Colorado 8: Toss-up Tussle
On a good night for Democrats across the country last November, Colorado stood out as a particularly bright spot. Nowhere was that more clear than in Colorado’s 8th District, a newly created seat outside Denver that both Republicans and Democrats anticipated would go Republican in the midterm elections.
In a minor upset, Democrat Yadira Caraveo won the seat, becoming the Centennial State’s first Latina congresswoman and establishing the district’s identity as a Democratic seat — at least for now.
But Caraveo also has the distinction of winning her 2022 election with a lower percentage of the vote — 48.38 percent — than any other sitting member of the House. And at 1,632 votes, her margin of victory was far less than the total number of votes won by the Libertarian candidate.
That makes her a top target of House Republicans — who view the 8th District as the one that got away — this cycle. While this race is not at the very top of the GOP priority list, which is occupied by a handful of open seats and Democratic incumbents in Trump districts, it has the potential to be among the closest races in the nation next fall, with implications for both parties’ path to the majority, and for the future of a beleaguered Colorado Republican Party.
The Lay of the Land
A brand-new seat drawn just two years ago, Colorado’s 8th District is perched directly north of the state capital, Denver. The 8th begins at the city’s border and extends north through western Adams County and into…
