Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans held onto his lead over U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo as results continued to trickle in at the tail-end of a tight race to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.
Evans’ lead shrank between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, from 2,529 votes to 1,995 as of 12:29 p.m., with Evans claiming about 48.9% of the 313,676 ballots tallied so far to Caraveo’s 48.3%.
The congressional district that includes sections of Adams, Larimer and Weld counties could play a pivotal role in the partisan battle over control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans seek to hold onto a narrow majority.
Evans pulled ahead of Caraveo late Friday, but with an unknown number of ballots left to be counted in Adams County, where Caraveo led Evans by more than 20,000 votes, the Republican’s advantage could tighten or disappear. As of Saturday afternoon, Larimer County reported completing its initial ballot count, and it was unclear whether Weld County had counted its final ballot.
Alan Philp, a representative of Evans’ campaign, said the candidate was “upbeat,” adding that they expected the initial counting of ballots would wrap up Saturday evening. Kevin Porter of Caraveo’s campaign also said the congresswoman remained optimistic.
“Obviously, we knew this was going to be a close race — too close to call right now,” Porter said.
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