Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo clung to a slim lead over her Republican challenger, state Rep. Gabe Evans, in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, according to partial, unofficial results.

With tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted Thursday evening, Caraveo led Evans by 2,360 votes, or 0.8 percentage points — close to his slim margin of victory two years ago, when the precinct almost equally divided was created.

Two third-party candidates were behind by about 1% each.

Stretching from suburban Adams County north of Denver to Greeley in Weld County, the district hosted one of the most competitive – and expensive – House races in the country since its draw following the 2020 census.

After winning the seat by just over 1,600 votes in 2022, Caraveo, a pediatrician and the first Latina to represent Colorado in Congress, faced a challenge from Evans, a military veteran and former police officer serving his first term in office. the Legislative Assembly.

This seat is considered crucial in determining which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. Both camps have spent heavily, pumping more than $20 million into a near-constant barrage of mostly negative TV and digital ads and mailers, although campaign finance reports show Democrats and their allies have spent more than the Republicans and theirs.

Heading into the November elections, Republicans held a slim seven-seat majority in the House, meaning Democrats would have to trade four seats to take the gavel next year. As of Thursday evening, 21 House races had not yet been announced.

The contest was the only Colorado House race considered a toss-up by national election analysts, and few polls in the district indicated it was a tie race. A poll released a month before Election Day showed the candidates tied, each at 44 percent, while a survey by the same firm in late October gave Caraveo a 48 to 46 percent lead over Evans, in the poll margin. of error.

In the whirlwind of ads that have flooded screens and mailboxes since Labor Day, Democrats have attacked Evans for his positions on abortion rights, while Republicans have tried to impose concerns on Caraveo regarding immigration and crime.

Caraveo and Democratic groups have spent millions calling Evans “too extreme” for Colorado, repeatedly focusing on his support of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and pointing out comments he made as a teenager opposing same-sex marriage, before that. was legalized in another Supreme Court decision.

Other ads run by Caraveo and his Democratic allies lump Evans in with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and other Republican Party figures, including Donald Trump, who has supported Evans.

At the same time, Evans and fellow Republicans criticized Caraveo for “making matters worse,” linking her to the border crisis, crime and the influx of fentanyl into the state. Some GOP ads showed the Democrat alongside President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Underscoring the importance of the race on the national map, Republican and Democratic leaders in the House have campaigned with the candidates on several occasions, including recent visits by House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, and from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, respectively.

Caraveo, the incumbent, overtook Evans, according to campaign finance filings. Through Oct. 16, the Democrat reported raising $7.3 million and spending nearly $6 million, leaving $1.3 million in her campaign’s bank account. That compares to the $2.3 million raised by Evans, who spent $1.9 million and had $363,000 on hand before the final weeks of the campaign.

In a first for a Colorado congressional race, both candidates are Hispanic and count Mexican immigrants among their ancestry – his parents and grandparents. The district was drawn to include the highest proportion of Hispanic residents of any House seat in the state, making up about 40% of its population and a slightly smaller share of the electorate.

Evans hopes to draw support from the district’s former Libertarian candidate, who dropped out and threw his support behind the Republican after Evans signed a pledge to adhere to a number of principles developed by the minor party’s leaders.

The move was intended to prevent the Libertarian from siphoning off votes from Evans, under the theory that the conservative-leaning third party could cost Republicans the election in extremely close races.

The Colorado GOP said that’s what happened two years ago when the Libertarian candidate got about 4 percent of the vote in the 8th CD race – about double what the Democratic candidates got. party usually gets — while Caraveo beat Republican Barb Kirkmeyer by a margin of less than 1 percent.