A decorated Army Special Forces combat veteran and first-generation immigrant on Monday became the sixth Republican to launch a campaign to represent Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District.

“Everything I fought for on the battlefield is at risk both at home and abroad from the radical liberal policies being pursued in Washington, DC.,” said Tyler Allcorn, 37, in a statement announcing his candidacy.

“Radical liberals like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are pushing through policies domestically that are crushing the ability of Coloradans in the 8th District to pay their bills, live in safe neighborhoods, work in the oil & gas industry, and provide a better future for their children. Internationally, their disastrous exit from Afghanistan has created a more dangerous world and served as an open invitation to countries like Russia and China to test our resolve across the globe.”

The first-time candidate said he’s running, in part, to prevent Democrats from crippling the oil and gas industry, which Allcorn said was his family’s “ticket to the American Dream and helped pull us out of poverty even though my father only had a high school degree.”

Added Allcorn: “In Colorado, as it is everywhere in America, it doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you were born, what matters is that you work hard and give the next generation more opportunity than your own. I’ve spent my life serving our country across the globe and now I’m ready to deploy to Washington, DC to ensure every family in the 8th Congressional District has the opportunity to live their own American Dream.”

Allcorn, whose family immigrated from Canada to the United States in the early 1990s when he was 9 years old, said he enlisted in the Army just “four short months” after becoming a naturalized American citizen in 2010. During his nearly eight years on active duty, including four combat tours in the Middle East, the Green Beret earned two Bronze Stars and two Army commendation medals.

Allcorn works at San Francisco-based Shift, a company that helps active duty service members and veterans advance their civilian careers.

Allcorn moved to Colorado in 2020 and lives in Arvada, just outside the boundaries of the newly drawn congressional district. He said his family will move “a few miles down the street” into the 8th CD when he wins the race. (The only residency requirement for congressional representatives is that they live in the state they run in.) 

“I understand that some politicians have been planning to run for Congress since grade school and base every decision – from where they buy a house, to what football team they root for – on how it will help their ambitions, but that’s not me,” he told Colorado Politics.

Allcorn and his wife, Carly, have two Australian shepherds named Franklin and Elouise.

The competitive 8th CD, created ahead of next year’s election by an independent commission in October, stretches from Adams County suburbs north of Denver to Greeley in Weld County. While Democrats hold a slight edge in registration and recent performance among the district’s voters, it’s the only Colorado district rated as a toss-up, and Republicans like their chances in the upcoming midterms.

Allcorn joins a Republican primary field that already includes three seasoned candidates: state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine and Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann. Other GOP candidates running include business owners Ryan Gonzalez and Giulianna “Jewels” Gray.

 On the Democratic side, the declared candidates are state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, Adams County Commissioner Charles “Chaz” Tedesco and nonprofit consultant Johnny Humphrey.

Precinct caucuses will be held during the first week of March. The primary election is set for June 28.