DENVER — Manny Rutinel was out to an early lead over Shannon Bird Tuesday evening in the Democratic primary election race that will determine who faces Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in November for control of Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.

Rutinel, a state representative, was leading 59% to 36% over Bird, who herself formerly served in the Colorado House, as of 7:22 p.m., according to the secretary of state’s results.

Evan Munsing, a Democratic candidate in the race who suspended his campaign in May, was garnering 5% of the vote.

Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, a politically competitive swath of Weld, Adams and Larimer counties north of Denver, is listed by national election watchers, including the Cook Political Report, as among 18 congressional races in the country that are true toss-ups.

In the race, Rutinel, a state representative, has positioned himself to the left of Bird, a former colleague in the legislature, in an election cycle that is proving fruitful for more progressive candidates. It has become an exceedingly expensive affair as outside groups have poured in more than $5.3 million on behalf of Rutinel or against Bird, plus around $3 million to help Bird or hurt Rutinel, according to Federal Election Commission data posted as of Friday.

The campaigns themselves have pulled in a ton of cash: Rutinel, 31, has the lead in the money game, with $4.1 million raised as of June 10. Bird, 57, collected $2.2 million through then.

Bird reported another $57,000 donated since the end of that period in 48-hour notices required for donations of $1,000 or more close to an election. In the last three weeks, Rutinel collected $61,500 more in 48-hour reports, according to FEC data posted through the weekend.

For weeks, the airwaves and the internet have been chock-full of advertisements for both candidates, some running back-to-back and pitching opposing messages.

“The 8th District is still the race to watch,” Robert Preuhs, a political science professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, told The Denver Post earlier this month.

Evans, 39, who was unopposed in the GOP primary, has raised the most money in the field, with nearly $4.9 million collected in this election cycle as of June 10. The first-term congressman had nearly $3.5 million in cash on hand — nearly three times what his two Democratic opponents had combined on that date — giving him a warchest for the fall.

Rutinel and Bird sharpened their attacks on each other as Tuesday’s election approached, especially after Munsing suspended his campaign. Munsing did not throw his support to either candidate and remained on the ballot.

Rutinel has repeatedly accused Bird of having gone soft on President Trump’s mass-deportation agenda when she was in the state House. Bird, meanwhile, has slammed Rutinel for voting for a state budget that included cuts to Medicaid when he was in the state House this spring.

Yet, at a debate at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in May, the candidates landed on many of the same positions, including opposition to a federal ban on hydraulic fracturing to extract oil, support for a ban on oil and gas leases on federal land, and support for a boost in the federal minimum wage.

The 8th Congressional District, when drawn by a redistricting commission at its inception a few years ago, is Colorado’s most Latino district. Nearly 39% of its 722,000 or so residents identify that way, according to data from the 2021 Colorado redistricting effort. Both Evans and Rutinel are Latino.

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