By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics
Democratic congressional candidate Manny Rutinel has raised more than $1 million since launching his bid in late January to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado’s swingy 8th Congressional District, his campaign said.
In just six weeks, Rutinel entered seven-figure territory with the help of more than 23,000 individual contributors, for an average contribution of less than $35, according to the Commerce City state lawmaker’s campaign. More than 99% of contributions were under $100, a campaign spokeswoman added.
Evans, an Army veteran and retired police officer, is serving his first term representing the Northern Front Range district after defeating Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo by fewer than 2,500 votes in last year’s election — the second election in a row when the competitive seat was decided by a margin smaller than 1 percentage point.
The closely divided district covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties, stretching along U.S. 85 from suburbs north of Denver to Greeley. It’s been ranked as a toss-up seat by election analysts since its creation following the 2020 census.