# Gabe Evans **Gabe Evans** is the Republican U.S. Representative for Colorado's 8th District (the northern Denver suburbs, Adams and Weld counties), and the 2026 defender of the most evenly split House seat in the country. Cook rates [[CO-08-2026]] a **Toss-up** with a partisan lean of R+0. His opponent on November 3 is state Rep. [[Manny Rutinel]]. ## Background | Years | Role | |---|---| | 2007–19 | U.S. Army captain; Black Hawk pilot; deployed to Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) 2012–13 | | 2011–22 | Arvada police officer, rising to lieutenant | | 2023–25 | Colorado House of Representatives | | 2025– | U.S. House | **2024.** He beat Democratic incumbent [[Yadira Caraveo]] **163,320 to 160,871** (49.0% to 48.2%), a margin of 2,449 votes. [[Donald Trump]] endorsed him. ## The 2026 race - **The opponent.** Rutinel won the June 30 Democratic primary with 61%, over Shannon Bird (34%) and Evan Munsing (5%). Caraveo was not on the ballot. - **Money.** Evans entered 2026 with about **$2.5–2.6M** in cash. He raised $1.2M in the first quarter, finishing it at about **$3.4M**, and still had $3.4M on June 10. (The vault previously gave $3.4M as his cash at the start of 2026; that was the end-of-March figure.) Super PACs have spent millions; no reliable total was found. - **Polling.** A September 16–17 McLaughlin poll had Evans 48, Rutinel 46 (400 likely voters, ±4.9). It was paid for by Enhancing American Competitiveness, a pro-Evans nonprofit that does not disclose donors. It also found his favorability underwater, 44 to 48. ## Record and controversies - **The [[Big Beautiful Bill]].** He voted for final passage on July 3, 2025. Local reporting in May 2025 called his vote decisive on the earlier House version and its [[Medicaid]] cuts, the core of the Democratic case against him in a district with heavy Medicaid enrollment. - **[[Laken Riley Act]].** Voted yes (one source). - **Franked mail.** Before the 60-day pre-election blackout that began September 5, 2026, his office spent more than **$320,000** of official funds on mass advertising, the sixth-highest total in the House. More than $225,000 of it went to Breakpoint Media, which his campaign has also paid $170,000. The House commission approved the messages. (Axios, as reported by Hoodline; treat as one source until the original is pulled.) - **Iran.** He defended the launch of the 2026 war; see [[Iran War 2026 Timeline]]. The vault's earlier description of Evans as an NRCC "Patriot Program" member could not be confirmed and has been dropped. ## See Also - [[CO-08-2026]] · [[Manny Rutinel]] · [[Yadira Caraveo]] - [[2026 Midterms Hub]] · [[Big Beautiful Bill]] · [[National Republican Congressional Committee]]