By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
It is officially nearly two full days after the closing of polls on Election Night, but who the winner will be in Colorado’s 8th District U.S. House race remains undecided.
Republican challenger Gabe Evans presently trails Democrat Yadira Caraveo by 2,096 votes, less than one-tenth of 1% of all votes to have been counted in the district.
In the past 24 hours, Caraveo’s lead has gone from what could have been comfortably outside the criteria for a mandatory recount to nearing it. She leads Evans now by just 0.76%. Her lead was at 1.59% at one point on Wednesday, back when she had a 3,817-vote lead.
An estimated 16.63% of votes in the race have not been reported, meaning there still could be considerable change. The 8th District is typically viewed as blue Adams County versus red Weld County. Adams County has counted 81.7% of its ballots, while Weld County has counted 86.5%, according to the Associated Press.
The outcome of the race is meaningful as Republicans look to have majorities in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. Also, Colorado Democrats presently have a 5-3 delegation advantage in the U.S. House, but an Evans win would give the state split representation.
Gabe Evans’ campaign declined to comment Thursday for this story.