The race for Colorado’s most hotly contested Congressional seat was still too close to call late Tuesday night.
With 66% of the vote counted, Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo was narrowly leading Republican State Rep. Gabe Evans 50% to 48%.
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At Caraveo’s watch party at a pipefitters union in Adams County, her supporters were cautiously optimistic about her chances of being re-elected as they watched the results.
They kicked off the evening taking selfies with cardboard cutouts of Vice President Kamala Harris and watched national results on a giant projector screen.
Attorney General Phil Weiser gave a speech saying “the nation” was watching the race.
And her supporters said she deserved a second term because of her willingness to reach across the aisle.
“The work that she’s done, what she’s accomplished, being bipartisan in her approach, it makes me feel safer to have her be our representative,” supporter Rebecca Miller said as the results trickled in. “For her to be reelected, I would actually be able to exhale. She’s going to listen to us.”
But even as Caraveo maintained her lead, her supporters said the national results that were going in favor of former President Donald Trump were making them “nervous.”
The Evans watch party was held at a ballroom in Brighton. Supporters in cocktail attire mingled with others in cowboy hats and American flag t-shirts under the sparkling light of crystal chandeliers. Fox News election coverage was projected on screens around the hall. The mood was cautiously hopeful, even as Evans's opponent, Yadira Caraveo, held a modest lead throughout the night — the crowd's spirit buoyed by news that Donald Trump was doing well in several key swing states.
Israel Becerra of Frederick was wearing a Latinos for Trump t-shirt and a black Make America Great Again hat.
Becerra said abortion is a top issue for him.
“I respect life. I also like that he's not hardcore on flat out banning abortion, but taking into consideration rape, incest — those types of things,” Beccara said. “Those are smart. That could be a common ground thing.”
Beccara said “it wouldn’t be the end of the world” if Caraveo prevailed, though.
“She has looked over the aisle a few times,” he said.
Both Evans’ and Caraveo’s supporters said the stakes of the race are so high this year because it could determine the balance of power in the House of Representatives.
Caraveo’s watch party ended without an appearance from the candidate.
The race is one of the most competitive Congressional contests in the 2024 election.
In fact, the 8th District is one of only 22 battleground House races nationwide that will decide the balance of power in the United States House of Representatives, according to the Cook Political Report.
Most polls showed the candidates were statistically tied leading up to Election Day.
The campaign largely focused on pitches to moderate voters. For Caraveo, that meant pointing to times she has bucked her own party in Washington.
She cited as an example her decision to support adding tougher criminal penalties on crimes involving fentanyl.
Evans also tried to distance himself from his party's leaders during the campaign, saying he believed Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
He also said some of his views had evolved. While he wrote an op-ed when he was 17 opposing same sex marriage, Evans told The Colorado Sun his views had changed over 20 years and he no longer opposes it.
