept. 1, mostly on text messages and print ads supporting Hurd and attacking Romero. MAGA Inc. on Oct. 8 spent $23,500 on digital ads attacking Romero. These three Trump-affiliated super PACs have spent about $200 million on advertising nationwide on political races, according to FEC’s latest filings.
The Civic Renewal Fund, a super PAC created in June, has spent $320,000 on cards, canvassing and print ads supporting Hurd and attacking Romero. This super PAC is funded by Thomas Klingenstein, a hedge-fund manager and major donor to the Republican Party, and Alabama-based Choose Freedom PAC, founded in September and tied to Choose Freedom Inc., a conservative dark-money group based in Massachusetts.
The American Conservation Coalition PAC, which supports the “conservative environmental movement,” according to its website, and is related to the nonprofit American Conservation Coalition, has spent $213,000 in October so far on door hangers, media placement and print ads supporting Hurd. The Save American Freedom PAC, a super PAC mostly funded by Louisiana-based dark-money group Commonsense Policy Action, disbursed $33,000 on digital ads and texts supporting Hurd. And the National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund this month contributed $12,000 on print ads.
Romero received outside spending support from four PACs, including $20,000 from House Majority PAC, a Democratic Hybrid PAC mostly funded by the nonprofit House Majority Forward. HMP announced on Oct. 27 that they are launching a new TV ad targeting Hurd’s support for tariffs and the war in Iran while praising Romero’s military background. Also, Neighbor Voices PAC, a super PAC mostly funded by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, spent about $1,500 on canvassing via text. Working America spent about $11,000 on digital ads supporting Romero and against Hurd. The hybrid PAC Votevets contributed $5,000 directly to Romero’s campaign and spent $3,200 on Oct. 19 on digital ads.
In contrast, the 2024 3rd District general election saw half the spending by outside groups. About $1.5 million from various PACs and dark-money groups poured into the race, including $905,000 in support of Hurd and $594,000 in support of Democrat Adam Frisch of Aspen, who also unsuccessfully ran in 2022. Only $35,000 was spent in attack ads — $32,000 of which were spent against Hurd.
Nationwide this year, Senate races have attracted the highest amounts of outside spending, with the Texas race seeing $443 million in spending by groups independent of the candidates. In Colorado, though, House seats have been drawing the most outside spending. More than $32.6 million has been directed at the 8th Congressional District race north of Denver, where first-term Republican Rep. Gabe Evans is running against former state Rep. Manny Rutinel in one of the nation’s most competitive House races.
Incumbent’s campaign boosted by Republican allies
In addition to outside expenditures, Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney seeking his second term, has raised almost $4.2 million through his committee, Jeff Hurd for Congress, for the primary and general elections through Oct. 14. That total comprises $2.2 million from itemized contributions and $91,000 in nonitemized contributions — contributions of $200 or less that can be anonymous — and more than $1.8 million from PACs and transfers from other committees. An individual donor can donate up to $3,500 per election cycle to a candidate’s committee while most PACs can give up to $5,000 per cycle. (Primary and general elections are considered separate cycles.)
About 69% of Hurd’s $754,000 in itemized contributions for the general election came from outside the 3rd District. He raised about $213,000 from other Colorado districts, followed by $49,250 from Texas and $45,000 from California. Almost 30% of his in-district contributions came from Mesa County, 16% from Montrose County, and 11% from Pitkin County and Pueblo County.
Besides Denver and Grand Junction, where Hurd raised $64,000 and $58,500, respectively, for the general election, he received $28,000 from donors in Greenwood Village, a wealthy Denver suburb. That includes Joe O’Dea, who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, and his wife, who contributed $7,000 together. O’Dea’s longtime business partner Xernie Merrit and his wife together also gave $7,000.
Several Aspen-connected billionaires contributed to Hurd’s campaign. Walmart’s former chair S. Rob Walton, who owns two Aspen properties, contributed $3,500 to Hurd’s campaign. Walmart Inc. PAC for Responsible Government, also known as WALPAC, spent $2,000 on Hurd’s primary. Thomas Peterffy, Interactive Brokers chair and Willoughby Way co-homeowner, contributed $7,000 to Hurd’s campaign. Hurd also received $5,000 from KochPac, which represents the interests of Koch Industries, whose chair, Charles Koch, owns a property in Aspen’s West End.
About $75,000 for Hurd’s general election came from 24 Native American tribes, including $3,500 from the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and $1,500 from the Colorado’s Southern Ute Indian Tribe.
Hurd’s campaign committee has received about $688,000 from PACs and fundraising committees for the general election — of which more than $252,000 came from Grow the Majority PAC, a joint fundraising committee launched by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.); $135,000 from Defend Our Majority, another Republican fundraising committee; and $79,000 from Hurd Victory Fund. Billionaire Jeffrey Hildebrand, who owns a home in Aspen and a ranch in Snowmass, gave $275,000 to Grow the Majority PAC and $12,000 to Hurd Victory Fund.
Joint fundraising committees raise money for multiple committees and split the proceeds among them following an agreed-upon formula. Hurd Victory Fund’s recipients, for example, comprise Jeff Hurd for Congress, the NRCC and Colorado Western PAC. Several Aspen-connected billionaires have donated large sums of money to these committees, such as John Paulson, Jude Reyes and Kit Goldsbury, who each contributed at least $1 million to Grow the Majority PAC, and Steve Wynn donated $275,000 to Grow the Majority and $884,400 to Defend Our Majority.
Hurd also received $5,000 from Johnson’s American Revival PAC and another $5,000 from Arkansas U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman’s Land of Opportunity PAC. His campaign has also been supported by trade-related PACs, including a $5,000 donation from the Amalgamated Transit Union-COPE, which supports transit workers; $5,000 from the Dairy Farmers of America’s PAC; and $5,000 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying PAC, has contributed a total of $10,000 to Hurd’s general and primary campaigns.
For the general election, Hurd has received support from several other U.S. representatives: $16,000 in total from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Mike Kennedy of Utah, Nick Lalota of New York, Brandon Gill of Texas, Rudy Yakym of Indiana, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Jim Jordan of Ohio.
Hurd’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Romero sees third-quarter fundraising boost
In response to increasing outside spending in the 3rd District race, Romero called prospective supporters in late September and into this month to donate to his campaign.
“What we need … is to stay up on TV ads, digital media,” Romero said in a social media video on Sept. 30.
At a Romero campaign event Oct. 21 in Carbondale, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), the DCCC chair who appeared on Romero’s behalf, said that outside spending contributes to a lack of transparency in politics.
“Our candidates have outraised their opponents, but that outside money coming in has been flooding in races across the country,” DelBene said. “They’re running ads — and you don’t know who’s behind it.”
Romero raised about $984,500 from July 1 through Oct. 14, according to the two latest FEC releases, raising his campaign fundraising total to about $1.7 million. This includes several personal loans to his campaign totaling $460,000 since he entered the race.
Romero, a longtime Aspen resident and current CEO of the Basalt-based property-management company Romero Group, decided to run right before the filing deadline in March with the support of Frisch’s family.
Romero was cited in the DCCC’s Oct. 16 news release as one of the 40 Democratic candidates on the Red to Blue list to have outraised their Republican opponent in the third quarter. Since he began his reelection run, Hurd has received twice as much in individual contributions overall as Romero, but in the third quarter, Hurd raised 43% less than his Democrat opponent and about half as much as Romero from individual donors.
“The story of third-quarter fundraising reflects the story of the midterms,” DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton said in the Oct. 16 news release. “While Republicans kowtow to their billionaire backers, praying they bail out their cash-starved campaigns, the American people are getting behind House Democrats — powering their campaigns across the country to deliver a resounding victory on November 3rd.”
The New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, which is the centrist caucus New Democrat Coalition’s PAC, gave Romero’s campaign $5,000 on Oct.16 after announcing his endorsement the same day.
Local Democratic parties from Montrose, Archuleta, Montezuma, Garfield, Eagle and San Miguel counties contributed a total of $9,275 to Romero’s campaign.
About half of Romero’s itemized contributions for the general election came from the district. About 58% of those in-district contributions came from supporters with a primary residence in Garfield, Eagle or Pitkin counties, including $85,000 from donors with an Aspen address. In contrast, Hurd so far has raised only $14,500 for the general election from supporters whose primary residence is Aspen.
As of Oct. 14, about $412,000 in individual contributions to Romero for the general election came from Colorado — representing 64% of the total — followed by $57,700 from California and $52,800 from New York state.
Aspen homeowners Gary Lauder and his wife, Laura, who are members of the Estee Lauder Cos. cosmetics family, contributed $7,000 together to Romero’s campaign. So did Jonathan Soros — a prominent Democratic donor and son of billionaire George Soros — and his wife, Jennifer. California residents Charles Giancarlo, CEO of the data-storage company Pure Storage (now called Everpure) and his wife, Dianne, contributed $14,000 together.
Romero’s campaign raised a total of $73,500 from PACs, including $7,000 for the primary. A sharp increase in PAC contributions during the first half of October added up to 47% of that total.
Romero received $5,000 each from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s PAC to the Future, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Katherine Clarke’s Fair Shot PAC (her campaign committee contributed an additional $2,000) and the Giddy Up PAC, Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s PAC. Other Democratic Colorado representatives’ committees have contributed a total of $7,000 to Romero’s campaign, including Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s Fighting Back PAC (the 7th Congressional District candidate’s campaign committee contributed an additional $2,000) and Rep. Joe Neguse’s Hope PAC (and he is a 2nd Congressional District candidate).
Romero’s campaign also received the support of several labor unions, including the United Steelworkers PAC and the Communications Workers of America’s COPE Political Contributions Committee.
Frisch family ties helped launch Romero’s race
Frisch’s Win the Center PAC, which inherited the leftover campaign funds from his campaign committee, disbursed a total of $10,000 for Romero for the general and primary races. Frisch’s wife, Katy, became Win the Center’s treasurer in 2025.
Romero’s campaign shares the same P.O. Box in Woody Creek as the Win the Center PAC.
“When Dwayne started, since Katy and [the Frisches’ son] Felix were helping to do it, and again, they had 72 hours to do 72 days [of] work, we figured one less thing to check off the box is [to use the] P.O. Box [that] is already there,” Frisch said.
“I’ve never been paid by Dwayne’s campaign; I’ve never been officially on the org chart if you will,” he told Aspen Journalism. “When [Romero’s campaign asks] me questions, I answer. So I have conversations about policies. I have conversations about who might be good people to go talk to about policies around the district. I mean, I drove 75,000 miles in those three years.”
Frisch said Romero reached out to him last year when he was weighing the decision to run, expressing interest but with concerns about how his business would be affected while he was campaigning.
When he decided to run in March, Romero again reached out to the Frisches. Katy and Felix Frisch filed paperwork with the federal and state governments and the Democratic Party, and built a team, Adam Frisch said. (Records show that Romero filed a statement of candidacy with the FEC on March 3, which is the same day that his campaign committee was registered with the commission; the filing deadline was March 18.)
The Frisches and the Romeros have known one another for a long time: They are neighbors; Adam Frisch and Romero served on Aspen City Council together for two years; and Katy Frisch served on the Aspen School District board with Romero for two years. Felix Frisch, who launched a new centrist Democratic group called Promise to America in June and was involved in his father’s races, managed Romero’s campaign from March until May. Katy Frisch has helped on the operational side.
“He had to make sure it was good for his family and his business, and anyone who wants to run should run,” Frisch said. “I think it’s important for people to stand up especially during this time.”
Editor’s note: Laura and Gary Lauder have donated to Aspen Journalism.
