On June 28, Colorado voters took to the polls to decide on a candidate for Colorado’s latest U.S. Home seat. Republicans selected state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer as their candidate within the main election, and Democrats selected state Rep. Yadira Caraveo.

Through the primaries, Kirkmeyer’s marketing campaign raised $337,756, in response to the FEC, inserting her second to final relating to marketing campaign contributions. Nonetheless, she triumphed over the opposite three Republican contenders, receiving 40.9 p.c of the vote. Her closest opponent, Jan Kulmann, obtained 22.7 p.c.

Caraveo, who ran unopposed, raised over $847,012, in response to the Federal Election Fee (FEC).

Nationwide, if Republicans are to achieve the bulk within the Home, they might want to flip a internet of 5 seats. And Colorado’s latest district is a real toss-up. As such, the race for CD8 may assist resolve who controls Congress following the November election.

Kirkmeyer vs. Caraveo

Kirmeyer, a conservative and state senator for Colorado’s 23^rd district, described herself as a standard sense candidate to The Epoch Instances.

“Having grown up on a farm and later working as a dairy farmer, I used to be taught and instilled with a deep appreciation for the values of arduous work and frugality. Don’t spend greater than you earn!”

She added that her upbringing instilled the deep conservative values that can inform her decision-making in Congress.

Likewise, in response to her marketing campaign web site, Caraveo, a progressive and Consultant for Colorado’s thirty first district, describes herself as coming from an immigrant household that instilled the worth of arduous work. “[Caraveo’s parents] didn’t have a lot schooling or a lot cash, however they knew that tough work and caring for others are the values that construct robust communities and household.”

Coverage Platforms

Along with stating she’s a standard sense candidate, Kirkmeyer says she has a transparent imaginative and prescient for what she needs to do if elected to Congress.

“My most rapid precedence upon taking Congress is to safe the Southern border. … After that, my priorities are to rein in inflation by decreasing spending, to roll again laws that drive up the price of vitality, to scale back deficit spending and debt, and to revive America’s vitality independence,” Kirkmeyer advised The Epoch Instances.

When explicitly requested what she needs to do in regards to the Southern Border, Kirkmeyer responded, “The Biden Administration has opened the door to chaos on the border, leading to a flood of unlawful immigrants and drug trafficking on the Southern border. Let’s restore order to the border. We must always improve border boundaries, the place acceptable, and restore the ‘Stay in Mexico’ coverage, as beginning factors.”

Along with securing the border, Kirkmeyer envisions unleashing Colorado vitality and agricultural sectors from extreme laws.

“My imaginative and prescient for CD 8 is a thriving group constructed round conservative rules: unleash our vitality and agriculture employees from burdensome laws, cut back the price of dwelling by growing the availability of reasonably priced items and companies, and cut back crime and medicines by absolutely funding our police.

Caraveo’s priorities, if elected to Congress, differ from Kirkmeyer’s. She views Congress as “all speak and little motion,” and she or he needs to alter that, in response to her marketing campaign web site.

Particularly, as a physician, Caraveo says she has a novel understanding of the well being care system.

“Yadira understands how the well being care system works from the within, she’ll convey a novel perspective to well being care reform, and the struggle to decrease drug and insurance coverage prices and broaden entry to high quality care,” the web site says.

It provides that Caraveo needs to signify “the voices of Coloradans lengthy ignored in Washington, notably these of Brown, Black and Indigenous communities.”

When requested about her opponent, Kirkmeyer stated that voters ought to look to Caraveo’s voting file to predict how she’d behave in Congress.

She added, “Caraveo is absolutely dedicated to the left-wing, woke agenda—Caraveo coddles criminals, teaches younger youngsters that they’re racist, and helps the very insurance policies which have resulted in chaos on the Southern border. Her file is according to these of the ‘Squad’ members.”

In a press launch, Caraveo stated, “Kirkmeyer is harmful for Colorado households.”

The explanation Kirkmeyer is harmful, in response to Caraveo, is that “Kirkmeyer helps a complete nationwide ban on abortion with out exceptions, and cheered the unconventional SCOTUS resolution to overturn Roe. She opposes even the most typical sense gun violence reforms to maintain Coloradans protected.”

In response to Caraveo’s assertion, Kirkmeyer acknowledged to The Epoch Instances, “I’ve been pro-life my total profession, and I cannot modify my place as a result of the political winds. I’m additionally a realist. Incremental progress towards preserving life continues to be progress. That begins with opposing any taxpayer funding of abortion or Deliberate Parenthood, selling adoption alternate options the place attainable, and limiting later time period abortions.”

Kirkmeyer then added about Caraveo’s reference to Kirkmeyer’s incapacity to maintain Coloradans protected, “If you punish crime, you get much less of it. So, the corollary can be true. If you go straightforward on criminals, you get extra crime. That’s precisely what liberal politicians have been doing in recent times.

“My opponent, Yadira Caraveo, is not any exception. Caraveo coddles criminals. She endorses insurance policies akin to cashless bail that put unhealthy guys again on the streets and end in extra crime. I’ll get up for and absolutely fund legislation enforcement, safe the border to scale back the trafficking of lethal fentanyl and different medication, and put repeat offenders behind bars.”

When requested why Colorado voters ought to select Kirkmeyer over Caraveo, Kirkmeyer responded, “We’ve skilled virtually two years of unbridled progressivism, and the outcomes are clear: a deteriorating high quality of life, skyrocketing price of dwelling, extra crime and lawlessness, and chaos on the border. The progressive experiment has failed. The previous two years have been eye-openers for a lot of Individuals.

“I need to do the other: give attention to reining in spending, chopping the price of dwelling, decreasing crime, restoring order on the border, and bettering the standard of life. It is a distinction between my imaginative and prescient of hope and alternative versus Yadira Caraveo’s rubber-stamping of the insurance policies of decay.”

Neither Caraveo, nor her marketing campaign, returned a request for remark.

Colorado’s New 8^th District

Colorado Impartial Redistricting Commissions’ last authorized plan for Colorado District 8, Sep. 28, 2021.

Because of a inhabitants improve of just about 745,000 new residents, in response to the newest U.S. Census report, Colorado gained a brand new seat within the Home, bringing its consultant whole to eight.

Moreover, due to the passage of Amendments Y and Z, Colorado’s state legislators didn’t get to attract the 8^thdistrict’s boundary traces. As an alternative, an unbiased fee of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 4 Independents agreed on the place to position the boundaries.

The result’s the state’s most evenly divided district, in response to Colorado’s Impartial Redistricting Commissions, with Republicans accounting for 25 p.c of the voters, Democrats for 28 p.c, and unaffiliated for 44 p.c.

Observe

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Katie covers vitality and politics for The Epoch Instances. Earlier than beginning her profession as a journalist, Katie proudly served within the Air Pressure as an Airborne Operations Technician on JSTARS. She obtained her diploma in Analytic Philosophy and a minor in Cognitive Research from the College of Colorado. Katie’s writing has appeared on CNSNews.com, The Maverick Observer, The Motley Idiot, First Quarter Finance, The Cheat Sheet, and Investing.com. E-mail her at katie.spence@epochtimes.us