Gabe Evans, Manny Rutinel on the issues
Voters in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District on Nov. 3 face a choice between U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans and former state Rep. Manny Rutinel in a race that could help decide which party controls Congress for the next two years.
The tossup district runs along the U.S. 85 corridor north of Denver, stretching from Adams County to Greeley. It has featured Colorado’s closest Congressional elections since its creation following the 2020 U.S. Census.
Evans, a Republican, was elected to Congress in 2024, and is finishing his first term. Before that, he served two years as a state representative. He previously worked as an Arvada police officer and as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. He lives in Fort Lupton.
Rutinel, a Democrat, served three years in the state House of Representatives before resigning in September to focus on his Congressional campaign. He worked as an economist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has a law degree. He lives in Commerce City.
Libertarian Dave Wood, a retired computer programmer who once served federal prison time for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam War, is also running in the district. He lives in Westminster.
The Colorado Sun interviewed the two major party candidates in front of a live audience at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. (Watch a recording of the event below.)
Here’s what Evans and Rutinel had to say about healthcare, immigration, the war in Iran and other major issues:
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TAXES
Name a tax cut in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that you would make permanent and one you would do away with or change.
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he would permanently extend the provisions that exempted tips and overtime pay from income taxes. He also said he would make the bill’s new tax deduction on Social Security benefits permanent.
Evans didn’t name any tax cuts he would reverse.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel would not name any specific tax cuts. Instead, he offered a rule for which tax cuts to keep and which to reverse.
“If there are any tax cuts related to folks making under $500,000 a year, I’m going to make sure that they don’t pay any more in taxes. But for the folks that are making millions, billions of dollars every single year, I want to make sure that they’re paying their fair share.”
MEDICAID
Do you support or oppose the Medicaid work requirements imposed by H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
“Able-bodied, working-aged adults with no young dependents, we said you’ve got to work, volunteer, or go to school part-time in order to get taxpayer-funded healthcare through Medicaid, and so I support that,” Evans said.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
“I don’t believe in additional red tape or work requirements,” Rutinel said, arguing that they’re a barrier designed to kick people off the low-income health insurance program.
“I’m interested in making sure that the folks who desperately need medical care are able to access it.”
SOCIAL SECURITY
Unless Congress takes action, Social Security retirement benefits are expected to drop by nearly 25% starting in 2032 because of a depleted trust fund. What are your ideas to make the program solvent again?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he would bring more money into Social Security by eliminating regulations on businesses.
“When we can grow the economy, when we can get folks back to work, we can have more jobs — that helps Social Security,” he said. He also said he would get rid of “fraud, waste and abuse” within the program to save money.
“At that point, you just have to see what additional measures are necessary,” he added.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said he would lift the cap that limits Social Security taxes to the first $184,500 in earnings.
“I think that it’s pretty clear what we need to do to make sure that we allow for Social Security to maintain itself into the future, and that’s to make sure that billionaires pay their fair share,” he said. “Right now, they stop paying into Social Security after the first few hours of the new year.”
HEALTHCARE
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you change the healthcare system in the U.S.?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he would “cut out all the fraud, waste, and abuse” in Medicaid and “actually get the money to patients and to providers.”
He said structural reforms are needed to bring down costs, pointing to a new federal law he supported limiting the fees that pharmacy benefit managers can charge for prescription drugs. “They’re supposed to use the power of buying in bulk to get lower rates for the insurance companies,” he said. “They actually went the other way and figured out they had basically a monopoly over drug prices.”
He also criticized the Affordable Care Act for driving up health insurer profits.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said he would reverse the recent federal cuts to Medicaid and to Affordable Care Act tax credits that subsidize the cost of individual insurance plans.
“Beyond that, I want to make sure that we have a public option so that a public entity is able to compete alongside private insurers,” he said. “If you like your private insurance, you’re able to keep that health insurance. If you’d rather opt into the public option, you’re able to do that, and that increased competition will lower costs.”
CLIMATE CHANGE
Do you think the U.S. should stop using carbon-emitting sources of electricity, heating
and transportation? If yes, by when? If not, how do you propose battling climate change?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
“I’m an all-of-the-above energy guy,” Evans said. “We got to protect all-of-the-above energy as long as it’s safe, affordable, and reliable. Those are my three metrics.”
He argued that efforts to reduce oil and gas production in the U.S. have led to higher emissions, because they lead to more fuel imports from the Middle East.
“You want to actually protect the environment? You want to lower carbon emissions? We got to make more of all of the above here.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel called climate change an “important issue” but he would not say if or when the U.S. should stop burning fossil fuels to address it.
“I believe in an all-the-above energy approach,” Rutinel said, adding that he supports restoring the federal tax credits for renewable energy that are being phased out by Congress.
“That would have helped bring not just hundreds of jobs to the district, but safer, cheaper, more affordable energy for folks across the board,” he said.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
Does the U.S. provide enough pathways for people to legally immigrate to America?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he supports expanding legal pathways for “people that want to do things the right way.”
Specifically, he said, he wants to expand the visa for agricultural workers. “It’s a seasonal visa, so that’s great if you’re growing corn or crops or something like that. It’s basically useless if you’re growing livestock because livestock need care year-round.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said he supports “making sure we have a pathway to citizenship” for people granted protections from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. He also said “we need to make sure we have avenues for folks to get here legally,” but did not provide specifics.
“I think we need to explore that and make sure that we are able to bring some of the hardest-working, brightest minds across the world,” he added.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Should any people already living in the U.S. illegally be permitted to stay?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said yes, pointing to his support for the proposed Dignity Act. “That’s helping people get a work permit or a visa, as long as they can show they’re not causing problems, they’re not committing crimes, they’re not abusing welfare.”
But, he said, it’s “not a pathway to citizenship,” and it would only apply to people who have been in the U.S. since 2020 or earlier. “If you came in under Biden, it doesn’t count,” he said.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said the U.S. should create a pathway to citizenship for “immigrants that have been here the longest, that are working hard and paying our taxes,” he said. He would not provide specifics on who should qualify.
“This is the sort of thing that we need to come to negotiated solutions around,” he said.
UKRAINE
Should the U.S. provide more financial aid to Ukraine to help it fight Russia? If yes, should that money come with conditions or other strings attached?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said European countries are “a lot closer to Putin and his aggression” and America’s allies in NATO should be paying more for Ukraine’s defense.
“We’ve done a lot of money,” Evans said. “It’s the Europeans’ turn to do some money, and we’re getting them to do that money now in order to support Ukraine.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said “it’s clear that Ukraine needs help, and we should be helping.”
“We need to make sure that that Ukraine is able to defend itself,” he said. “There’s a clear aggressor in this context, and we need to make sure that we are upholding international human rights laws.”
ISRAEL
Should the U.S. continue providing military aid to Israel? If yes, what conditions should that support be predicated upon?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
“Yes,” Evans said, adding that he supports America’s existing arrangement with Israel.
“There are strings attached,” he said. “All of the money comes back to the United States and is spent here with our defense contractors.” He also said the U.S. benefits from the technology Israel develops and the intelligence it gathers, which is shared with the U.S.
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said that the resources U.S. gives to Israel “should be in alignment with our laws and values, and we should be upholding international human rights laws.”
“But Israel is an ally,” he added. “We need to make sure that they’re able to defend themselves.”
IRAN
How do you think President Donald Trump has handled the war in Iran? What do you think should be done to end it?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans didn’t answer the question directly. He said he expected to see things “start to resolve in the Middle East” after the U.S. midterms.
“Right now Iran’s economy is in freefall,” Evans said. “They don’t have the money to pay the military. They’re holding on for a couple more weeks as they’re trying to make this painful for the midterm elections.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel described Trump’s handling of the war as “absolute chaos.” He said Trump dragged the U.S. into a “forever war without any plans, while at the same time raising gas and diesel prices back at home.”
He said the administration’s approach has made “diplomacy impossible.” He supports bringing a war powers resolution to end the war and negotiate with Iran afterward.
AI
Should Congress regulate artificial intelligence? If so, how and how fast?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he supports a law protecting utility customers from data center-related costs. “Data centers have to be able to pay for all their power and infrastructure,” he said. He also said he supports guardrails on how children can interact with AI chatbots.
He said doomsday fears involving the technology are overblown, and “the United States has to lead now in AI. We need commonsense guardrails, but if we crush it here in the United States, that doesn’t mean it goes away. That just means it goes over to our competitors in communist China.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said AI poses “immense possibilities of harm,” and Congress needs to enact regulations “immediately.” He said he supports whistleblower protections so that AI tech workers can warn of imminent danger. He also wants transparency rules that would allow auditors to examine models before their release. “I think before a major update, there should be rigorous testing to make sure that the technology will be safe for all,” he said.
Rutinel also said there needs to be liability reforms to hold AI firms accountable when their technology is used in harmful ways.
DEBT CEILING
Should Congress eliminate the debt ceiling? If not, what should it be set at?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans didn’t answer the question directly.
“We can’t default on our loans on the debt because that’s an even worse problem,” Evans said. “So you can’t default on U.S. debt, and we’ve got to pay the debt down.” He offered two strategies to reduce the debt: growing the economy and “cutting all the fraud, waste and abuse we can find.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
Rutinel said he’s “not exactly sure” what the number should be, but “the debt is a very important issue.”
To reduce the debt, he said “billionaires should be paying their fair share in taxes.” He also wants Medicare to negotiate drug prices. “That way we can lower prescription costs for seniors, while also lowering our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars that would otherwise be going into profits for Big Pharma.”
TERM LIMITS
Do you support term limits for members of Congress and/or the U.S. Supreme Court? If yes, what should they be?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
Evans said he has signed the term limits pledge, which calls for limiting members of the U.S. House to three two-year terms and the U.S. Senate to two six-year terms. But, he said, “what they should be is whatever you could get past Congress or actually put into law.”
He said he does not support term limits for the Supreme Court, but would consider a mandatory retirement age. “If you’re going to be making case law for the country, we probably ought to make sure that you’re not so old that you can’t do the job.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
“Yes, I believe in term limits across the board: senators, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices,” Rutinel said.
He did not offer specifics, saying the number of terms would need to be negotiated “to actually pass something.”
2028 ELECTION
If the 2028 presidential election were held today, who would you like to see as your party’s nominee?
Gabe Evans
REPUBLICAN
“I’ve always liked Marco Rubio.”
Manny Rutinel
DEMOCRAT
“I’d be pushing for Ken Salazar.”
