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

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

Evans—a U.S. Army veteran and former police officer—is seeking to unseat incumbent Caraveo, who is a pediatrician and Colorado’s first Latin American 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 of 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 he noted that 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 whether Evans supported calls that former President Donald Trump has made to apply tariffs on all imports into the United States, and he alluded to warnings by economists that these tariffs could increase costs for domestic consumers.

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

He also said that he would favor “slashing red tape and regulations” to encourage 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 that 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 she blamed Trump for its failure.

Minutes later, Boyd asked Caraveo to address recent comments she made indicating that she would 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.

She 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,” Caraveo said.

Abortion

On abortion, Caraveo asserted that her challenger had previously indicated that he would favor banning abortions in all cases other than instances in which 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.

Evans said, “My position has been absolutely clear. 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 that 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, as well as 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 that the individual states may include additional circumstances in which abortions can proceed after a pregnancy is deemed viable.