Key Takeaways From Colorado’s 8th Congressional District Debate

(Left) Gabe Evans, Republican nominee for Colorado's 8th Congressional District, in Aurora, Colo., on Oct. 11, 2024. (Right) U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) in Washington on Jan. 25, 2023. Michael Ciaglo, Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Democratic Colorado U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo and Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans faced off in an Oct. 18 debate, in a race that will help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Evans—a U.S. Army veteran and former police officer—is seeking to unseat incumbent Caraveo, who is a pediatrician and Colorado’s first Latino U.S. representative. An Emerson College poll released this month shows the two candidates in a statistical dead heat in the final stretch before Election Day on Nov. 5.

CBS News Colorado reporter Shaun Boyd moderated the 30-minute debate, asking personalized questions to each candidate and prompting them to address specific concerns about their records.

The Economy

On the economy, Boyd asked Caraveo whether she supports Vice President Kamala Harris in her call for imposing price controls for rent, groceries, and pharmaceuticals, and noted some economists have raised concerns that such price controls can stifle innovation and lead to shortages in the market.

“I think that for medications, it’s very different, but I would not do that across the board in other sectors,” Caraveo said.

Boyd next asked if Evans supports calls former President Donald Trump has made to apply tariffs on all imports into the United States, and alluded to warnings by economists that these tariffs could increase costs for domestic consumers.

Evans said he'd prefer a targeted approach to tariff products from certain countries, like China, “that do not compete fairly in the international market.” For other countries, he said he’s “generally a free trade person.”

Further, Evans said he'd favor “slashing red tape and regulations” to incentivize businesses to keep jobs in the United States, rather than outsourcing them overseas.

Immigration

On immigration, the moderator asked Evans to address concerns that mass deportation efforts could exacerbate a workforce shortage.

Evans said he favors an approach that includes securing the border and empowering law enforcement to deport those committing crimes in the United States, while “fixing this system for folks that want to come here to become citizens or to work ... in our economy, without perhaps becoming citizens.”

Evans said deportation efforts should “aggressively prioritize those criminals.”

The moderator next asked Caraveo whether she would support a mass amnesty of illegal immigrants.

“What we need to do is to look at a balanced approach that secures the border, that creates a legal pathway for citizenship, to address border shortages, but that also makes sure that we’re looking at people like Dreamers, etc., and legalizing their status,” she said.

The congresswoman said the Senate had proposed a workable solution earlier this year, and blamed Trump for its failure.

Minutes later, Boyd asked Caraveo to address recent comments she made, indicating she'd support the immigration positions of her constituents even though she personally prefers defunding federal immigration authorities, blocking local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, and providing housing for illegal immigrants.

“Every single day, I have tough conversations with constituents, and I take their advice and their opinions into account,” Caraveo said.

Caraveo said she no longer supports defunding federal immigration authorities. On the other hand, she reiterated her opposition to local law enforcement agencies cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

“We have failed as a federal government to set proper immigration codes to reduce illegal immigration. It should not be up to local police forces to enforce that,” she said.

Abortion

On abortion, Caraveo asserted that her challenger had previously indicated he would favor banning abortions in all cases other than instances where a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother.

“Now that he’s running for Congress and he knows that public opinion is against him, he’s trying to reverse his opinion,” Caraveo said.

“My position has been absolutely clear,” Evans said. “I support exceptions for rape, incest, life of a mother. I do not support a national abortion ban. And my opponent’s voting record is equally clear. She supports abortion up to the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayer dollars.”

Evans said his voting record in the Colorado Legislature shows he is willing to break with fellow Republicans on issues.

While Caraveo pressed Evans about his views on abortions, she didn’t elaborate further on her own position on the topic during the debate.

Caraveo’s official congressional website states she was an original sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify into federal law access to abortions before a pregnancy is considered viable, and after a pregnancy is considered viable but a health care provider makes a “good-faith medical judgement” that the pregnancy poses a risk to “the life or health of the patient.”

The bill states the individual states may include additional circumstances in which abortions can proceed after a pregnancy is deemed viable.