Shifts in demographics have made Colorado a battleground state. And two Colorado district, CO-05 and CO-08, are prime districts for flipping. Republican Gabe Evans is serving his first term but won his race against Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo by a mere 2,449 votes, or 0.8 points. The slim margin of Evans' win makes this a race to watch.

Colorado has had a Democratic governor for 24 of the past 32 years; since 2008, the state has voted Democratic in five consecutive presidential elections. The trend toward Democrats has been due to the rising percentage of young, college-educated, suburban, and unaffiliated voters.

• In CO-08, Democratic candidate Manny Rutinel, in his 30s, is a former environmental attorney who now serves in the Colorado House of Representatives.
• Rutinel was raised by a single mother who had come to the United States for a better life. He worked throughout his years at community college, college, and graduate school, eventually earning a law degree from Yale University.
• Incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans has been endorsed by Trump. His rhetoric on immigrants shrieks hypocrisy. He consistently claimed his grandfather emigrated from Mexico “legally,” but an Immigration and Naturalization Service document proves otherwise.
• Evans supported the Big Ugly Bill, which included cuts that are projected to cause the loss of about 17,500 jobs in Colorado in 2029 (resulting in a state tax revenue loss of $150 million), as well as hastening the closing of three rural hospitals.
• In CO-05, Jessica Killin, Army captain and paratrooper, also worked as chief of staff to former second gentleman Doug Emhoff and worked for over a decade as an executive at the insurance company USAA.
• Killin faces one-term incumbent Jeff Crank, a former conservative talk show host who peddled election-fraud conspiracy theories and embraced the white supremacist conspiracy known as the “Great Replacement Theory.”
• A poll conducted by Global Strategy Group measuring the favorability of political figures among likely voters in Colorado’s 5th congressional district found Crank had a 29% favorable and 30% unfavorable rating.
• The deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents have shaken support across the district, despite the fact that many initially had supported ICE activities.
• Colorado voters cite affordability and high costs as a top concern, from gas and food prices to housing and childcare costs.