U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo on Monday landed on a list of Democratic incumbents targeted by the House Republicans’ campaign arm just days after national Democrats named the first-term lawmaker to a program for candidates defending battleground seats.

The pediatrician and former state lawmaker, a Thornton Democrat, was elected last year to represent Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District by just over 1,600 votes – a margin of less than 1 percentage point. Caraveo defeated state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican, who was considered the favorite in part because of the headwinds Democrats faced in the midterms.

The National Republican Congressional Committee designated Caraveo’s seat among the 37 districts it says are vulnerable in next year’s election, when the GOP hopes to expand its four-seat majority in the chamber.

“Republicans are in the majority and on offense,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement. “We will grow our House majority by building strong campaigns around talented recruits in these districts who can communicate the dangers of Democrats’ extreme agenda.”

Added the six-term representative from North Carolina: “These House Democrats should be shaking in their boots.”

The move follows the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s announcement on Friday that Caraveo is one of 29 Democrats in its Frontline program, which provides extra fundraising and strategic advice to members defending swing seats.

DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement that the party is prepared to regain the majority in the chamber, crediting the strength of their incumbents and the opposition party’s preoccupation since taking the gavel.

“House Republicans have shown voters their caucus is more concerned with political investigations, empowering extremists and seeking power for themselves than working to improve the lives of everyday families – and that will stand in clear contrast to the formidable Democratic Frontliners,” said DelBene, a six-term lawmaker from Washington.

It’s no surprise Caraveo is on both lists, since the district has been labeled as a toss-up or leaning Democratic by every national nonpartisan election forecaster that has released preliminary rankings for next year’s House elections, including the Cook Political Report, Split-Ticket and Inside Elections.

Democrats hold a slight edge in party registration over Republicans in the closely divided district, which covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area. Among active, registered voters, 27% are Democrats and 24% are Republicans, while 47% are unaffiliated, with the balance belonging to minor parties. As one measure of its up-for-grabs status, the district’s voters swung toward Donald Trump in 2016 and went with Joe Biden in 2020.

A spokeswoman for the NRCC previewed the GOP’s attack on the incumbent, which echoes the campaign Republicans ran against her last year.

“Caraveo is a radical who wants to hike our taxes, defund border security, and kill Colorado’s energy industry,” said Delanie Bomar in an email to Colorado Politics. “After just a few short months in Congress, it’s clear she is too extreme for Colorado and the NRCC is ready to remind voters of her real record.”

Earlier this month, a conservative nonprofit aligned with Republican House leadership launched a six-figure ad campaign aimed at Caraveo.

Caraveo campaign spokeswoman Kaylin Dines said Caraveo is busy working for her constituents.

“From Commerce City to the most northern parts of Weld, she is already doing the work meeting with farmers, ranchers, business owners, local, electeds, and hard-working families to inform her work and represent everyone in CO-08,” Dines said in an email.

“While some folks are busy with side shows and partisan fighting, Dr. Caraveo is focused on the high-quality, responsive representation Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike want from their elected officials. We trust the result of her hard work will speak for itself when it comes time to vote.”

Caraveo, who has yet to draw a GOP challenger, is the only Colorado incumbent so far officially targeted by both parties, though Colorado’s Republican-leaning 3rd CD, represented by Silt Republican Lauren Boebert, is likely to emerge as equally competitive.

Boebert, who was reelected to a second term by an even narrower margin than Caraveo’s win, defeated Democratic challenger Adam Frisch by just 546 votes in the closest congressional race in the country – despite neither major party spending heavily in the district last year.

After Frisch, a wealthy former Aspen city council member, launched a campaign last month hoping for a rematch, it’s a safe bet that the race is already on the national parties’ radar.