State Rep. Gabe Evans wins Republican primary in Colorado’s 8th District

From left, Colorado 8th Congressional District GOP primary candidates former state Rep. Janak Joshi and state Rep. Gabe Evans participate in a debate at the Grizzly Rose in Denver on June 1, 2024. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)

State Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton will be the 2024 Republican nominee in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District as the GOP seeks to flip the state’s most competitive seat from red to blue.

Evans defeated former state Rep. Janak Joshi in Tuesday’s primary election, according to The Associated Press . With 18,729 ballots counted as of 7:30 p.m., Evans had a lead of 76% to 23%.

Evans will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the November general election. The toss-up 8th District encompasses Denver’s northern suburbs as well as southern Weld County.

An Army veteran and former Arvada police officer, Evans was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2022. He emerged as the party’s favored candidate in the 8th District primary, winning endorsements from a long list of state and national GOP insiders, and his best-known rival for the nomination, Weld County Commissioner Scott James, withdrew from the race in February.

“Tonight, we showed Republicans are united and fired up to win this seat and defeat Yadira Caraveo,” Evans said in a campaign statement. “Both in the military and law enforcement, I learned successful campaigns are run when a team works together, and I am so proud of the team we have built to take back CD8.”

Joshi, who represented Colorado Springs for three terms in the Legislature, said in a debate earlier this month that he had only registered to vote in the 8th District in February. He faced criticism during the campaign for misrepresenting himself as a physician despite surrendering his medical license in 2008.

Though Joshi accused Evans of being “ wishy-washy ” in his support for former President Donald Trump’s agenda, Trump wrote in a June 3 social media post that Evans had his “complete and total endorsement.”

Sara Loflin, director of the liberal group ProgressNow Colorado, called the GOP race a “damaging primary” that forced Evans to align himself closely with Trump. After prodding from Joshi and the moderators during a debate this month, Evans affirmed his support for Trump’s plans to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., using military force if necessary.

“This primary election proved that Gabe Evans’ loyalty is to Trump and not Colorado,” Loflin said in a statement.

Evans benefited from over $330,000 in outside spending by the super PAC arm of Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy network funded in large part by billionaire Charles Koch, according to disclosure reports from the Federal Election Commission.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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