Evans brought in more than $1.2 million during the first three months of 2026, according to federal campaign finance reports due Wednesday. He ended March with more than $3.4 million in the bank. That’s an eye-watering sum, easily surpassing the roughly $2 million that Evans’ Democratic predecessor, then-U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, had gathered at the same point in early 2024.

Evans has no primary challenger, meaning he won’t need to start seriously spending his cash until after his Democratic opponent emerges from the June 30 primary.

In other federal races, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper significantly outraised a state senator challenging him in the Democratic primary, while another incumbent — Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert — was outraised by an even greater factor by her only remaining Democratic challenger in the state’s most conservative-leaning district.

The race for Evans’ 8th Congressional District seat, which sits in a rural-suburban area north of Denver, will be among the most closely watched contests in the country this fall. Two of the Democrats hoping to topple Evans have started marshalling their own financial resources.

State Rep. Manny Rutinel posted a strong quarter, hauling in more than $952,000 to bring his cash-on-hand total to more than $1.76 million. He raised more — and has banked more — than his former state House colleague, Shannon Bird, who joined the race a few months after Rutinel last year.

Bird raised nearly $567,000 in early 2026, and she ended the quarter with just over $1 million to play with as the primary season entered its final three-month stretch.

The third Democrat in the race, Marine veteran Evan Munsing, has outlasted several more established candidates — including Caraveo, who mounted a brief comeback campaign last year. But his fundraising has slipped farther behind Rutinel’s and Bird’s: Munsing raked in $115,000 last quarter, and he spent almost double that.

As a consequence, his cash pile has been halved, from the $213,000 at the end of 2025 to $108,000 at the end of March.

Between the three Democrats and Evans, the CD8 candidates raised more than $2.8 million over the last three months. Between them, the four candidates have nearly $6.4 million on hand.

More than half of that pile lies, waiting, in Evans’ coffers.

“I’m grateful for the outpouring of support from Coloradans who are ready to keep fighting for safer communities, a stronger economy and a more secure future,” Evans said in a statement Wednesday.

Here’s what else was revealed by the latest federal campaign finance reports, which came out just after the major parties’ primary ballots were finalized through assembly votes and petitioning.

Hickenlooper’s haul grows for primary challenge

In his Senate reelection race, Hickenlooper raised nearly $1.4 million last quarter, the first full reporting period since his primary challenger, state Sen. Julie Gonzales, entered the race. That’s more than he raised in the prior quarter.

Though he spent more than $1.2 million in the early part of 2026, the incumbent Democrat will still enter primary season with a hefty $4 million in the bank.

Gonzales, meanwhile, has reported more anemic fundraising. She raised more than $264,000 this past quarter, compared with the nearly $180,000 she posted in her first month in late 2025, showing a slowing pace. Her most recent total in the bank sat at just over $114,000.

In a blog post Wednesday, Gonzales acknowledged that her campaign was “living paycheck to paycheck.” But she appeared undaunted and said she raised $130,000 in the first week of April, after the reporting period’s end.

DeGette’s balance grows as challenger picks up pace

A different primary challenge is brewing in Denver’s 1st Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat who’s been in Congress for nearly 30 years, is facing two Democratic opponents: University of Colorado Regent Wanda James and Melat Kiros, a lawyer and doctoral student who last month beat DeGette in an assembly nominating vote.

Whether that victory translates to an incumbent-toppling result in June remains to be seen. DeGette raised more than $263,000 last quarter, a bit more than she’d raised at the end of 2025. Her cash-on-hand total ticked up, too, and now sits at $636,000.

Kiros also saw a boost, bringing in more than $174,000, double her prior quarter’s total. With $118,000 in the bank, she trailed DeGette’s total entering primary season.

James’ fundraising went the opposite way. The regent raised more than $72,000 last quarter, below her fourth-quarter total last year. Her spending also ticked up, bringing her cash on hand down to just more than $54,000.

Boebert challenger keeps raking in cash. Will it matter?

Among Colorado’s incumbents in Congress, Boebert has long been a fundraising lightning rod. That remains true, even as she settles into the comfortably conservative 4th Congressional District, which covers Colorado’s Eastern Plains as well as Douglas County, after a district switch in the last election.

Eileen Laubacher, a retired rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, raised more than $2 million for the second consecutive quarter. After a big spend of $1.5 million, she still ended the quarter with more than $3 million in her campaign’s pocket. Another Democratic candidate, Trisha Calvarese, also had raised big money in her second run against Boebert before she dropped out two weeks ago.

Boebert, in contrast, raised just under $90,000 in the last three months, and she reported $160,000 on hand in late March.

It’s important to remember that Boebert now represents a district where, in a 2021 analysis, by more than 26 percentage points. In 2024, Boebert’s win wasn’t even half that — and .

Hurd amasses cash to defend Western Slope seat

In Boebert’s old 3rd Congressional District, her erstwhile Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, is looking to defend a seat that’s reliably, if not comfortably, red. Hurd raised more than $609,000 last quarter, bringing his war chest to just under $2 million.

He also picked up a primary opponent at the Colorado Republican Party assembly last week — former state Rep. Ron Hanks — but his fundraising advantage is hefty.

Two Democrats are jockeying to take on Hurd in November. Alex Kelloff, a Snowmass businessman, has been in the race longer. He raised $192,000 last quarter, adding a bit to his cash-on-hand total of $458,000.

Kelloff’s newcomer primary opponent, fellow businessman Dwayne Romero, raised more than $505,000 in his first month in the race, and, after expenses, had slighty more on hand than Kelloff.

Democrat brings in cash to flip Colorado Springs district

Colorado’s other Jeff among Republican congressmen — Hurd’s fellow freshman, U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank —  raised $345,000 last quarter as he looks to defend the conservative 5th Congressional District. Crank’s war chest now tops $1.1 million.

His likely opponent, Democrat Jessica Killin, brought in nearly $670,000, bringing her on-hand total to more than $1.5 million. Army veteran Joe Reagan, who is challenging Killin for the Democratic nomination, raised $86,000 and ended the first quarter with $33,000 in the bank.

Democrats have been targeting the district, which — after Boebert’s current seat — is the most conservative in the state.

Incumbents’ cash hauls

While DeGette looks to ward off her primary opponents, Colorado’s three other Democratic members of Congress are without well-known Republican challengers. But they’re still slowly building up their campaign bank accounts.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, of the Boulder-based 2nd Congressional District, brought his cash on hand to just under $3 million last quarter. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, of Aurora’s 6th Congressional District, raked in nearly $940,000 to start 2026 (which, his campaign said, was his largest single-quarter haul), and he had more than $2.5 million under his campaign mattress.

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, whose 7th Congressional District covers the center of the state up through parts of metro Denver, had more than $915,000 on hand.

Those sums will allow the Democrats to support not only their own campaigns but others’ races and causes, too. Crow’s latest campaign finance report listed a nearly $60,000 contribution to the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, for instance, while Neguse gave $35,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Vietnam Syndrome — the deep reluctance to project American power abroad after the trauma of the Vietnam War — was first widely recognized as a driving ideology within Democratic circles just as I arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin my career. The mood of the city then was shaped by the revelations of the Vietnam War, the publication of the Pentagon Papers, and the findings of the Church Committee, chaired by Frank Church, on which Colorado’s freshman senator, Gary Hart, served. Americans learned of CIA overreach, covert interventions, and hard truths about government deception. The national psyche shifted.

By the time the Iran hostage crisis unfolded under President Jimmy Carter, the Democratic Party was deeply wary of military force. Carter chose negotiation and restraint as 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days by the new Islamic Revolutionary regime. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his approach, it reflected a broader hesitancy shaped by Vietnam’s shadow.

That hesitancy has never fully disappeared.

Today, as the United States and Israel act together to degrade the military capabilities of the Iranian regime — a regime that has funded and armed proxy militias across the region for decades — I am struck by the cautious, almost antiseptic language coming from many Democratic leaders.

For example, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said this week: “Any use of military force must be consistent with our constitutional framework and avoid drawing the United States into another open-ended conflict in the Middle East.” That concern is understandable.

No American wants another Iraq or Afghanistan. But when constitutional process becomes the primary lens and the strategic objective becomes secondary, it echoes the old reflex: avoid strength for fear of entanglement.

Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, emphasized that “Congress must be consulted before further escalation,” underscoring the need for oversight and warning against “another prolonged regional war.”

Rep. Joe Neguse similarly stressed that, “First and foremost, our constitution is crystal-clear: the decision to take our nation to war rests with Congress.”

Process, process, process. Deflection from the embrace of American strength to rid the world of the worst of the worst.

I write this not as a detached observer. I spent formative years in Washington working in pro-Israel politics, engaging both Democrats and Republicans, and watching firsthand how internal party debates over strength and restraint played out. In the year 2000, I ran as the Democratic nominee in Congressional District 6 now held by Jason Crow. Yet today, I view these events from the front row.

Six years ago, I became a dual U.S.–Israeli citizen and now spend most of my time in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. Since Saturday morning, much of our community life has shifted underground. We move between home and reinforced shelters as Iranian ballistic missiles — fired from roughly 2,000 miles away — target civilian neighborhoods. These are not symbolic gestures; they are designed for mass casualties. The families in these shelters are not abstractions in a policy debate. They are neighbors.

From this vantage point, the debate in Washington feels tone-deaf.

When Iran’s leadership vows Israel’s destruction and arms groups who are committed to that goal, deterrence is not theoretical. It is existential. The current joint operation — undertaken by President Donald Trump in coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — may be politically controversial, and both leaders are undeniably flawed. But the strategic objective of preventing a violent theocratic regime from expanding its destructive reach is neither reckless nor novel. It is long overdue.

This is where Vietnam Syndrome still lingers — not as a slogan, but as a mindset. The instinct to lead with caution rather than clarity. To emphasize process before principle. To worry first about overreach rather than about the consequences of inaction.

I do not expect unanimity. I do not expect cheerleading. But I do expect moral clarity when civilians are under sustained attack and when a regime that has destabilized a region for nearly half a century is finally facing meaningful consequences.

From Washington, these questions are strategic. From Herzliya, they are personal. The Democratic Party once prided itself on combining moral leadership with pragmatic strength. The challenge now is whether it can rediscover that balance — not abandoning caution, but refusing paralysis. History shows the costs of both overreach and retreat. The test of leadership is knowing the difference.

Ken Toltz is a 3rd-generation Denverite, long-time political activist, and a former Democratic nominee for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District. He now lives in Herzliya, Israel.

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Updated March 6, 2026 at 8:19 a.m. Due to a columnist’s error, the original version of this opinion column misquoted Rep. Joe Neguse.

Senators and members of Congress often bring guests to the president’s annual address. This year, the roster from Colorado includes guests who are on the front lines of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

Among them is Caroline Dias Goncalves, a University of Utah student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Mesa County last spring after a sheriff’s deputy who pulled her over in a traffic stop alerted federal authorities. Goncalves, who was released from detention in late June, will be a guest of U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

“Immigrants like me — we’re not asking for anything special. Just a fair chance to feel safe and to keep building the lives we’ve worked so hard for in the country we call home,” . “I hope no one else has to go through what I did, and I hope my story and presence can help inspire change for a better future.”

In a similar vein, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, also a Democrat, will bring Andrea Loya, the executive director of Casa De Paz. The nonprofit group works with people who are or were recently detained in Aurora’s ICE facility, as well as their families.

Caroline Dias Goncalves is our guest for tonight����ap State of the Union. Dreamers like Caroline have grown up here since they were young kids. They should not have to live in fear of violence from ICE.

— Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick)

Here are other Coloradans set to attend Tuesday’s speech in the nation’s Capitol. Trump’s address is set to begin shortly after 7 p.m. MST.

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood, will bring Tyler Guyton, a survivor of the Evergreen High School shooting and the school’s student council president. Pettersen’s district includes the school.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Windsor, will bring state Sen. Byron Pelton, her office said. Pelton, who serves as the minority caucus chair in the state Senate, represents Sterling and northeastern Colorado, a district that overlaps with Boebert’s congressional district.

U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Aurora, will host Jay Park, who owns bb.q Chicken, a restaurant franchise that has a location in Aurora.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, will bring … no one, including herself. Spokesman Jack Stelzner said the congresswoman wasn’t planning to attend the speech and “won’t force a constituent to sit through (President Donald Trump’s) lies and misstatements.”

U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, will bring his wife, Anne, as his guest.

Messages sent to Republican U.S. Reps. Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd and to Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Colorado features one of the closest congressional races in the nation — the 8th Congressional District, which covers a stretch of suburbs and farmland north of Denver. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has attracted a few intraparty challengers to his reelection bid, though he handily outraised them in the final quarter of 2025.

In Colorado’s ruby red 4th Congressional District, incumbent Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert trailed badly in the fundraising game in the last quarter of last year, though the Democrats trying to send her packing have a tough road ahead given the district’s political makeup.

Here’s a closer look at where donors are lining up in Colorado’s most competitive congressional contests, along with a glance at the U.S. Senate race. The three districts represented by Democratic incumbent Congress members , and are largely without political intrigue so far in this election cycle.

The latest numbers from the Federal Election Commission cover the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

Evans’ reelection race

The 8th Congressional District is the race the political chattering classes often point to as one that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. House, given its ultra-competitive nature. Cook Political Report , with Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans hoping to retain power for a second term.

He beat former Rep. Yadira Caraveo , a Democrat, in 2024 by fewer than 3,000 votes.

Evans managed to outraise the competition in the fourth quarter of 2025, but not significantly. The former state lawmaker and police officer pulled down nearly $487,000 and now has around $2.55 million of cash on hand. His closest competitor, Democratic state Rep. Manny Rutinel, raised nearly $419,000 and has around $1.2 million in the bank.

Rutinel has actually outraised Evans for the entire election cycle — $2.5 million to $1.85 million, according to FEC data. He also spent the most in the field last quarter — $230,000.

Former Democratic state Rep. Shannon Bird, who resigned from the Colorado General Assembly in December to put full focus on the 8th District race, collected $375,000 from donors in the fourth quarter, adding to the nearly $1 million she had raised before Oct. 1.

Marine combat veteran and finance professional Evan Munsing pulled in $225,000 during the quarter. The Democrat has more than $213,000 in his war chest.

Boebert outraised by Democrats

Republican firebrand Boebert, the incumbent in the sprawling 4th District on the Eastern Plains, had an anemic showing in the most recent filing with the FEC. Collecting less than $150,000 in the final quarter of 2025, she trailed Democratic challenger Eileen Laubacher by a massive margin.

Laubacher, a Navy veteran and rear admiral, had the biggest haul of the quarter of any candidate running for Congress in Colorado. She pulled down just over $2 million, bringing her contribution total in the election cycle to nearly $6.5 million. She sits on a pile of more than $2.5 million in cash compared to Boebert’s $219,000.

Laubacher also spent a hefty $1.5 million on her election effort last quarter.

Trisha Calvarese, the Democratic nominee who lost to Boebert in 2024, had an impressive haul — just over $1 million in the fourth quarter — but was only at about half of what Laubacher took in. Still, Calvarese has more than twice Boebert’s cash on hand, with $518,000 in the bank.

Democratic contenders John Padora, who has run for the 4th District before, and Jenna Preston each collected around $20,000 last quarter. Preston, a clinical psychologist, has nearly $53,000 in cash on hand to Padora’s less than $9,000.

Crank’s strong money challenge

Another firmly Republican district, Colorado’s 5th will give Democrat Jessica Killin a run for her money as she tries to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank. A former U.S. Army captain and chief of staff to former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Killin jumped into the race last summer.

Her fundraising prowess has been impressive, and she collected around $611,000 in the fourth quarter. That brings her total for the cycle to more than $1.6 million. Crank pulled in just over $280,000 for the quarter. Killin holds a cash-on-hand advantage of $1.1 million to Crank’s more than $968,000.

But Crank won the seat, which encompasses Colorado Springs, by 14 percentage points over his Democratic opponent in 2024.

The race has attracted several other Democratic challengers, including unsuccessful 2024 contender Joseph Reagan, but none have come close to matching Killin’s haul.

Quieter money race in CD3 this time

Gone are the days of eye-popping money in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, when Boebert was being challenged by Democrat Adam Frisch before she switched districts to the 4th in the waning days of 2023.

Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman who raised more than $12 million in the 2024 election cycle, lost to Republican Jeff Hurd in the right-leaning district that primarily covers the western stretch of the state.

Hurd’s Democratic challenger this cycle, San Luis Valley native Alex Kelloff, raised $65,000 in the final quarter of 2025 — compared to Hurd’s $240,000 haul. Kelloff has $434,000 cash on hand while Hurd’s pile has grown to more than $1.57 million.

But Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney who is in his first term in Congress, must first fend off a candidate to his right in the June 30 primary — former Colorado Republican Vice Chairwoman Hope Scheppelman.

However, the difference in fundraising is stark. Scheppelman raised around $43,000 last quarter, according to FEC numbers, and has less than a tenth of Hurd’s war chest.

James, Kiros take on DeGette

Democrat Diana DeGette is Colorado’s longest-serving member of Congress — by a long shot. But she has several candidates in her party to fend off in June before standing for reelection in November in what will be an attempt at her 16th term in office in the 1st Congressional District.

Most notable is Wanda James, a University of Colorado regent and marijuana entrepreneur, who raised more than $78,000 in 2025’s final quarter. That total brings her cash on hand to $93,000. Attorney Melat Kiros, a native of Ethiopia, nearly matched James’ take at $77,500 but has less in the bank — with cash on hand of $64,000.

Meanwhile, DeGette pulled in nearly $249,000 last quarter and sits on a pile of $535,000 in cash on hand.

No Republicans have raised any money in the Denver-centered race so far.

U.S. Senate primary shapes up

In Colorado’s lone Senate race, Hickenlooper was the king of fundraising last quarter. He reported collecting more than $936,000 from donors. The former Denver mayor and Colorado governor, who is in his first term in the Senate, has a war chest of nearly $3.9 million.

He is being challenged on the left by state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who jumped into the race in December. In less than a month, the Democrat managed to pull in nearly $180,000 and has nearly $161,000 cash on hand.

University of Colorado political science professor Karen Breslin is also challenging Hickenlooper in the June primary. The Democrat raised just over $58,000 last quarter and has just $7,000 in the bank.

Several Republicans are also in the race. Janak Joshi, a former state lawmaker who unsuccessfully ran for the 8th Congressional District in 2024, collected the most in the fourth quarter, with just over $60,000, and had nearly $350,000 cash on hand.

George Markert, a U.S. Marine for more than 30 years, took in $55,000 last quarter and sits on nearly $73,000 in cash, according to FEC filings.

State Sen. Mark Baisley of Woodland Park switched in early January — after the end of the reporting period — to the U.S. Senate primary from the crowded GOP primary in the Colorado governor’s race.

The move comes as President Donald Trump doubles down on his administration’s efforts to push late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Crow, a Democrat who represents the Aurora-centered 6th Congressional District, said ABC’s recent suspension of the comedian over comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — before he was reinstated Tuesday — sped up plans to bring the bill.

“We’ve been talking about this for some time,” Crow said in an interview, “but certainly we‘ve seen a huge acceleration of efforts by this administration to silence dissent and to impinge on people’s First Amendment rights — so we similarly have expedited our efforts to send a very strong message (that) that����ap not acceptable.”

He and the other lawmakers unveiled the NOPE — short for — Act late last week, a day after Disney-owned ABC suspended Kimmel amid pressure from federal regulators and local TV affiliates.

The bill, which has not yet been introduced in Congress, would in part underscore existing constitutional speech protections, . It would codify in federal law protections for people facing litigation because of their speech, and it would give an explicit private right of action to sue.

In a nod to a recent Trump threat, it would also provide legal avenues for American nonprofits targeted by the administration.

The bill may face a difficult path in Congress, where Democrats are in the minority in both chambers. Though some Republicans criticized the government����ap pressure on ABC, there are not yet any GOP lawmakers among the bill’s supporters.

Crow will back the bill in the House. In the interview Wednesday, Crow didn’t have a timeline for when the bill would be introduced but said it was being fast-tracked. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, will carry a companion measure in the Senate.

The bill will likely include language akin to Colorado’s and other states’ anti-SLAPP laws, Crow said. Those laws generally protect journalists and members of the public against frivolous, speech-related lawsuits, allowing early dismissal of such cases. have been unsuccessful.

The legislation, if passed, would help codify existing speech protections that have been established by court precedent, said Alan Chen, a professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law who focuses on free speech. It would also provide “front-end protection from government agencies abusing their authority,” he said.

“For the most part, it mirrors what the law already is, while reinforcing that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in violating any of these rights — which, again, should be obvious,” Chen said of Democrats’ plans for the bill. “But sometimes, agencies need a reminder.”

The NOPE Act’s drafting comes as Trump and his administration have increasingly sought to crack down on news reporting and public comments the president does not like, or which he alleges are inaccurate.

Lambasting the media and his critics has been a constant of Trump’s political career, but his return to the White House has brought more direct attempts to punish perceived opponents. He’s filed lawsuits against outlets that have reported upon him critically, and federal immigration officials . from news events after the outlet refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” as his administration had renamed it.

After the assassination of Kirk, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, promised consequences for ABC if the network didn’t take action against Kimmel for the comedian’s remarks about Kirk and his supporters. Kimmel’s show was subsequently suspended by ABC.

Carr’s comments drew broad criticism, including from Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz.

The suspension ended Tuesday night. But Kimmel’s return prompted Trump to threaten more litigation, and Carr said the FCC would continue with its congressional mandate to ensure broadcast TV serves the public interest. “If people don’t like it,” , “they can go to Congress and change the law.”

Chen said congressional Democrats’ legislation is an effort by Congress’ minority party to wield legislative power and respond to the pressures on the First Amendment. Congressional committees and members could more directly launch investigations, hold up funding or demand answers from federal officials, he said.

“When legislators seek to protect free-speech rights that are already protected under the First Amendment, what they’re usually signaling is they think a couple different things,” Chen said. “They’re worried courts won’t do their job enforcing the First Amendment. The second is … to have a more systemic or systematic approach to deterring violations of the First Amendment.”

The expected bill would also seek to provide due process for nonprofits that “the government attempts to label as criminal or terrorist organizations,” according to Crow’s office. Trump told reporters last week that he wanted to designate a range of unspecified groups as domestic terrorist organizations, which — among other things — could strip those groups of their tax-exempt status.

While more standard attempts to remove that status can be challenged in court, the terrorism designation would be much more difficult for a nonprofit to undo.

The New York Times contributed to this story.

The Republican candidate in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District is drawing on his career with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he runs against U.S. Rep. Jason Crow in the Nov. 5 election. Crow, a Democrat, just finished his third term in Congress as the representative of the district, which includes Aurora, Littleton, Englewood, Greenwood Village and Centennial.

The odds weigh heavily in Crow’s favor. The nonpartisan doesn’t consider the fight for the 6th District to be competitive. It’s ranked as solidly Democratic, in part because Crow, 45, won all three of his elections and redistricting in 2020 resulted in boundaries more favorable to Democrats.

That’s a change from 2018 when the district was seen as a battleground and Crow won his first race by unseating then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, now Aurora’s mayor.

But this time, Fabbricatore, 52, says voters are looking for a candidate who will prioritize the economy and lower taxes — and he contends that he’s the person for the job.

“They want someone that wants to fight,” Fabbricatore said.

He and Crow share certain traits. They’re both veterans: Fabbricatore served in the U.S. Air Force, and Crow was an Army Ranger. They’re hunters, each having longstanding experience with firearms. Neither hails from Colorado originally, with Fabbricatore raised in New York City and Crow in Madison, Wisconsin.

And the candidates, both fathers of two children, reside in Aurora.

Beyond that, their stances on major issues diverge — including on immigration, which Fabbricatore refers to as his “subject matter expertise.” He worked as deputy director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division in Denver before becoming director of that field office, which covers Colorado and Wyoming.

He argues jobs are going to immigrants compensated with lower wages, taking positions that could be filled by Americans for higher pay. Fabbricatore says he supports “legal, vetted” immigration and more stringent enforcement of existing laws.

“If we actually just enforce those laws, we will be doing much better than we are doing today with immigration,” he said.

In recent weeks, Fabbricatore alongside former President Donald Trump and other conservatives about the presence of Venezuelan gangs in Aurora — while Crow has called out exaggerations and criticized Trump for distorting the problems in certain apartment complexes.

Crow notes that he represents “one of the most diverse districts in the nation,” with nearly 20% of his constituents born outside of the U.S. He wants to use federal grants and other programs to help immigrants and defend them against racist rhetoric.

He said he backed that ran aground earlier this year after . It would have boosted the number of border patrol agents, immigration judges and officers that oversee asylum cases, as well as established more legal pathways for migrants and others without documentation.

Fabbricatore said in a Denver Post candidate questionnaire that he would not have supported the bipartisan bill, instead preferring another bill with a greater focus on border security.

Gun violence is what motivated Crow to run for office. He backs a ban on assault weapons and supports universal background checks. He’s also working that would apply the same restrictions to out-of-state residents when they purchase long guns and shotguns as they face when buying handguns — requiring that the gun be shipped to a federally licensed seller in their home state, with a background check performed there.

Gun violence is “just an unacceptable, avoidable, ongoing national tragedy,” Crow said. “We don’t have to live with mass shootings.”

Fabbricatore says he believes in gun rights and is instead pushing for investments in mental health.

The candidates differ on abortion. Crow favors abortion rights, saying he aligns with the majority of Coloradans — and he would support a federal law establishing that as a right. Fabbricatore says Congress should leave abortion’s legal status to the states. He opposes abortion, but he says he recognizes a need for exceptions, including in cases of rape.

“Having been someone who worked in sex trafficking and saw what many women went through, I could never tell a woman that she couldn’t have a medical procedure to end what happened to her,” he said.

Fabbricatore points to the economy as his No. 1 issue, saying it’s impacted by energy policy and immigration. He sees Colorado’s potential to participate in the energy sector through solar, wind, fracking and coal.

He says he wants to leave the younger generations with a prosperous economy, reliable job market and reasonable housing prices.

Crow says the nation’s inflation and interest rates are dropping, but he contends that prices are still “way too high for many Coloradans.”

He points to corporate price gouging as a contributing factor. Crow argues that the labor shortage, which drives up prices, could be addressed through immigration reform.

He touted provisions for Medicare enrollees.

“There’s more work to do, but we’re on a good path — and certainly need to keep on the path that we are to make sure things are affordable,” Crow said.

Also on the ballot in the 6th District race are Travis Nicks of the Approval Voting Party and John Kittleson, a Libertarian.

Here is a look at who will be on the ballot in the state’s congressional primaries, district by district. Listed are major-party contenders who qualified by petitioning onto the ballot, by winning support at party assemblies, or by taking both routes. Ballots were certified Friday by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The listing doesn’t include third-party and independent candidates who are running in this fall’s general election. Candidates in competitive races are listed in ballot order, as determined by .

1st Congressional District

Includes the City and County of Denver

Democratic primary: U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, the stalwart representative of the district centered in liberal-leaning Denver, has occupied the seat since 1997 — the longest of any current Colorado member of Congress, by far — and is unopposed on the ballot. Democrat John Wren has filed as a write-in candidate.

Republican primary: Valdamar Archuleta, a Denver native who told Ballotpedia as a massage therapist and photographer, is running unopposed.

2nd Congressional District

Includes the north-central mountains, Fort Collins and Boulder

Democratic primary: U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, now the House’s assistant Democratic leader, has held the seat since 2019. The Lafayette resident is running unopposed.

Republican primary: Marshall Dawson, who lives in Longmont and works in the technology field, is unopposed. The November election will be a rematch of 2022, when Dawson lost to Neguse by more than 40 points.

3rd Congressional District

Covers much of the Western Slope and southern Colorado, including Grand Junction and Pueblo

Republican primary: U.S. Lauren Boebert, the Republican who has occupied the seat since 2021, opted to run in the 4th Congressional District this year. Several candidates have made the ballot in the open GOP race:

• Stephen Varela, a Colorado Board of Education member who lives in Pueblo. He won top-line billing at the district’s Republican assembly.
• Ron Hanks, a former state representative from Fremont County.
• Lew Webb, a former car dealership owner who lives in Durango.
• Russ Andrews, a Carbondale financial adviser.
• Curtis McCrackin, a Delta County businessman.
• Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction electric co-op attorney.

Democratic primary: Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, is unopposed. In 2022, he narrowly lost the election to Boebert.

4th Congressional District

Includes much of the Eastern Plains and most of south metro Denver’s Douglas County

Republican primary: After five-term Congressman Ken Buck, a Republican, announced late last year that he wouldn’t run for reelection, a crowded GOP field entered the race in the conservative-leaning district. Buck later resigned his seat in March. Several Republicans have made the ballot:

• Lauren Boebert, the sitting 3rd District congresswoman, who has moved to Windsor in a bid to switch districts. She won top-line billing at the district’s Republican assembly.
• Richard Holtorf, a state representative who lives in Akron.
• Mike Lynch, a state representative who lives in Wellington.
• Deborah Flora, a former conservative radio host who lives in Parker.
• Jerry Sonnenberg, a Logan County commissioner and former state lawmaker.
• Peter Yu, a Weld County businessman.

Democratic primary:

• Trisha Calvarese, a union advocate and National Science Foundation writer who lives in Highlands Ranch. She won top-line billing at the district’s Democratic assembly.
• John Padora, a Severance resident who has worked as a manufacturing engineer and machinist.
• Ike McCorkle, a Marine veteran who lives in Parker and lost to Buck in the 2022 and 2020 elections.

Note: On the same day as the primary, the 4th District also will have a special election — featuring Calvarese and Republican Greg Lopez — to fill the the seat for the rest of Buck’s term this year.

5th Congressional District

Covers most of El Paso County, including Colorado Springs and its suburbs

Republican primary: Colorado’s third open-seat GOP primary comes about as a result of longtime Rep. Doug Lamborn’s decision to step down after his ninth term ends in January. Two candidates have made the ballot:

• Dave Williams, the Colorado Republican Party’s chairman and a former state representative. He secured top-line billing at the district’s GOP assembly.
• Jeff Crank, a political consultant and longtime radio host in Colorado Springs.

Democratic primary:

• River Gassen, a research scientist and graduate student. She secured top-line billing at the district’s Democratic assembly.
• Joe Reagan, an Army veteran and nonprofit executive.

6th Congressional District

Includes Aurora and many of Denver’s southern suburbs

Democratic primary: U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora resident who has held the seat since 2019, is running unopposed.

Republican primary: John Fabbricatore, a former director of the Denver field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who lives in Aurora, is unopposed.

7th Congressional District

Includes metro Denver’s Broomfield and Jefferson counties and extends south to Park, Fremont and Custer counties

Democratic primary: U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a former state lawmaker from Lakewood who has held the seat since 2023, is unopposed.

Republican primary: Sergei Matveyuk, who lives in Golden and owns a business that appraises and repairs art and antiques, is unopposed.

8th Congressional District

Includes several north Denver suburbs and Greeley

Democratic primary: U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Thornton pediatrician who won one of Colorado’s most competitive races in 2022, is unopposed.

Republican primary:

• Gabe Evans, a state representative from Fort Lupton who is an Army veteran and former police officer. He won top-line billing at the district’s GOP assembly.
• Janak Joshi, a former state representative from Colorado Springs who now lives in Thornton and is a retired physician.

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In 1983, a seat sat vacant because Jack Swigert, a former astronaut on the Apollo 13 who was elected the previous November, died of cancer one week before taking office. This time around, it’s because Republican Ken Buck stepped down from Congress late last month — more than nine months before the end of his fifth term representing the 4th Congressional District.

Swigert’s death resulted in an 85-day absence in the newly formed, metro Denver-based 6th Congressional District that ended when Dan Schaefer won a special election at the end of March 1983. Schaefer, who died in 2006, went on to serve eight more terms in Congress.

Likewise, a special election on June 25 will fill Buck’s seat, but not before the endure a 95-day vacancy in Washington, D.C.

That’s more than three months of no one in the House voting on bills, pushing for federal funding or looking out for the economic engines — farming, ranching, meatpacking, and oil and gas extraction — of the vast Eastern Plains district. The 4th abuts the border with Wyoming and Nebraska in the north and follows the Kansas state line to the Oklahoma Panhandle in the south.

“This is usually a period when there’s a lot of legislating going on in Washington,” said Ken Bickers, a political science professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. “The policymaking — the sausage-making — is really busy about this time through the fall.”

The next occupant will be determined when Republican Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial hopeful, faces off against Democrat Trisha Calvarese in the special election in June. They were chosen through party caucuses in recent weeks.

Until then, Travis Grant, a spokesman for the Colorado Farm Bureau, said the state’s agriculture sector is keeping an eye on the nation’s capital while the 4th District’s seat sits empty.

“Given that Colorado’s 4th Congressional District is an agricultural powerhouse, it would be impossible to ignore the ramifications of the vacancy,” he said. “The most glaring of these matters is the need to get a new Farm Bill passed before the extension of the 2018 farm bill runs out on Sept. 30.”

As for the oil and gas sector, Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said the timing of Buck’s departure was fortuitous, “since the House has done good work on energy already.”

“With no plans for more energy legislation to hit the floor in the next few months, (Buck) has already taken care of one of the most important economic drivers in his district by voting for those (industry) bills,” she said.

Sgamma expressed little hope that legislation that’s passed the House will advance any time soon in the Democratic-majority Senate.

Some local officials aren’t worried

The 4th District touches 21 counties. A couple of county commissioners contacted by The Denver Post were nonplussed by the empty House seat. It will mostly be a “non-issue” for Douglas County, by far the district’s most populous, said Commissioner George Teal.

That’s in large part because , which are congressional spending measures aimed at funding particular projects in a particular district. So there are no promised infrastructure projects suddenly in danger of getting spiked because he’s gone, Teal said.

“He didn’t believe in pork-barrel politics,” he said of Buck.

Wendy Buxton-Andrade, a commissioner in Prowers County, said she and her colleagues don’t think the temporary lack of congressional representation will have a “huge impact on us right now.” Prowers County, home to Lamar and Granada, rides up against the Kansas state line in Colorado’s southeast corner.

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper “will probably pick up the slack for three months and if we need to have our voices heard during the three months, we can reach out to them,” she wrote in an email.

Bennet is planning to meet with residents in the 4th District “this spring and summer,” said his deputy press secretary, Patrick Barham Quesada. Meanwhile, Hickenlooper’s office said the junior senator will look out for the interests of Buck’s former constituents during the vacancy, including “handling any casework for residents in the 4th.”

Both senators are Democrats, and the 4th is the state’s  district. But not everything connected to Congress is partisan — constituent services, such as assisting residents in obtaining passports or social security cards, are some of the pedestrian tasks lawmakers do for those they represent.

Vacancies in Congress have been more common in other states. In an academic paper Tyler Ritchie, a graduate of Columbia Law School, wrote last year for , he noted that in the quarter century from 1997 to 2021, there were 136 vacancies in the House.

Four seats are vacant currently, , including that of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, who resigned Dec. 31.

Those vacancies have gotten longer in recent years, Ritchie found. The average length of an empty seat in the first five years of that period clocked in at 104 days, but in the last five years, the average absence had increased to 173 days.

The longest was 359 days — from December 2017 to November 2018 — following the resignation of Michigan U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., according to his research.

That puts Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ decision to set the special election in the 4th Congressional District for June 25, timing that’s within the guardrails set by state law, at the shorter end of the House vacancy spectrum. It will fall on the same day as the district’s party primaries for the regular election in November.

Good chance of a short-timer

With the district’s heavy Republican lean, Calvarese, a relative unknown in Colorado politics who worked as a congressional staffer and as a writer for the National Science Foundation, will have a tough battle prevailing against her Republican opponent.

Lopez has said he plans only to fill out the rest of Buck’s term and won’t run in the primary for the next term that starts in January.

Bickers, the CU professor, said Lopez’s placeholder status, if he wins, could hamper solid representation for the 4th Congressional District beyond June.

As a six-month congressman, Lopez barely would be getting started on Capitol Hill before he is out the door, Bickers said — let alone securing any influential committee assignments that can have a real impact on the creation of public policy.

“It’s hard to imagine he’s going to be fully staffed by the time he leaves,” Bickers said. “I think it means the 4th District won’t be as well represented until it has someone in there for a full term and beyond.”

As many as 10 GOP candidates have been trying to get on the June 25 primary ballot in recent weeks, with Rep. Lauren Boebert — who’s seeking to switch from the 3rd Congressional District — and conservative radio host Deborah Flora the . The rest are either awaiting a sufficiency ruling from state elections officials on their petitions or were attempting to gain ballot access at this weekend’s Republican conventions in Pueblo.

Several Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination to represent the district next year, including Calvarese.

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Fabbricatore was selected by the GOP’s 6th District caucus on Monday as the party’s nominee, meaning he will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Khaleb Dammen had announced his candidacy to compete for the Republican nomination in the June primary, but Fabbricatore spokesman Mike Young said Dammen didn’t show for Monday’s caucus.

Fabbricatore spent his career in federal law enforcement, most recently as director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s Denver field office, which covers operations in Colorado and Wyoming. He also is a U.S. Air Force veteran, while Crow served as an Army Ranger.

Crow has represented the district that encompasses Aurora and much of Denver’s southern suburbs since 2019. He beat then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican who now serves as Aurora’s mayor, by more than 10 points in 2018 after Coffman had held the seat for a decade.

Crow coasted to victory again in 2020 and 2022 with even wider margins.

Fabbricatore, who retired from ICE in 2022, focused on the U.S. southern border in a statement issued after he secured the nomination Monday.

“Our border is in crisis with fentanyl, terrorists and other criminals crossing unvetted every day, making American families less safe,” he said. “I am running because Congress needs someone who knows how to enforce the law in Washington instead of a career politician, who is all talk, resulting in no results on public safety.”

In Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, Democrats on Monday chose Trisha Calvarese to take on former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, a Republican, in the district’s June 25 special election to fill the rest of former Rep. Ken Buck’s term this year. That election will take place the same day as the parties’ primaries for the November election, which will determine who occupies the seat beginning in early 2025.

Calvarese is a writer for the National Science Foundation and a former speechwriter for the AFL-CIO.

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In a to the VA’s undersecretary of health, Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Crow requested records outlining how many prosthetic department orders were deleted and what the hospital is doing to ensure veterans receive proper care.

“There is a sacred promise in America that if you step up to serve, the nation will be there for you when you take off the uniform,” Crow, a Democrat and former Army Ranger who represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, wrote in the letter.

Friday’s letter comes a month after The Denver Post reported that the former head of the Eastern Colorado VA’s prosthetics department instructed lower-level employees to delete orders from veterans seeking artificial limbs, wheelchairs, surgical implants, glasses, hearing aids and other devices needed to help them live more functional lives.

Three former department workers told The Post that Norma Mestas, the department chief, wanted to keep these orders from hitting the VA’s system in an effort to make the department look like it didn’t have a backlog and was hitting its metrics. The ex-employees also said the department kept an off-the-books spreadsheet with veteran orders that acted as an illegal, unofficial waitlist.

Crow requested a list of all ongoing reviews and investigations related to the Aurora VA system and any remedial actions.

The Post on Sunday also reported that the Eastern Colorado VA’s suicide prevention department had reassigned its nationally renowned director following a union report outlining “emotional, mental and psychological abuse” towards its employees.

The union’s report, compiled from interviews with 28 current and former workers, said the center’s chief, Dr. Lisa Brenner, promoted a culture of fear, retaliation and racism. The union also accused Brenner of misusing VA money for personal endeavors.

The Eastern Colorado VA system is in the midst of a crisis. In October, leadership reassigned the system’s director, Michael Kilmer, and his chief of staff amid investigations into unspecified concerns over “operational oversight, organizational health and workplace culture.”

“As these reviews/investigations progress and conclude, we expect a transparent account of the current state of (Rocky Mountain VA), and any remedial action taken in response,” Crow wrote in the letter.

The VA, through a spokesperson, did not address the contents of the letter, only saying that the agency would respond directly to the congressman’s office.

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