Colorado Democrat Manny Rutinel projected to unseat Republican Congressman Gabe Evans

Manny Rutinel is the projected winner of Colorado's 8th Congressional District race, according to CBS. The Democrat is projected to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. CD-8 has been considered one of a handful of toss-up districts in the nation whose outcomes could determine control of the U.S. House.

At the time the race was called, Rutinel took in 117,437 votes, with Evans at 84,586 votes and Libertarian David Wood with 7,724 votes. 

The 8th Congressional District includes a large section of the northern part of the Denver metro area and sections of Larimer County and Weld County that include Greeley.   

Rutinel attended Yale Law School and is a member of the Colorado General Assembly's House Energy & Environment Committee. He resigned from the Colorado House earlier this fall to focus on his congressional campaign.

Evans was hoping to become the first two-term congressional representative for the congressional district since it was formed four years ago. Democrat Yadira Caraveo served as the district's representative from 2022 to 2024. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

In August, House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Colorado to raise money for Evans. Johnson described the Evans-Rutinel contest as one of the races that could help determine control of Congress. 

Johnson and Evans insisted many of the problems Colorado is facing are due to state, not federal policies.

Numerous political attack ads ran on television against both CD-8 candidates during the campaign cycle, with one accusing Rutinel of being an opportunist and another accusing Evans of being responsible for rising healthcare costs.