This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Colorado’s 8th congressional district was designed from the start to swing. Drawn up in 2021 by the state’s newly formed Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission in the wake of the 2020 census, the district has lived up to its early aspirations.
In 2022, voters chose Democrat Yadira Caraveo, a former state lawmaker, as the district’s first Congressperson. Two years later, in 2024, the district swung right, ousting Caraveo for Republican Gabe Evans, also a former state lawmaker. He is now running for reelection in a race that is expected to be one of the closest in the country, in which any successful candidate must thread a slender needle to win over a diverse electorate. The district spans from the left-leaning urban Denver Metro Area into conservative rural Weld County.
In this era of unabashed partisan gerrymandering, political analysts say Colorado’s 8th remains a toss-up.
The district has the largest Hispanic population of any congressional district in the state at nearly 40%. The region has also seen tremendous growth over the past couple of decades, as urban Front Range development spills onto the rural Eastern Plains. The longtime cultural and economic dominance of the region’s agricultural and oil and gas industries now competes with air quality and environmental concerns as new residents move in.
These tensions make it challenging for those seeking to win the hearts and minds of fractious CD-8 voters. CPR spoke with dozens of those voters to hear what’s on their minds ahead of the primary election on June 30.
In the U.S. House race, Congressman Gabe Evans is running unopposed in the Republican primary. In the Democratic primary, State Rep. Manny Rutinel of Commerce City and former State Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster are vying for the chance to unseat Evans in the general election in November.
Primary voters are also deciding which candidates will be on November’s statewide ballot for several races from Attorney General to Secretary of State to the Colorado governor. On the GOP gubernatorial ticket, State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, State Rep. Scott Bottoms and self-described “high-risk humanitarian” Victor Marx are all seeking the nomination. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary race, voters will choose between U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
April Caduff, an independent voter from Greeley
April Caduff is a swing voter to the core.
“I'm going back and forth,” she said, about all the decisions she’s facing in the primaries. “All the ads and things that they keep showing on TV — I know a lot of that is poo poo. You have to really read through and try to get better facts to make your decision. It's getting harder and harder to decide on who you want to vote for.”
The baker and small business owner voted for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, even though she doesn’t like him.
“I wasn't for Trump, but my husband made me vote for Trump,” she said, adding that she now regrets that vote.
“I would like to rescind it. I really would,” she said. “At the time, that was the only better choice that we had. So that's why I voted for him.”
But she said Trump doesn’t seem interested in making life better for ordinary people.
“Trump's more business-oriented than he is people-oriented,” she explained. “He's more of a numbers person and he doesn't see how it's hurting us.”
She is especially concerned about rising costs and her ability to access health care.
“(Trump) says we have oil reserves and we have gas reserves, how come we're not using that?” she said. “Why are we paying $5 a gallon at the gas tank?”
In the midterms, she’s reluctantly planning to vote for whomever wins the Democratic congressional nomination, just to register her opposition to the Trump administration. Ultimately, she’s looking for candidates focused on tangible solutions to local issues.
“Things that are going to benefit me and my community,” she said. “And how it's going to affect what's going on in my life.”
Nancy Quarles, a swing voter from Commerce City
Nancy Quarles works as a paraprofessional for a local school district, and is a registered Republican. She said she didn’t vote for Donald Trump in any of the last three presidential elections, but she’s also not sold on Democrats
“But the last couple of years I've been really undecided,” she said. “(I’ve been) moving away from the current (Trump) administration. I am not in favor of (it).”
She hasn’t yet decided if she’ll participate in the Republican primary election later this month but said economic issues that affect her local community would drive which candidates earn her vote.
“At the grocery store, things are climbing, climbing, climbing in terms of cost,” she said, adding that her annual cost of living increase falls flat in the current economy and she worries she can no longer afford to live in Colorado.
“Your little 3% or 2.5% just doesn't quite help. When you’ve got homeowners insurance, auto insurance — our property taxes just climbed. My husband and I have gone backwards the last five years, not forward,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a Democrat from Commerce City
Lucy Molina said she plans to vote in the Democratic primary race and will back candidates who deliver for Commerce City.
“This is a highly Latino and immigrant community that faces environmental racism,” she said. “We need strong regulations in environmental justice and affordable housing.”
She said she’s frustrated with Republican Congressman Gabe Evans, who she described as unresponsive. She’s leaning towards State Representative Manny Rutinel in the upcoming Democratic primary.
“I had supported Shannon Bird in the past, but I was very disappointed in some of her decisions,” Molina said, citing the former state representative's opposition to limiting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“I'm not going to say (Rutinel is) perfect either because nobody is,” she said, adding that she especially appreciates his support for public education. “But he's the closest that I've seen to help us here in this community.”
In the governor’s race, Molina said her vote will go to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who she feels has more local ties.
“I've seen him here. He’s shown up in my community,” she said. “Those are the things I notice. It doesn't help for me to see a TikTok or a Facebook post about how wonderful you think you are. Come and do the work. Smell this stink that we have here. Drink the water.”
Ernestine Garcia, a Democrat from Thornton
Ernestine Garcia, a progressive political activist with Indivisible Colorado, said she is looking forward to voting to oust Republican Gabe Evans.
“We don't feel like he's listened to us and things have gotten worse for us,” Garcia said.
She wants a representative in Congress who shares her priorities, like access to health care and putting limits on federal immigration enforcement.
“ICE needs to be dismantled. It is a terrorist group,” she said.
For the U.S. House, Garcia is backing Rutinel.
“He's from Commerce City. He understands the struggle,” she said. “He's been so present and so outspoken and I believe he understands what we're concerned with.”
But deciding between Rutinel and his opponent, former State Rep. Shannon Bird was tough for Garcia.
“I cannot say anything bad about Shannon Bird. I just think Manny's more of a fighter,” she said.
“There's a time and place for every candidate and I think at this time and this place, we need to have a fighter who understands the issue of the people in the community.”
Karen Jenkins, a Republican from Platteville
Karen Jenkins said she loves President Donald Trump and is concerned that American democracy is “on the road to decline because of all the communists that are taking over.”
Like most Republicans interviewed for this story, she wasn’t focused on the congressional race, since the GOP candidate is running unopposed. Instead she's focused on the governor’s race, Victor Marx is her pick.
“Because he's conservative and I think he wants to put Colorado first,” she said. “He's a stronger candidate.”
A retired nurse, Jenkins identified immigration enforcement as her No. 1 priority.
“I want all the illegals out of our country. I want America first,” Jenkins said. “They're sucking our country dry and they're voting Democrat because we give them free housing and free healthcare. (Immigration enforcement) started out really strong and then after Minneapolis, they kind of slacked off a little bit because of the activists that came in and made a big to-do about it.”
Michelle and Gary Roberts, Democrats from Greeley
Gary Roberts is pessimistic about the state of American democracy. He is retired and worked in the mining industry. He said he thinks democracy is in free-fall.
“And a lot of it is due to the administration that's in power right now.”
He and his wife, Michele Roberts, a retired special education teacher, are still researching who they want to vote for in the Democratic primary election in CD-8.
“We kind of like (Shannon) Bird, but we saw some interesting information about her and her vote on ICE in the house,” he said, apparently referring to Bird’s votes against a pair of bills that would have limited local cooperation with federal immigration authorities during the 2025 legislative session.
That was totally unacceptable,” Gary Roberts said. “Whether that's true or not, that's what we want to research because sometimes things get skewed a little bit and you don't hear both sides of the story.”
In general, though, the couple has a moderate take on immigration.
“I don't want anybody coming into the country on a free ride when the rest of us have to work for what we get,” Michelle Roberts said. “But if you're willing to work for it, by golly, you come. All's fair.”
Michelle Roberts also said she is deeply concerned about rising prices.
“I don't want the Trump administration’s tariffs,” she said. “That's affected us on a lot of things.”
Becky Baker, a Republican from Weld County
Becky Becker said she has not yet picked a candidate in the GOP gubernatorial race.
“I'm kind of tossed up between (Victor) Marx and (Barbara) Kirkmeyer,” Baker said. “Kirkmeyer is better known, but Marx would be wonderful because he is very conservative and he's a very strong MAGA. I like that he's bringing a new approach to Colorado. Kirkmeyer has been here so long.”
Baker co-owns a family electrical contracting business with her husband and son and said cutting business regulations and requirements is one of her biggest policy priorities.
“Colorado screws small business owners,” she said. “We had to set up a fund because we have to pay in for sick leave. Also, we have to have a retirement for (our employees). We're a small business. We're not like JBS here in town.”
Fatima Pineda, a Democrat from Brighton
Fatima Pineda is planning to vote in the Democratic primary and while she hasn’t decided who will get her vote, she said she’s looking for candidates who have integrity and strong morals.
“It’s how they are as a whole person,” she said. “You can say as much as you can to sell the public on a vote, but if you really don't hold true to what you're doing, then there's no point.”
She said she supports candidates who will push back against the Trump Administration’s “violent” approach to immigration enforcement and willingness to enter new foreign wars.
“Affordability and focusing on internal problems in the US are more important,” she said. “Why increase the debt that we're already in? We could just fix what we have here instead of spending it for things abroad or being a little spiteful towards other cultures and races.”
Valerie White, a Republican from Brighton
Valerie White supports Donald Trump.
“I am not happy with the way things are,” White said about the state of American democracy. “We’re giving away too many things. I think we have given and given to people to the point where they don't feel like they have to work or contribute anything themselves.”
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, White said she doesn’t trust Kirkmeyer’s conservative bona fides. Instead, she’s backing Marx.
“We need a conservative person in there and I think he is,” she said. “Plus he has some religion too, and I think that's good.”
Margaret Garcia, a Democrat from Thornton
Margaret Garcia is a mother and unemployed biology researcher. She said she is planning to vote for Rutinel in the CD-8 Democratic primary.
“He is a Hispanic man who can relate with the community,” she said. “I also really like his stance against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and I think that that's really important. After seeing what happened in Minnesota. I'm just really concerned and I don't want that happening in my community.”
Healthcare accessibility, affordability and preserving American democracy are also priorities for Garcia.
“I don't think that things look good for our democracy right now,” she said. “But I have a lot of hope and I think that there are people that are trying to fight for our democracy.”
In the governor’s race, she plans to support Weiser over Bennet.
“Seeing Phil Weiser and the lawsuits that he has against Donald Trump and the current administration, I just really like where he's going,” she said.
