June 18, 2026 09:47 AM UTC

New Poll Shows Manny Rutinel Surging In CO-08 Race

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• by: Colorado Pols

A memo circulating this morning from respected Washington, D.C. Democratic strategy and polling firm GBAO tracks a trajectory looking very good for Democratic CO-08 candidate Rep. Manny Rutinel:

A recent survey of likely voters in the Democratic primary election in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District finds Manny Rutinel moving decisively ahead of Shannon Bird as early voting gets underway ahead of the June 30th Election Day.

Our previous look at this district in April showed Rutinel and Bird knotted up with a large share of voters still undecided. In the weeks since, Rutinel has grown his vote share significantly and now heads into the final stretch with real momentum. With roughly one-in-six voters undecided, Rutinel still needs to run hard through the tape, but he clearly has the wind at his back.

This poll is useful since it provides “apples-to-apples” consistent methodology to show how the race has changed over time. In April, Rutinel and opponent Shannon Bird were basically tied at 31-32%. These numbers indicate undecided voters are moving more or less entirely into Rutinel’s column since these campaigns have ramped up over the summer, with Rutinel now ahead 44-31%. There are technically enough undecided voters based on these results for Bird to close the gap, but the momentum is undeniably in Rutinel’s favor at this point.

Although a story in the Colorado Sun a week before this poll was taken highlighting some moderating climb-downs Rutinel has undertaken on the way to becoming the frontrunner has become a headache for Rutinel in debates, from these numbers that story has not slowed Rutinel’s ascent in the polls. That tells us voters either will never hear about it, or will interpret these evolutions as political shrewdness by a candidate who wants to win in a swing district.

To commemorate the news, we’re going to enjoy a nice juicy cheeseburger.