Colorado’s new Congressional District 8 is a marvel of even division where the redistricting committee stuck Democratic-leaning Adams County to GOP-leaning Weld County with a dab of Larimer County mixed in.

Looking at active voter registrations from August, Adams County has about 130,000 more voters in the district than Weld County. Adams has about 35,000 more active Democratic voters than Republicans. Weld has about 35,000 more active Republican voters than Democrats. Adams has about 90,000 more unaffiliated (UAF) voters than Republicans and 60,000 more UAFs than Democrats. Weld has 60,000 more UAF voters than Democrats and 33,000 more UAF voters than Republicans. Given that UAFs typically break toward the party ratios, the district remains relatively even in total registrations between the two parties. But the partisan demographics sharply contrast between the two major counties.

Two women, Yadira Caraveo-D and Barbara Kirkmeyer-R, are running for the new seat. Republican guru Dick Wadhams thinks Kirkmeyer will win. The Cook Report, a DC-based prognosticator, puts the race as a toss-up. A Democratic polling crew has the race at 2 points to Kirkmeyer, basically a draw as the other data show.

Enough about the voter registration foundations and fingers-in-the-wind people. On to the candidates, both of whom spent last year in the state legislature, with Caraveo in the House and Kirkmeyer in the Senate.

Kirkmeyer sponsored 20 bills and Caraveo sponsored 6. Kirkmeyer is apparently a pragmatist. Fifteen of her bills had Democratic co-sponsors. She teamed up with lawmakers as liberal as Emily Sirota and Janet Buckner (HB-1010: passed) and Brianna Titone (SB-054: passed). She appealed to Christian voters by sponsoring “In God We Trust” license plates with Mark Baisley (HB-1048: failed). For an oil and gas aficionado, she sponsored only one related bill, Customer Right to Use Energy (HB-1020: failed), that would have prohibited government entities from forbidding individuals and businesses for using specified energy sources. It was double negative legislation.

Caraveo concentrated her bills in areas that don’t attract Republican co-sponsors, primarily health care and family leave-related legislation. Four bills passed and two failed. She went 50-50 on paid family leave legislation, winning on funding for state employee family and medical-leave insurance coverage (HB-1133). As a pediatrician, she fought for and won on alternative pay model for primary-care insurance (HB-1325). In 2019 she co-sponsored SB-181 to protect the public welfare from oil and gas operations, one of the most contested bills in that session and thereafter. She furthered that work in 2022 with HB-1348 providing oversight of chemicals used in oil and gas drilling.

A vote review of bills sponsored by the two legislators shows some mutual support. Caraveo voted NO on only one of Kirkmeyer’s 20 sponsored bills. Kirkmeyer voted NO on three of Caraveo’s six sponsored bills. So though Caraveo only had fellow Democrats as bill sponsors on her legislation, she voted YES on most of Kirkmeyer’s bills, showing a willingness to work with Republicans on some issues.

Even so, the two women go in opposite directions on numerous political subjects. For voters who want certainty on women’s choices related to reproduction, Caraveo is the candidate. Kirkmeyer said at a March for Life rally that “taking the innocent lives of children for convenience is not and never will be a tenet of a decent, moral and just society.” Caraveo tweeted on this subject. “As a doctor, I’ve sat next to women and walked them through a choice. With Roe overturned and Republicans on a crusade to ban abortion across the country, millions of women will lose that essential freedom.”

Oil and gas drilling, climate change and air pollution are additional issues where the candidates diverge. One reason Kirkmeyer evangelized for secession from Colorado by Weld and other northern counties a decade ago was to protect oil and gas drilling that supported the economy in northeast Colorado, especially around Greeley. Severance taxes from energy extraction leveraged up Weld County’s budget while Kirkmeyer was a county commissioner. She rode that horse to the statehouse and now wants to ride it to Congress.

Caraveo’s Adams County constituents, neighbors to Weld, caught the bad air and other contamination that resulted from Kirkmeyer’s support of energy development. Caraveo ran SB19-181 to regulate oil and gas extraction to improve the health and welfare of Adams County and metro area residents who live with extreme pollution, especially in summer months. After all, she’s a pediatrician whose main concern is the health of children.

Public school funding and equity are another area for division between the two legislators. Kirkmeyer is on the state Senate Education committee and Caraveo is on the House Education committee. Kirkmeyer voted against mill levy funding for public and charter schools offered in bipartisan SB-202. Caraveo supported the bill signed by Gov. Jared Polis. Caraveo supported HB-1220 to remove financial barriers for prospective teachers; Kirkmeyer voted NO. Kirkmeyer voted against SB-207 to improve adherence to Title IX, the federal equity act that mitigates gender bias in athletics and academics by education institutions receiving federal money. Caraveo supported the bill signed by Polis. Caraveo supported HB-1295, legislation to give early childhood education and universal preschool education their own state agency. The bill, signed by the governor, creates the Colorado universal preschool program. Kirkmeyer voted NO.

No surprise, the two candidates differ on Second Amendment rights. A number of safe firearms bills passed in the state House in 2021 that Caraveo supported. Kirkmeyer as county commissioner made Weld County a “sanctuary” for firearms and she’s committed to making the nation a “sanctuary” from “gun grabbing liberals.” Can’t get much clearer than that.

The election in Congressional District 8 sums up many of the political aggravations in the nation. But don’t forget: the two candidates did agree on numerous issues. The candidate who can turn out votes will win this race.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.