The race remained too close to call for Newsmax and Decision Desk HQ, but Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., has reportedly conceded the race to Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans, a House seat flip that would put the GOP just one seat away from the coveted majority.
The GOP would hold 217 seats in the House with 218 needed for the slim majority.
"It's been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado's 8th district," Caraveo, a one-term congresswoman, said in a statement Sunday. "I came to Congress to get things done, and have spent the last two years working to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community.
"While this isn't the outcome we had hoped for, the work is not over. I look forward to returning to Washington to finish out this term and will continue to be an independent voice for the people of this district."
Evans has 49% support to Caraveo's 48.2% with less than 5% of the vote left to count, according to the latest DDHQ tallies.
"I am incredibly humbled to be chosen as the next Congressman for Colorado's 8th," Evans wrote in a statement on X. "It is an honor to be entrusted with the job of representing you and your families, and I am ready to fight back for a better direction for all Coloradans.
"Thank you also Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo for your service and gracious concession. I look forward to working with her and her team to transition this office over the next few months."
Latinos make up nearly 40% of the electorate in the district north of Denver, where Evans was trying to unseat Caraveo.
It was not only one of the closest races but one of the closest-watched races this season.
Caraveo won by less than 1,700 votes in 2022 in the district created after redistricting in 2020.
Caraveo and Evans are both Hispanic and have carefully tailored their platforms and rhetoric away from some positions in their party — particularly around border security — and toward both the Latino population and undecided voters who will determine the outcome.
The balancing act comes a time when views on immigration are increasingly nuanced, including among Latinos.
Evans demurred when asked about Trump's proposal to use the National Guard for mass deportations of everyone who is in the country illegally, and leans into proposals to make it easier for people to immigrate legally.
Evans, a grandson of Mexican immigrants, does however lean heavily into demands for greater border security and more resources to find and deport those who have committed violent crimes or are in cartels. The candidate is trying to tap into voters' concerns around public safety, which he sees as a weakness for Democrats.
Evans served in the military, as a police officer and in the National Guard and was elected to the Colorado House in 2022. Caraveo, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, is a pediatrician and was elected to the Colorado House before joining Congress in 2022.
Information from The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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