By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
Inside the final two weeks before Election Day, Republican nominee Gabe Evans is launching an ad in the critical 8th District race for the U.S. House seat attacking his opponent’s “Defund the Police” stance.
“Far-left crime and drug policies spawned Colorado’s crime wave, and [Democrat] Yadira Caraveo voted for them all,” Evans said in a press statement. “From cashless bail, to sanctuary state policies, to decriminalizing fentanyl, Yadira Caraveo has been at the forefront of the ‘defund the police’ movement. When she co-sponsored and voted for Senate Bill 20-217, the defunding effect was so potent I personally witnessed drug interdiction units being downsized and plainclothes agents reassigned back to patrol, allowing cartels and international drug dealers to poison our communities.”
Evans served an 11-year career as an Aurora police lieutenant, following a 10-year career in the U.S. Army, where he earned the rank of captain while flying Black Hawk helicopters in Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Colorado is currently third worst in the nation for crime, and second for teenagers overdosing and dying on fentanyl,” Evans said in the statement. “Things would be even worse if Yadira Caraveo’s House Bill 19-1226 had passed, making it easier for violent criminals and sex offenders to get out of jail. It was so extreme, even her Democrat colleagues refused to pass it. If you think Colorado’s crime wave is bad right now, imagine if Yadira Caraveo had succeeded with her most extreme ideas.”
Evans concluded his career in law enforcement three years ago to seek election to the Colorado House “because these far-left ‘defund the police’ policies,” which he says made it “impossible” for police officers to perform their job.
“Lawmakers, including Caraveo, imposed massive red tape on police officers and subjected them to personal liability,” Evans said. “I arrested dangerous criminals and fentanyl dealers, and due to Caraveo’s policies many were back on the streets within hours. I decided to do something about it. That’s why I am running.”
Evans’ priority, if elected in the 8th District, will be border security, he says.
“I’ll work to put dangerous criminals behind bars and stop the flow of deadly fentanyl into the U.S.,” Evans said in a statement. “We know what works. When you punish crime, you get less of it. It’s not complicated. We can fix this.”