Democrat Yadira Caraveo concedes Congressional District 8 race to Republican Gabe Evans
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics, File)
U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo on Sunday conceded to Republican Gabe Evans in the race for the highly-contested 8th Congressional District seat after more than five days of counting that kept the vote close.
Caraveo took an early lead on Tuesday and held it until late in the week, when a batch of ballots from conservative-leaning Weld County flipped the vote total in Evans’ favor.
In the latest unofficial count, Evans maintained a lead with 162,022 votes to Caraveo’s 159,426 votes, for a 0.8-point margin.
In an emailed statement Sunday afternoon, Caraveo acknowledged that Evan has won the race and offered her concession.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th district. I came to Congress to get things done and have spent the last two years working to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community,” she said.
“I would like to thank my family, staff, volunteers and supporters who believed in this campaign and the vision we set out to achieve. Together, we built a diverse, people-powered campaign that brought together a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters. While this isn’t the outcome we had hoped for, the work is not over.”
She added: “I look forward to returning to Washington to finish out this term and will continue to be an independent voice for the people of this district.”
In a statement, Evans thanked Caraveo for her concession and expressed gratitude to his family, campaign staff and volunteers for their work flipping the seat.
“I am incredibly humbled to be chosen as the next congressman for Colorado’s 8th,” Evans said. “It is an honor to be entrusted with the job of representing you and your families, and I am ready to fight back for a better direction for all Coloradans.”
The National Repubican Congressional Committee, which spent heavily in the district, cheered Evans’ win.
“Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Army veteran, Arvada police officer, state representative, grandson of immigrants, and now: congressman,” said NRCC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar in an emailed statement. “Gabe Evans is a fighter for the American Dream who will work tirelessly on their behalf in Congress, and we look forward to seeing the valuable results Congressman-elect Evans will deliver for Coloradans.”
The president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC aligned with Republican House leadership, congratulated Evans and crowed about flipping the seat.
“Yadira Caraveo and her liberal policies failed Colorado families, but Gabe’s lifelong commitment to serving his country and community will make him a strong voice for Coloradans in Washington,” CLF President Dan Conston said in an emailed statement. “We were proud to help him secure victory.”
After Caraveo conceded, Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, said in a statement that she’s the type of person voters want fighting for their interests in the halls of Congress.
“As a pediatrician, a daughter of immigrants, and a tireless fighter for justice, Yadira has served with honor while always advocating for those who need help the most. We’re so grateful to Yadira for her effective leadership as a state representative and also as a Member of Congress — so effective, in fact, that she was the first of her freshman colleagues to get a bill signed into law. Yadira is an inspiration to us all, and we thank her for her service,” Murib said.
He added that state Democrats intend to “hold Gabe Evans and Donald Trump accountable for the dangerous policies their Project 2025 agenda promises to inflict on Colorado.”
Republican and Democratic strategists in Colorado and elsewhere in the country closely watched the race, since its outcome was considered to pivotal to determining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Heading into the election, Republicans had a seven-seat majority, meaning Democrats needed to flip just four seats to win the gavel — a prospect increasingly out of reach five days after the election, even though a dozen races around the country had yet to be called late Sunday.
Strategists in Colorado had speculated that Vice President Kamala Harris’ margin of victory in Colorado could affect the outcome in the 8th CD.
“If she is in double digits, 10 or more, it will help Democrats like it did in 2018 and 2022, when Democrats built these huge majorities,” said Dick Wadhams, a Republican strategist and former state GOP chairman, before polls closed.
“If Trump can keep it in single digits, it might negate the Harris influence,” he added.
Harris defeated former President Donald Trump in Colorado by a hair over 11 points in unofficial results, underperforming Joe Biden’s victory over Trump four years earlier, when Biden carried the state by 13.5 points.
As of Sunday, this year’s voter in Colorado stood at 78%, compared to 87% four years ago.
In fact, both Trump and Harris underperformed compared to 2020 — by 118,000 fewer votes for Harris and about 23,000 votes fewer for Trump, though the counting is ongoing.
Republican leaders are projecting confidence they will keep control of the U.S. House, as more races were decided in their favor Friday, while Democrats insisted they still saw a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted.
Republicans have already taken the majority in the U.S. Senate.
Colorado’s 8th CD, which stretches from the Adams County suburbs on the north side of Denver up to Greeley in Weld County, has been home to one of the most competitive — and expensive — House races in the country since its creation two years ago.
Democrats and Republicans have spent heavily in the district, pouring more than $20 million into a near-constant barrage of mostly negative TV and digital ads and mailers, though campaign finance reports show the Democrats and their allies have outspent the Republicans and theirs.
Underlining the importance of the race on the national map, Republican and Democratic House leaders campaigned with the candidates multiple times, including recent visits from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, respectively.
Caraveo, the incumbent, outraised and outspent Evans, according to campaign finance filings. Through Oct. 16, the Democrat reported raising $7.3 million and spending nearly $6 million, leaving $1.3 million in her campaign’s bank account. That compares to $2.3 million raised by Evans, who spent $1.9 million and had $363,000 heading into the campaign’s final weeks.
Evans hoped to benefit from winning an endorsement from the district’s former Libertarian nominee, who dropped out and threw his support behind the Republican after Evans signed on to a pledge to adhere to a number of principles drawn up by the minor party’s leaders.
The move was meant to prevent the Libertarian from siphoning off votes from Evans, under the theory that the conservative-leaning third party’s candidates can cost Republicans the election in extremely close races.
Colorado’s GOP said that’s what happened two years ago when the Libertarian candidate received about 4% of the vote in the 8th CD race — about twice what the party’s candidates typically draw — while Caraveo defeated Republican Barb Kirkmeyer with a margin of less than 1%.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Democrat Yadira Caraveo concedes Congressional District 8 race to Republican Gabe Evans
U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo on Sunday conceded to Republican Gabe Evans in the race for the highly-contested 8th Congressional District seat after more than five days of counting that kept the vote close.
Caraveo took an early lead on Tuesday and held it until late in the week, when a batch of ballots from conservative-leaning Weld County flipped the vote total in Evans’ favor.
In the latest unofficial count, Evans maintained a lead with 162,022 votes to Caraveo’s 159,426 votes, for a 0.8-point margin.
In an emailed statement Sunday afternoon, Caraveo acknowledged that Evan has won the race and offered her concession.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th district. I came to Congress to get things done and have spent the last two years working to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community,” she said.
“I would like to thank my family, staff, volunteers and supporters who believed in this campaign and the vision we set out to achieve. Together, we built a diverse, people-powered campaign that brought together a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters. While this isn’t the outcome we had hoped for, the work is not over.”
She added: “I look forward to returning to Washington to finish out this term and will continue to be an independent voice for the people of this district.”
The National Repubican Congressional Committee, which spent heavily in the district, cheered Evans’ win.
“Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Army veteran, Arvada police officer, state representative, grandson of immigrants, and now: congressman,” said NRCC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar in an emailed statement. “Gabe Evans is a fighter for the American Dream who will work tirelessly on their behalf in Congress, and we look forward to seeing the valuable results Congressman-elect Evans will deliver for Coloradans.”
The president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC aligned with Republican House leadership, congratulated Evans and crowed about flipping the seat.
“Yadira Caraveo and her liberal policies failed Colorado families, but Gabe’s lifelong commitment to serving his country and community will make him a strong voice for Coloradans in Washington,” CLF President Dan Conston said in an emailed statement. “We were proud to help him secure victory.”
After Caraveo conceded, Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, said in a statement that she’s the type of person voters want fighting for their interests in the halls of Congress.
“As a pediatrician, a daughter of immigrants, and a tireless fighter for justice, Yadira has served with honor while always advocating for those who need help the most. We’re so grateful to Yadira for her effective leadership as a state representative and also as a Member of Congress — so effective, in fact, that she was the first of her freshman colleagues to get a bill signed into law. Yadira is an inspiration to us all, and we thank her for her service,” Murib said.
He added that state Democrats intend to “hold Gabe Evans and Donald Trump accountable for the dangerous policies their Project 2025 agenda promises to inflict on Colorado.”
Republican and Democratic strategists in Colorado and elsewhere in the country closely watched the race, since its outcome was considered to pivotal to determining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Heading into the election, Republicans had a seven-seat majority, meaning Democrats needed to flip just four seats to win the gavel — a prospect increasingly out of reach five days after the election, even though a dozen races around the country had yet to be called late Sunday.
Strategists in Colorado had speculated that Vice President Kamala Harris’ margin of victory in Colorado could affect the outcome in the 8th CD.
“If she is in double digits, 10 or more, it will help Democrats like it did in 2018 and 2022, when Democrats built these huge majorities,” said Dick Wadhams, a Republican strategist and former state GOP chairman, before polls closed.
“If Trump can keep it in single digits, it might negate the Harris influence,” he added.
Harris defeated former President Donald Trump in Colorado by a hair over 11 points in unofficial results, underperforming Joe Biden’s victory over Trump four years earlier, when Biden carried the state by 13.5 points.
As of Sunday, this year’s voter in Colorado stood at 78%, compared to 87% four years ago.
In fact, both Trump and Harris underperformed compared to 2020 — by 118,000 fewer votes for Harris and about 23,000 votes fewer for Trump, though the counting is ongoing.
Republican leaders are projecting confidence they will keep control of the U.S. House, as more races were decided in their favor Friday, while Democrats insisted they still saw a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted.
Republicans have already taken the majority in the U.S. Senate.
Colorado’s 8th CD, which stretches from the Adams County suburbs on the north side of Denver up to Greeley in Weld County, has been home to one of the most competitive — and expensive — House races in the country since its creation two years ago.
Democrats and Republicans have spent heavily in the district, pouring more than $20 million into a near-constant barrage of mostly negative TV and digital ads and mailers, though campaign finance reports show the Democrats and their allies have outspent the Republicans and theirs.
Underlining the importance of the race on the national map, Republican and Democratic House leaders campaigned with the candidates multiple times, including recent visits from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, respectively.
Caraveo, the incumbent, outraised and outspent Evans, according to campaign finance filings. Through Oct. 16, the Democrat reported raising $7.3 million and spending nearly $6 million, leaving $1.3 million in her campaign’s bank account. That compares to $2.3 million raised by Evans, who spent $1.9 million and had $363,000 heading into the campaign’s final weeks.
Evans hoped to benefit from winning an endorsement from the district’s former Libertarian nominee, who dropped out and threw his support behind the Republican after Evans signed on to a pledge to adhere to a number of principles drawn up by the minor party’s leaders.
The move was meant to prevent the Libertarian from siphoning off votes from Evans, under the theory that the conservative-leaning third party’s candidates can cost Republicans the election in extremely close races.
Colorado’s GOP said that’s what happened two years ago when the Libertarian candidate received about 4% of the vote in the 8th CD race — about twice what the party’s candidates typically draw — while Caraveo defeated Republican Barb Kirkmeyer with a margin of less than 1%.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.