August 24, 2021 09:04 AM UTC

Yadira Caraveo First in the Pool in CO-08

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’re still waiting for Colorado’s Independent Congressional Redistricting Committee to finalize new district maps for 2022 as the last bits of data from the 2020 U.S. Census trickle in to states. But one potential candidate for Congress isn’t waiting any longer to jump in the race in Colorado’s as-yet-unknown Eighth Congressional District.

State Representative and pediatrician Yadira Caraveo (D-Thornton) made her intentions official today, as Marshall Zelinger reports for 9News:

Caraveo, a pediatrician in Adams County and state representative since 2019, is the first Democrat to announce a run for the district that is anticipated to include the northern part of the metro area, including her home of Thornton, as well as Broomfield, Westminster, Northglenn, Brighton, Firestone, Frederick, Fort Lupton and Milliken.

“My parents immigrated to Colorado from Mexico, and raised me and my siblings to work hard and to finish what we started,” Caraveo said in a release announcing her candidacy. “I’m running for Congress because I’m committed to the families I see every day as a pediatrician – families who work hard and are struggling to make ends meet. I will take on tough fights and work with anyone to make sure the economic recovery reaches every part of our community, that families have access to quality affordable health care, and that our right to vote is protected.”

As Zelinger notes, something called a Giuilianna “Jewels” Gray formally filed as a Republican candidate in CO-08 last month, so Caraveo isn’t technically the first official candidate in the race. But Caraveo is the first official candidate with an actual chance of winning in November 2022, and her entry into the race should force other Democrats who had been pondering a run of their own to speed up their respective timelines.

It is widely expected that Colorado’s newest congressional district will take shape in the northern Denver metro area, which would likely include Caraveo’s home in Thornton. Remember, of course, that candidates for Congress aren’t required to live within the district they seek to represent, so Caraveo will likely remain a candidate so long as the official district lines are within the same general area (the last time Colorado gained a new congressional district, in 2002, the first person to hold the Jefferson County-based seat was Republican Bob Beauprez…who actually lived in Louisville).

Caraveo has built a reputation in the state legislature as someone who is not afraid to tackle difficult and controversial issues. If elected, she would be the first Latina to represent Colorado in Congress.