December 7th 2024.
As the dust settles on the recent election in Colorado, it's clear that the campaigns were not short on funds. In fact, more than $80 million was spent on the state's eight congressional races, according to final campaign filings and independent spending reports. But the money wasn't distributed evenly across all districts.
The 8th Congressional District, which covers the north Denver suburbs up through Greeley, saw the most spending with a total of $40 million. This district was closely fought, with Republican state lawmaker Gabe Evans narrowly defeating incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo by less than 2,500 votes. In fact, it was one of the top 10 most expensive congressional races in the entire country, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Aside from the 8th District, much of the remaining funds were focused on the 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the Western Slope, and the 4th Congressional District, which includes the Eastern Plains. These districts saw a significant amount of spending due to the competitive races between the candidates.
In the 8th District, the majority of the spending was in favor of Caraveo, as she was the incumbent in the state's newest seat. Her campaign spent over $8 million, while outside groups spent an additional $16 million to support her or oppose Evans. This amounted to a total of $151 spent for each of the 160,871 votes Caraveo received. On the other hand, Evans' campaign spent $2.5 million directly and received an additional $13 million in outside support, totaling $96 for each of his 163,320 votes. Despite being heavily outspent, Evans' campaign attributes his win to his strong message as a cop, soldier, husband, father, and Latino, which resonated with everyday Coloradans.
The flipped seat in the 8th District will make Colorado's congressional delegation evenly split between four Democrats and four Republicans, despite the state's recent shift towards the Democratic party. This also gives Republicans a slight majority in Congress with a 220-215 seat lead.
The 8th District was not the only highly competitive race, as the 3rd Congressional District also saw a significant amount of spending. This district covers the northwest corner of the state down to Pueblo and was almost exclusively driven by Democrat Adam Frisch's campaign. After nearly defeating Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022, Frisch received a boost in funding, spending nearly all of his $18 million bankroll in this election cycle. However, Boebert ended up winning the election by a margin of about 5 percentage points, with about $20 spent per general election vote for Hurd, and $102 spent per general election vote for Frisch.
Meanwhile, Boebert's move to the northern Front Range to run for the 4th District seat also saw a significant amount of spending. Boebert spent over $5.6 million during this election cycle, with most of the spending occurring during the primary race in June. Her opponent, Trisha Calvarese, spent about $4.1 million in the most Republican district in the state, with the majority of her spending occurring after the primary.
In the end, the results of these races show that money alone cannot win an election. Voters are looking for authenticity and trust in their candidates and parties, and this cannot be bought with campaign funds. Despite being outspent, candidates like Jeff Hurd and Gabe Evans were able to rely on their strong messages and community support to secure their victories. And with the congressional delegation split evenly, it's clear that the political landscape in Colorado remains highly competitive.
Colorado’s 6th Congressional District: Final campaign filings
The congressional races in Colorado this election cycle were nothing short of intense, with a whopping $80 million being poured into them. However, the distribution of this massive amount of money was anything but equal across the state's eight districts.
The 8th Congressional District, which encompasses the north Denver suburbs up through Greeley, saw the most spending by far, with a total of $40 million. This district was closely fought, with Republican state lawmaker Gabe Evans ultimately unseating incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo by a margin of less than 2,500 votes. This race was also one of the top 10 most expensive congressional races in the entire country, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The majority of the remaining money was focused on the 3rd Congressional District, which covers the Western Slope, and the 4th Congressional District on the Eastern Plains. In the 3rd District, Democrat Adam Frisch nearly unseated Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022, but faced a new GOP nominee this time around. The traditionally Republican 4th District was where Boebert ran in this cycle. All campaigns were required to file their post-election reports by Thursday night with the Federal Election Commission.
In the 8th District, the spending was heavily in favor of Caraveo, the incumbent in the state's newest seat. Her campaign directly spent over $8 million, while outside groups contributed an additional $16 million to either support her or attack Evans. This amounted to a staggering $151 spent for each of Caraveo's 160,871 general election votes. On the other hand, Evans spent over $2.5 million directly and received an additional $13 million in outside spending, which equates to about $96 per general election vote. Evans' campaign spokesperson, Tyler Moore, praised their disciplined campaign and the strength of their candidate, who is a cop, soldier, husband, father, and Latino. Caraveo's campaign did not provide a comment.
This flipped seat will now evenly split Colorado's congressional delegation between four Democrats and four Republicans, despite the state's recent shift towards the blue in elections. It will also give Republicans a slight edge in Washington, D.C., where they will enter the next term with a 220-215 seat majority in Congress. The 8th District is known to be one of the most competitive in the nation, and both political parties and House leadership invested heavily in their candidates.
The top outsider spenders in this race were the Congressional Leadership Fund and the National Republican Congressional Committee, who spent a combined $9.6 million to support Evans' campaign. On the other side, the House Majority PAC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent a combined $8 million to support Caraveo. The only outsider spender not affiliated with a political party was the pro-cryptocurrency political action committee Fairshake, who contributed about $2.2 million to boost Caraveo.
Moving on to the 3rd Congressional District, which spans from the northwest corner of the state down to Pueblo, the spending was almost entirely driven by Democrat Adam Frisch. After his near-win over Boebert in 2022, Frisch spent almost all of his $18 million bankroll in this cycle in an effort to secure a victory. This was aided by an additional $649,000 in outside spending. In comparison, Republican Jeff Hurd only received about $4 million in campaign and outside spending. Despite this significant difference in spending, Hurd ultimately won the Republican-leaning district by about 5 percentage points. Hurd's campaign spokesperson, Nick Bayer, emphasized that money alone cannot win an election, and credited their candidate's authenticity and hard work for their victory. Frisch's campaign did not provide a comment.
Lastly, in the 4th Congressional District, all eyes were on Lauren Boebert as she moved to the northern Front Range to run for this seat. Boebert reported spending over $5.6 million in this election cycle, with a large portion of it being spent during the primary race in June, which she ultimately won. Her opponent, Trisha Calvarese, who won the Democratic primary, saw a significant increase in fundraising and spending after Boebert secured the Republican nomination. In the end, Calvarese spent about $4.1 million, almost all of which was after the primary, in an attempt to win the most Republican district in the state.
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