WESTMINSTER, Colorado–A young firebrand progressive has nudged past a moderate state lawmaker to win their June 30 Colorado Democratic congressional primary and will challenge an incumbent Republican this fall in one of the nation’s most tightly contested congressional districts.
State Rep. Manny Rutinel of Commerce City defeated former state Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster in their Democratic Congressional District 8 (CD 8) primary and will face first-term U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) in November’s general election.
Rutinel, 31, amassed 38,599 votes, or 60.6 percent of the tally, when the AP called the race at 7:40 p.m. local time to win the party nod against Bird, 57, who had netted 22,022 votes, or 34.6 percent. Rutinel will take on Evans, who did not have a primary challenger in CD 8, one of the nation’s most purple House districts.
Evans is among 18 sitting U.S. House members—including 14 Republicans—whose 2026 reelections are rated as 2026 toss-ups by the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
CD 8 is one of 44 GOP-held U.S. House seats identified as “Districts In Play” by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. These are seats the party believes are most “flippable” to wrest control of the chamber from Republicans, who now hold a 2018–2012 majority.
The Democratic CD 8 primary was one of several marquee preliminaries on Colorado’s June 30 ballot, which included ballot-setting party elections for governor, U.S. Senate, eight U.S. House seats, 65 state Assembly berths, 21 state Senate slots, and local municipal commissions and councils.
Colorado is a blue state in which a Republican has not won statewide since 2018, and Democrats have statehouse majorities. President Donald Trump has lost the last three elections here—including by 11 percentage points to Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. However, the state has bright red streaks with four of its eight U.S. House seats held by Republicans.
November Ballots Set
Of Colorado’s four Republican House incumbents–Reps. Jeff Hurd, Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank, and Gabe Evans–only Hurd in CD 3 had to win an intra-party preliminary contest. After being endorsed by Trump, he easily swept past challenger Ron Hanks and won a second term in the red district. He will be favored in November to defeat Dwayne Romero, who won the CD 3 Democratic primary.
Three-term Boebert will square off in CD 4 against Democrat Eileen Laubacher, a retired Navy admiral who has raised nearly $10 million. Crank, seeking reelection for the first time in CD 5, will face attorney and Army veteran Jessica Killin, who defeated Joe Reagan in their Democratic primary.
Of the state’s four incumbent U.S. House Democrats—Reps. Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, and Brittany Peterson—only DeGette, who has served CD 1 for 30 years, faced a significant primary threat, up against 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros in the Denver metro district.
Neguse will be heavily favored to win a fifth House term in his CD 2 race against massage therapist Kelley Dennison, who won her June 30 GOP primary. Crow will also be favored to win a fifth term by beating insurance executive Mel Tewahade in their CD 6 race, as will Peterson in seeking a third term in CD 7 against Republican Timothy Bennett.
Post-2020 Census reapportionment by a bipartisan commission solidified party holds on the state’s then-existing seven House districts, while making its newly allotted eighth district in the fast-growing I-25 corridor north of Denver among the nation’s most competitive.
Democrat Yadira Caraveo won the first CD 8 election in 2022 by 1,600 votes—0.7 percentage points—but lost her reelection bid to Gabe Evans by about 2,500 votes—1.7 percentage points—in 2024.
Rutinel, a state assembly member since 2023, has centered his campaign on immigration reform, criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration policies and particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which he said he would drastically curtail under expanded oversight.
An economist and attorney, Rutinel has criticized Bird for voting with Colorado Republicans against a bill seeking to restrict state and local cooperation with ICE agents when she was in the state assembly from 2019 to 2026.
CD 8 features the largest number of Hispanic residents of any congressional district in Colorado, making up 38.5 percent of the adult population.
Colorado’s June 30 primary was the 30th state party preliminary of the 2026 midterm election cycle. Following a July pause, five states will stage primaries on Aug. 4: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington.
