Evan Munsing, a Democratic candidate for one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional races — Colorado’s 8th District — has suspended his campaign, he announced Wednesday.
The decision comes just over a month before the June 30 primary election, in which Munsing was to take on former state Rep. Shannon Bird and state Rep. Manny Rutinel, who had built up a as of the end of March, the most recent filing deadline for reporting contributions.
By contrast, Munsing had slightly more than $100,000 in cash on hand at the end of March.
“I launched this campaign based on a specific belief: that our political system is in need of serious reform and that political elites serve their own interests and those of the donor class rather than serving the American people,” he wrote in a news release.
But the Marine veteran and investment firm adviser claimed that the “same political class in Washington has already decided on their preferred candidates in this race and have begun to flood our TV screens with their dark money ads.”
The winner of the June 30 Democratic primary will take on incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in November. Munsing said he would not endorse either of his two Democratic opponents at this time. He also said his name would still appear on the primary ballot, since that’s already been set.
In his announcement Wednesday, Munsing slammed his opponents for refusing to debate him, instead claiming they chose “multi-million-dollar paid communications and outside-spending political action committees over public engagement with voters.” He said he struggled to win the support of “Washington insiders” for his campaign as “an outsider with a record of military service, business experience, and serious commitment to reform.”
All three candidates were scheduled to debate at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley on Thursday evening.
Greeley marks the northern boundary of the 8th Congressional District, which stretches from Weld and Larimer counties down into Denver’s northern suburbs. It was formed as Colorado’s most competitive district following the 2020 census.
In its first two years of existence, the district was represented by Democrat Yadira Caraveo until she lost it to Evans in 2024.
The Cook Political Report rates the 8th Congressional District as in the country this year.
