Democrat Manny Rutinel ousts incumbent Gabe Evans in Colorado

Former Democratic state Rep. Manny Rutinel defeated incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) on Tuesday in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, handing Democrats a significant win in their bid to take back the majority in the House of Representatives.The Associated Press called the race for Rutinel just before midnight, with the congressman-elect earning nearly 56% support with more than 75% of ballots counted.Both Evans and Rutinel are millennials, the children of immigrants, and veterans of the Army. The race itself was viewed as one of the tightest contests of the cycle, and a potential forecast for the 2028 presidential election. The swing district, encompassing the bulk of Denver’s northern exurbs, gave President Donald Trump a 2-point advantage over former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 general election but voted for Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) and a full Democratic slate during the 2022 midterm cycle. Evans won his seat in 2024 by less than 1 percentage point over then-incumbent Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO).The 2026 race had been neck-and-neck in the lead-up to the election, though lightly polled. Two September surveys sponsored by Republican groups found Evans’s lead to be, at most, 2 points. Prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi, however, both showed Rutinel with a more than 80% chance of winning heading into the final days of the campaign.Evans was endorsed by Trump in both 2024 and 2026, but has sought to put some distance between himself and the president this cycle. Trump’s polling dipped to career lows in October, and voters have soured on his handling of the war in Iran, the economy, and artificial intelligence, among other issues.TRACKING TRUMP’S MIDTERM CAMPAIGN PLEDGESRutinel, on the other hand, made running against Trump himself a core feature of his platform while downplaying his history of progressive activism.“We have, I think, successfully made the case and are making the case that Donald Trump and Gabe Evans are making life more expensive for hardworking Coloradans across this district,” Rutinel said in an October interview with a local news outlet.