Colorado Democrats Debate What Matters More: Electability or Representation

THORNTON, Colorado — State Rep. Manny Rutinel wended through booths selling handmade jewelry and locally-grown mushrooms at a farmers market here, introducing himself to voters, who, almost on cue, gasped at his youth and good looks.

“Younger is better for me,” said Carina Corbito, a 65-year-old food truck worker who met the Democratic candidate for the state’s 8th Congressional District at the market and wanted to introduce him to her daughter. Judy Burris, a Democratic voter who was selling empanadas when she greeted Rutinel, said his being Latino is “100% a positive” for a district with a significant Hispanic community.

These voters’ in-person reactions match the persona Rutinel has built online, where the Democrat has raised more than $4 million and has drawn 1.5 million views on TikTok for his launch video for his challenge to Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans.

But the warm reception belies Rutinel’s challenges ahead. He must first emerge from an expensive primary Tuesday against former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a moderate, experienced state legislator. Outside groups are boosting both Rutinel and Bird, though pro-Rutinel spending vastly exceeded Bird’s. And some Colorado Democrats are increasingly concerned about the baggage Rutinel would carry into the general election, including appearing to flip-flop on key policies.

“In 2026, the wind is blowing hard in one direction for Democrats that it’s probably going to be OK in November, but man, Manny’s got a lot of baggage,” said one Colorado Democratic strategist who is not involved in the race and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s got a very compelling personal story, a young Latino guy raised by a single mom, and I think that will help, too, winning back Latinos there.”

Voters in the district are divided over what kind of candidate to elect: the young, social media star who shares a cultural identity with much of the district, or the experienced state lawmaker who some Democrats think is a much safer bet come November.

The question of representation has taken on more salience since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act’s provisions protecting majority-minority congressional districts.

“Voters in CD-8 have a really interesting choice in terms of thinking about what the word representation means,” said Tim Kubik, chair of the Larimer County Democratic Party, which has not endorsed in the primary. “Whether the Supreme Court says majority minority districts are allowed or not, it’s still the case that we have one … and it’s still the case that that district is going to make a statement about whether it matters to them.”

Representation has also drawn in big spenders for Rutinel. Somos PAC, a Democratic group that supports Latino candidates, is intervening in a primary for the first time, channeling $1.5 million into the district to boost Rutinel. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ BOLD PAC endorsed him, and Latino Victory Project is spending big on TV ads, too. You Can Push Back, a super PAC funded by a crypto billionaire, has also dropped $1 million to back Rutinel.

The state legislature drew the district to coalesce the Latino and working class vote into one place. Since its creation in 2022, voters there have sent a Latino to Congress each election. In 2024, Evans beat then-Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat, as President Donald Trump won the district by about 2 percentage points.

Inside a McDonald’s, after his farmers market meet-and-greet, Rutinel argued that his “ability to speak directly to the Latinos in this district in their native tongue” will be key in winning back Latino voters who drifted away from the Democratic Party in 2024.

“It’s my ability to reach folks in person at all the events that I go to, and also online,” he added. “I think representation matters, and I think we have an opportunity to be able to put someone up as a Democratic Party that represents the culture, the language, the experiences, the dreams, the struggles of the Latinos around this district.”

Republicans are losing the gains they made with Latino voters in 2024. Sixty-seven percent of Latinos disapprove of Trump, per a May poll from Unidos U.S. Latinos made a strong showing for Democrats in 2025, and the Unidos Poll found more than 50% of Hispanic voters said they would vote for a Democrat in the midterms. Yet both parties are still underperforming 2024 levels of support.

Rutinel has challenged Bird on her ability to represent the district — as well as over votes she took in the Colorado legislature related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During a debate earlier this month, Rutinel raised the question of representation to her directly: “Why do you not want Latino representation in Colorado’s Congress?” he asked Bird.

She responded that she has lived in the district for nearly 25 years. “I know this community, and I know this district so well. We need representation who knows the community.”

In 2023, Bird voted against a measure that banned local governments from renting beds in their jails to ICE. In 2025, she also voted against a sweeping immigration proposal, co-sponsored by Rutinel, that further limited local and state cooperation with ICE in the House Appropriations Committee. She was absent when the bill was voted on on the House floor.

Bird defended her vote in committee by saying she had concerns that state employees who share data with ICE would incur fines, but that had she been present for the floor vote, she would have voted for it. (She was not present due to a family medical emergency, she said.)

Rutinel’s TV ads attack Bird for being “the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to allow police to cooperate with ICE and let ICE raid our schools and hospitals.”

That attack line was particularly potent for Lorena Villegas, a 68-year-old Democratic voter from Thornton, who met Rutinel at the market. Villegas said Bird’s ICE votes, which she learned about through Rutinel’s TV ads, has her leaning toward voting for him.

Bird called Rutinel’s ads “a blatant falsehood,” in an interview with NOTUS before a voter event in Platteville. She reiterated that her “position on ICE is that it needs to be completely overhauled.”

Bird’s own pitch to voters centers on her moderate record, proof she can “build a broad coalition” by appealing “not only to Democrats but also independents and moderate Republicans,” which is the “only way Democrats have a hope of winning this seat.”

“I tell voters the same thing, no matter what room I’m standing in, and I have an opponent who has demonstrated a track record, apparently, of offering one set of answers depending upon who the audience is,” Bird continued.

Bird and her supporters have raised Rutinel’s own previous controversial positions, particularly around animal agriculture. Before his bid for Congress, Rutinel called animal agriculture — the economic engine of the district — a “horrific, exploitive industry” and suggested that the world shift away from animal products. Now, he calls the district’s farmers the “envy of the world.” In a recent 9News debate, he said he was no longer vegan because he wanted to “enjoy the delicious products that Colorado ranchers make.”

Bird’s backers argue those comments will be far more problematic come November, when Democrats will be competing for rural counties with large farming and ranching constituencies.

“The Republicans are waiting to bring that out, and in Weld County and Adams County, which is the bulk of CD-8, people won’t vote for him,” said Ben Rainbolt, former CEO of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.

Those comments drove the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, which rarely endorses in primaries, to back Bird because of the “extremeness of what we fear Manny Rutinel would do for agriculture,” said Chad Franke, the trade union’s president.

The northern part of the district is more conservative, and Rutinel lacks a message that reaches more moderate voters, said Julie Duran Mullica, an Adams County Commissioner who has endorsed Bird.

“That’s just the reality of this district. We’re not Denver lefties at all,” Mullica said. “[Rutinel is] not going to be able to connect with people who are on the more moderate spectrum, because he just failed to do that so far in his campaign.”

Rutinel has shifted on several progressive policies. He said in an endorsement interview with the Working Families Party that he supported banning fracking, canceling student debt and adopting universal health care. Now, he said he opposes a fracking ban, does not want to cancel student debt and did not support “Medicare For All,” The Colorado Sun reported.

When asked by NOTUS about the accusations that he’s flip-flopped on these policies, Rutinel said, “I’ve been consistent in my values, and that is that I want to fight for working people.”

“Voters are going to identify with him, especially voters who aren’t paying attention to what he’s flip-flopped on. If you’re not super plugged in, you look at Manny’s ads, and it’s a young, Dominican kid on his Little League team, and you relate to that,” said state Rep. Javier Mabrey, who endorsed Rutinel. “His support for ‘Medicare For All’ would not limit his ability to beat Gabe Evans, but he’s backed off of that position, and that’s frustrated progressives.”

Privately, some Democrats cheered Rutinel’s policy moves as a recognition that the district is more moderate. “Some of his past positions, don’t love them for a district like this. So whether it’s him realizing that and moderating himself because he needs to win, or it’s his consultants, I don’t know, but it’s been very notable and welcomed with open arms from people in Washington,” said one national Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to discuss the race candidly.

Either way, Republicans on the ground are salivating. Tyler Sandberg, a Republican consultant in Colorado, said the GOP is “feeling very bullish because Bird would be very difficult to beat,” but Rutinel is the “ideal candidate for Republicans in a tough environment.”

“Out of touch Democrats Manny Rutinel and Shannon Bird have done nothing but race to the far left, fight amongst themselves, and throw cash out the window throughout their messy primary,” Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement shared with NOTUS. “Whoever escapes will be a bruised and broke liberal who will be rejected by Colorado voters this November.”