DENVER — Democrat Dr. Yadira Caraveo is poised to be Colorado’s first 8th Congressional District representative after her opponent, Republican Barbara Kirkmeyer, called her and conceded the race Wednesday evening.
Kirkmeyer’s campaign Twitter account tweeted just before 6 p.m. that she had called Caraveo to congratulate her on winning the 8th Congressional District seat — just after Caraveo’s lead moved to 1,522 votes with a new batch of ballots added to the count.
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, I am proud of our team and our campaign,” Kirkmeyer’s campaign account tweeted. “And ‘thank’ all of the team, the countless volunteers, the folks who contributed and my family.”
The concession happened shortly after Caraveo’s campaign manager said she believed Caraveo would win the race because of the number of votes left to be counted in Adams County compared to Weld County.
In a statement, Caraveo pledged to be a leader who fights for working families.
“Our community showed up and our voices were heard. Together, we will fight to lower costs, make prescription drugs more affordable, make childcare and family leave more accessible, and fight for every person in America to, once again, have reproductive rights restored to them,” Caraveo said.
“From my work as a pediatrician caring for our community, to fighting for working families in the state legislature, I have spent my life serving Colorado,” she added. “It’s the honor of my lifetime to receive this vote of confidence to serve working families from Greeley to Commerce City in Washington, D.C. I look forward to doing the hard work to fight for working families across every part of the 8th Congressional District.”
The open seat in Colorado’s new congressional district was one of the most closely watched and highest dollar congressional campaigns because of how close it was expected to be. During redistricting, the 8th Congressional District was drawn to be the least partisan of all eight districts in Colorado, leaning Democratic by about 1% based on an average of statewide elections since 2016.
Caraveo will not only be Colorado’s first 8th Congressional District representative, but she will be Colorado’s first Latina member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Her win also pushes Colorado’s congressional district split to 5-2 in favor of Democrats, with the 3rd Congressional District race between Rep. Lauren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch still too close to call.
She is a pediatrician from Thornton who has been the state House representative for House District 31 since 2018. She grew up in Adams County and received her undergraduate degree from Regis University in Denver and her medical degree at the University of Colorado.
She said during her campaign that Congress’ top priority should be making life more affordable for Americas and Coloradans and is supportive of most aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act concerning lower drug prices, investments in renewable energy, and lowering health care premiums.
This is a developing news story and will be updated.
