State Rep. Shannon Bird wants to go to Congress. The Adams County Democrat hopes to challenge GOP Rep. Gabe Evans next fall and is jumping into the primary for the 8th Congressional District.
Bird said she decided to enter the race because Coloradans are getting squeezed by “rising costs and broken promises” from Evans and President Donald Trump.
“While Trump and Evans push an agenda that’s making lives harder, I’ve dedicated my career to fighting for hardworking Coloradans,” she said in a statement.
Bird said she’ll answer to Coloradans and not Trump.
Bird was first elected to the state house in 2020 and has been a member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee since 2023. Bird, who lives in Westminster, had previously announced she was running for the Colorado state Senate, but will instead drop that effort to try for Congress.
She joins her House colleague, state Rep. Manny Rutinel, and former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who also served at the statehouse, in the primary. Other Democrats are also reportedly considering a run.
The 8th Congressional District is Colorado’s most politically balanced and is expected to be a prime pick-up target for Democrats next year. The seat, which was created in the 2021 redistricting process, stretches from Thornton and Commerce City to Weld County, covering an area of fast growing suburbs and smaller rural communities.
The House GOP campaign arm took aim at Bird’s entrance into the race, saying it will be a messy primary. “Whether it's Bird, Caraveo, or Rutinel crawling out of the wreckage, voters in Colorado will reject them just like they reject the Democrats' extreme and out of touch agenda,” said NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon.
Republicans have also had primaries when the 8th Congressional District seat was open — and when Evans sought the nomination to take on Caraveo. He eventually won the general election by fewer than 2,500 votes.
