December 08, 2025 03:51 PM UTC

‘He Ghosted Us:’ GOP Activist Launches Campaign Against Fellow Republican Gabe Evans

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• by: Jason Salzman

(The “Cool American” takes on Gabe Evans — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

Last year, Republican Adam Derito supported U.S. Representative Gabe Evans (R-CO) “full force.”

“I was so excited to vote for him,” said Derioto. “I volunteered to work on all the veteran issues with him, because I have a lot of experience in that. We served in the National Guard together. … We finally have a representative who’s going to do the work I’ve been waiting to get done.

“And then after he got elected, he ghosted us. He did nothing.”

So Derito, who works in the oil and gas industry, said to himself, “‘Gabe, I respect you. Thank you for your service. You’ve done a good job, but it’s time to pass the torch to someone who’s willing to step on some toes, and I’m that guy.’”

Derito made it official last night, announcing in front of about 50 supporters that he’s launching what experts say is a long-shot campaign to replace Evans as the Republican candidate in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive congressional races in the country, the outcome of which could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.

At his campaign launch last night at The Rush, an events center in Weld County, Derito was introduced by Aaron Love, who helped establish the Freedom Syndicate PAC to support fellow veterans like Derito who want to run for office. Love, who said he was deployed as a pararescuer in Iraq, Afghanistan, and “a bunch of places in Africa,” said he was looking for fellow veterans like Derito in battleground districts to be the “standard bearers” to “get America back on track.”

“It seems weird when you take it down from global politics to really what your local issues are,” said Love. “Colorado is at the forefront of all of it — energy, culture. Where are we going as a nation? What do we value? What do we think is important? “Everything that you’re fighting for here in Colorado, it’s happening on a larger stage, and you’re on the front lines of it, and you need somebody that’s going to fight for you.”

He said Derito, an Army Reserve officer who was previously expelled from the Air Force Academy, “knows what a fight looks like, knows how to win it,” even when facing “insurmountable odds.”

Love declined to discuss Evans’ work in Congress, but Derito pointed to Evans’ overall inattention to the district, especially on energy issues, as well as his immigration stances.

On energy, Derito says Evans hasn’t stopped oil rigs from disappearing from his district.

“[Evans] got put on the energy commerce committee, but I watched the hearings,” said Derito. “You’re just talking about the usefulness of pipelines. You’re not talking about how we’re losing our rigs.”

Evans, who won his seat by about 2,500 votes in 2024, didn’t return an email seeking comment for this article, but Evans promotes himself as favoring all forms of energy development, and he’s held multiple discussions with energy workers organized by the oil and gas industry. Since Evans entered office, the Trump Administration has cut two energy projects, totaling $33 million, from his district.

Derito also accuses Evans of favoring “amnesty” for undocumented immigrants, pointing to legislation, called the Dignity Act and co-sponsored by Evans, that would, among other things, bar undocumented immigrants from being able to work surreptitiously, as many have done for decades, but offer a path to temporary legal status to those who’ve been here for about five years.

Political observers like Norman Ornstein say that Evans, who favored Trump’s mass deportation plan throughout his campaign and then voted to fund it, has embraced the Dignity Act — which has little or no chance of passing — so that he can have it “both ways” on the immigration issue in his rural district. This allows Evans to say, on one hand, that he stands with Trump’s hardline MAGA deportation effort, and on the other that he’s meeting the needs of his rural district, which has long relied on farm laborers who are undocumented.

“As a representative, I want to bring more federal resources to adjudicate [immigration] cases, make sure that we get seasonal worker permits done faster,” said Derito. “Make sure the people who have earned their American citizenship become Americans, you know. But if you’re overstaying your visa, you’re taking advantage of the American taxpayer on the backs of our union workers.”

“Do it the right way,” he told the Colorado Times Recorder, echoing exactly the exact words Evans has used. “It’s about the law.”

Folks tracking the race don’t give Derito much of a chance against Evans in the June GOP primary. Incumbents start with a huge advantage in name recognition, and Evans appears to retain the support of the Republicans’ biggest donors, nationally and in Colorado. He’s got about $2 million in the bank, while “Derito for Congress” is still being processed on the Federal Election Commission website.

But the mood was upbeat at Derito’s launch party yesterday.

Asked if Derito has a shot, Hope Scheppelman, a former vice chair of the Colorado Republican Party, who attended Sunday’s launch party, replied, “I certainly do.”

“To be honest with you, we really need a representative who is going to be here for the district and represent the district’s voices,” said Sheppelman, who’s challenging U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s Congressional District 3, which covers parts of southern and western Colorado.

Love, who you might call a MAGA influencer with over 73,000 Instagram followers, told the Colorado Times Recorder that Derito is the first candidate that the Freedom Syndicate PAC is supporting, and the “intent” is to back other candidates nationally as well. Both Love and Derito are connected through Love and Derito are connected through America First Vets (AFV). Derito has said he was recently kicked off the AFV national board due to pressure from GOP gubernatorial candidate Barb Kirkmeyer via former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

The campaign seems to have a sense of humor. On the merchandise table, amid traditional t-shirts and Chapstick, were a handful of “Self Adhesive Fake Mustaches”, playing off Derito’s prominent stache.

What would Derito say to Republicans who voted for Evans last year, to win them over in his upcoming primary race?

“For me it’s, has your life improved since you elected Rep. Gabe Evans?” he replied. “And if it hasn’t, do you want to have the same thing for the next two years? Give another person a chance to show that they could do something better.”

This district needs a representative who understands real work and real sacrifice, someone who does not stand behind symbolic votes or partisanship, someone who delivers results for the people, who does not ask for attention, but who always puts their community first,” he said.