June 09, 2026 10:47 AM UTC

CO-08 Dems Slug It Out After Socialist Shenanigans

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Ernest Luning reports for the Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, the two Democrats vying for the nomination to take on America’s Most Vulnerable Incumbent™ Rep. Gabe Evans in the November general election met in rhetorical combat last night for a debate televised by 9NEWS. This time, although the overall theme of consensus on a range of major issues continued, the candidates took hard shots at one another on their relatively small points of differentiation–while one candidate in particular faced the fallout of a backstab from his left flank:

While the candidates agreed on a range of issues — both laid blame for Colorado’s fiscal woes on the Trump administration and Evans, both said they’re open to impeaching President Donald Trump, both spoke in favor of a Democratic-led ballot measure that would redraw Colorado’s congressional districts more favorably for the party and both said they’d be OK with siting a nuclear reactor in the district if they were satisfied sufficient safeguards are in place — they lobbed barbs at each other through much of the debate.

Rutinel repeatedly charged Bird with having voted in the legislature to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into schools and hospitals, though she rejected his characterization of a committee vote she said was meant to improve a bill she supported that sought to ban the activity…

For her part, Bird slammed Rutinel for voting to cut Medicaid when he supported this year’s Democratic-led state budget, a position he countered [didn’t] reflect the work their party’s lawmakers undertook to balance a budget thrown out of whack by congressional Republicans, including Evans.

Although the candidates had plenty to say to one another, last night’s debate was highlighted by moderator Kyle Clark taking direct aim at state Rep. Manny Rutinel’s allegedly shifting positions on issues including banning fracking and single-payer health care. It’s a “shift” that we’re only aware of after the unauthorized leak of video from an interview of Rutinel from last year with the left-wing Working Families Party by a disgruntled ex-Rutinel supporter affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, published in the Colorado Sun last week:

CO-8 Democratic primary candidate State Rep Manny Rutinel said earlier in his campaign that he supports universal single payer health care.

Rutinel repeatedly refused to say whether that is his position today.

I asked three times before moving on with the 9NEWS CO-8 Dem debate.

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— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) June 8, 2026 at 11:53 PM

CO-8 Dem primary candidate State Rep Manny Rutinel says he no longer believes “fossil fuels have got to go.”

Rutinel opposed fracking earlier in his campaign. He now says he supports fracking due to the war on Iran.

He declined to say if he’d again oppose fracking after the war

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— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 2:06 AM

9NEWS reported with a slight editorial edge on Rutinel’s explanation for easing off his previous support for banning fracking:

Rutinel danced around questions about how his positions on energy sources have changed since he first launched his campaign. Earlier in his campaign, Rutinel said he supported a ban on fracking, then later flip-flopped.

“Donald Trump has sent us into a forever war with Iran without any plans, and raised gas prices across the board,” Rutinel said. “Working people in this district are struggling. We need to make sure we provide a safe, affordable energy system.”

Rutinel did not give a direct answer when asked if he would again support a ban on fracking if the war in Iran ended, and said he believed in “all of the above” energy.

Bird also said she supported an “all of the above” energy policy.

Meanwhile, Luning reports the answer to the question that the district’s substantial population of livestock was dying to know:

Clark pressed Rutinel to say whether he’s still a vegan, after working for years as an advocate for meatless eating — Rutinel said he isn’t, [Pols emphasis] because he thinks it’s important “to be able to enjoy the delicious products that Colorado ranchers make” — and whether he’s changed his views on multiple topics that have recently drawn scrutiny from some progressive supporters, who allege he’s moderated his positions.

Denying that he’s abandoned stances that helped win endorsements from high-profile progressive groups, including the Working Families Party, Rutinel said his brief answers in interviews didn’t convey his fully fleshed-out positions, such as backing a public option for health coverage, rather than the universal single-payer system he once supported.

For their part, the Colorado Working Families Party has disavowed the leak of their candidate interview with Rutinel from last year, which they themselves never released publicly. That interview forms the baseline by which Rutinel’s current position is being judged. The biggest risk for Rutinel from the judgment that he has “flip-flopped” on these issues is in the Democratic primary, since in the general election in this closely-divided swing district the more moderate position Rutinel is taking now will appeal to a broader majority of voters. That’s not what the DSA ideologues who tried to throw Rutinel under the bus want to hear, but it’s the truth–and Rutinel is simply smart enough to have learned it.

As for Rep. Shannon Bird, she by all accounts acquitted herself very well in last night’s debate, with defensible answers to Rutinel’s attacks on immigration, which primarily center around a single committee vote on one piece of legislation. In a district with the highest percentage of Latino voters in the state, both campaigns have heavily focused on “stopping ICE” in their campaign messaging, while presenting themselves as best suited to do so. Bird’s job in this debate was to sound credible and consistent while refuting attacks on her progressive credentials, and she did that without creating new liabilities for herself.

For both candidates, the perception of either occupying the political mainstream, or at least migrating there, is crucial to the objective of unseating Rep. Gabe Evans in the general election. Every election in this district since its creation has been decided by tight margins. Evans’ loyal MAGA cheerleading has proven a terrible fit for one of the nation’s most competitive congressional seats. What Democrats need to win and keep this seat–absent a redistricting measure that changes everything, of course–is a candidate with deep community roots and appeal past hardened partisan divides. The model for this is former Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who took CO-07 off the table for Democrats after winning that formerly swing seat in 2006.

Whoever wins this primary is mostly likely going to Congress. That’s the incentive, and the high stakes, to motivate CO-08 primary voters to choose wisely.