Another U.S. House seat shifted to the GOP on Sunday after NBC News called a Colorado race in favor of the Republican challenger. Gabe Evans narrowly defeated Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO) in the state’s 8th District, securing 49% of the vote as of Sunday. The tight race was decided by just 2,500 votes, prompting Caraveo to concede.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th District,” Caraveo, a pediatrician and former state lawmaker, said in a written statement to the Colorado Sun. “While this isn’t the outcome we had hoped for, the work is not over. I look forward to returning to Washington to finish out this term.” Caraveo was the first member of Congress to represent the newly drawn district, securing the seat in the 2022 midterms in a state that favored President Joe Biden by about 14 points in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris by 11 points in the recent election. The win by Evans, an Army veteran and former police officer, is particularly notable given the challenging political landscape in the suburbs north of Denver.
“It is an honor to be entrusted with the job of representing you and your families, and I am ready to fight back for a better direction for all Coloradans,” Evans said to the outlet, thanking Caraveo for her service. “I am incredibly humbled to be chosen as the next Congressman for Colorado’s 8th,” he added. “I have spent my entire life running toward challenge, and now I am ready to take on my next challenge — representing our communities in D.C. Thank you, Colorado. Let’s do this!”
The win brings House Republicans to 214 of the 218 seats needed to control the gavel, a promising prospect given President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and the Republicans’ impending control of the U.S. Senate. A House majority would significantly ease the passage of legislation that aligns with each caucus, though success is not assured. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), both moderates, will have considerable influence in the Senate, while centrist House members may push back against Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) efforts to push through conservative bills on issues like voter identification, deportations, or gender-affirming care.
Trump has already discussed his ‘day one’ agenda and it’s not one that will go over well with most Democrats. Trump will immediately intensify border security and interior immigration enforcement upon returning to office, according to immigration experts and allies of the incoming administration. Trump secured a decisive re-election victory, winning some 312 electoral votes and attracting more than 74 million voters since Election Day, according to the latest results. His victory highlights the focus of his campaign platform, which includes highly stringent border security measures.
The president-elect, who solidified his reputation as a strong advocate for border enforcement during his first term, made several campaign promises related to border security over the past year. These included completing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program, reintroducing the travel ban, and increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. Trump also proposed a number of more unconventional measures during his campaign, such as pledging to carry out the “largest deportation program in American history” and pushing to end birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrant parents, the Daily Caller reported.
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