PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) -- Colorado's largest congressional district is also its most wildly divergent.

Freshman Republican Rep. Scott Tipton and Democratic challenger Sal Pace are courting votes in a 3rd District whose voters include farmers worried about water, proponents of energy development and blue collar workers seeking jobs.

The 3rd District is about the size of Arkansas. It sprawls from Pueblo to the New Mexico state line and encompasses the entire western half of the state. Its cities include posh Aspen and the conservative bedrock of Grand Junction.

So far, though, the race has lacked friction. That could change with Republican Rep. Paul Ryan's new spot on the vice presidential ticket. Both Tipton and Pace will bring home the fight over Medicare, which Ryan wants to change.