JUST IN: GOP Flips House Seat, Closes In On Trifecta

Another U.S. House seat fell into the GOP column on Sunday after NBC News called a Colorado race for the Republican challenger.

Gabe Evans edged out Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO) in the state’s 8th District, winning with 49% of the vote as of Sunday and leading Caraveo to concede. The razor-thin margin divided both candidates by just 2,500 votes. “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th District,” Caraveo, a pediatrician and former state lawmaker, said in a written statement to the Colorado Sun. “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.”

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Caraveo was the first member of Congress to fill the newly drawn district, winning office during the 2022 midterms in a state that went for President Joe Biden by about 14 points in 2020 and 11 points for Vice President Kamala Harris last week. The win for Evans, an Army veteran and former police officer, is all the more remarkable given the difficult political terrain in the suburbs north of Denver. “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,” Evans said to the outlet, thanking Caraveo for her service.

“I am incredibly humbled to be chosen as the next Congressman for Colorado’s 8th,” he added. “I have spent my entire life running toward challenge, and now I am ready to take on my next challenge — representing our communities in D.C. Thank you, Colorado. Let’s do this!”

The win gives House Republicans 214 of the 218 seats needed to control the gavel, a tantalizing prospect given President-elect Donald Trump’s win and Republicans’ looming control of the U.S. Senate. A majority in the House would virtually unfetter all legislation that can pass muster with each caucus, a feat which is not guaranteed. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), both moderates, will hold tremendous sway over the Senate while centrist representatives may resist impulses by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to ram through bills on conservative causes like voter identification, deportations, or gender-affirming care.

The win by Evans comes just days after Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) secured her reelection in a swing district against a well-funded challenger. The second-term, South Korean-born lawmaker managed to outrun Trump in a district Biden won by 10 points, relying on her moderate message and leaning into her decision to vote to certify the 2020 election. She is just one of three Republican lawmakers to defeat a sitting California Democratic congressperson since 1994.

Another, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), held her seat in a swing district after several terms spent voting mostly with Republicans and occasionally with Democrats, underscoring how moderate members will likely hold the leverage in what the House GOP decided to bring to the floor. She voted against the American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, co-sponsored the America’s CHILDREN Act on immigration, and supported the January 6 commission. On LGBT issues, she backed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, expanding protections for transgender individuals, and voted for the Respect for Marriage Act to protect same-sex marriage. She also supported an antitrust measure to curb anti-competitive corporate practices.