State Rep. Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, on Wednesday announced that he’s seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s competitive 8th Congressional District.

The 37-year-old former police officer and Army combat veteran said he’s running to “help restore pride in this great nation for which I fought.”

“That means standing up for law enforcement, protecting our communities by punishing crime, reducing inflation and deficit spending, securing our borders, and defending parents’ rights and choice in the education of their children,” Evans said in a statement, adding: “Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have chosen a path of decline for America, and Yadira Caraveo has spent her first year in office enabling their failed policies.”

Evans joins Weld County Commissioner Scott James, a longtime radio personality and former chairman of the Weld County GOP, in a primary. The nearly evenly divided district covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area.

“I intend to have an adult conversation with the voters and allow the voters to decide who they think is the best-positioned person to solve the problems Joe Biden and his allies in Congress like Yadira Caraveo have created,” Evans told Colorado Politics.

“I’m not a career politician,” the first-term lawmaker added. “Exhibit A, this means I will not be able to seek reelection to my statehouse seat. A career politician would have a fallback plan, but I don’t. This is really a continuation of everything I’ve done in the military and law enforcement.”

It’s an implicit contrast with James, who won reelection last year to a second term on the county commission and served four terms on the Johnstown town council and one term as the town’s mayor.

James told Colorado Politics that he’s running because “the small town, American way of life is under attack.”

“You’ll hear a joke out on the campaign trail: don’t vote for anybody who actually WANTS to go to Washington DC. There’s more than a little truth in that joke. I’m running for Congress because I’ve been called to service,” James said in an emailed statement. “We must win in 2024 if we want to save our country.”

Republican sources tell Colorado Politics that Steve Moreno, a former Weld County commissioner and former county clerk and recorder, could also soon join the primary field.

Caraveo, a Thornton pediatrician and former state lawmaker, was elected to represent the newly created district last year over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican, by a margin of 0.69 percentage points in one of the closest congressional races in the country.

Both major parties are targeting the seat in next year’s election, and Caraveo has already drawn a steady stream of attack ads from national Republicans.

A grandson of Mexican immigrants, Evans said his devotion to public service was inspired by his grandfather, who earned his U.S. citizenship – “and a couple Purple Hearts” – while serving overseas in the Army during World War II.

“Through my mom and that side of the family, it was instilled in us – the American dream is something precious,” Evans said. “When I joined the Army, he told me, ‘I did that, I fought for you so that you guys wouldn’t have to.’ I appreciate that, but, like Ronald Reagan said, every generation has to fight for it. It’s now my generation’s turn to stand up and fight for our country, fight for the American dream.”

Evans spent 10 years as an Arvada police officer after a dozen years flying Black Hawk helicopters in the Army in the Middle East and working closer to home in the Colorado Army National Guard.

“Watching all that stuff go up in smoke because of the direction that both state and federal politicians are taking is really what drove me to make my run for the state House seat and make my run for the 8th Congressional District,” he said.

Evans said he plans to complete his term representing state House District 48, which he described as “basically a mini version of the 8th Congressional District – about 50% from Weld, about 50% from Adams.”

Covering Brighton, Fort Lupton, Lochubie, Platteville and La Salle along the U.S. Route 85 corridor, the sprawling district leans Republican, but Evans noted that he polled better than fellow GOP nominees last year in his 30-point win over Democrat Spring Erickson and Libertarian Eric Joss.

“Looking at precinct-level performance, it’s a conservative area, but I outperformed,” he said.

Brighton Mayor Greg Mills offered Evans an initial endorsement.

“Gabe Evans has spent his career running toward challenge, from taking on our enemies overseas, to protecting Colorado citizens from criminals here at home, to confronting the misguided and destructive policies of Colorado liberals down at the state Capitol,” Mills said in a statement released by Evans’ campaign. “He’s the new generation of leadership we desperately need in Congress.”

Caraveo’s campaign declined to comment on Evans’ announcement.

A spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee told Colorado Politics that the campaign arm of the House GOP considers Caraveo vulnerable.

Charging that the Democrat has “actively worked against American energy” and embraced “a soft-on-crime agenda,” Melanie Bomar said in an email: “After just a few short months in Washington, Caraveo has shown she’s too extreme for Coloradans.”

Her counterpart at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it was Evans who is too extreme for the state, pointing to the Republican candidate’s support for banning abortion, without exception for rape or incest.

“This Republican primary is shaping up to be a race to the far right on abortion,” DCCC spokeswoman Mallory Payne said in a statement. “Both Gabe Evans and Scott James are pushing extreme anti-abortion agendas that couldn’t be more out of touch with what Coloradans want. Make no mistake – either of these Republican candidates would be a guaranteed vote for a national abortion ban in Congress.”

Evans told Colorado Politics he won’t sign a pledge released last month by the Colorado Libertarian Party as part of a deal between the state’s third-largest party and the state GOP aimed at avoiding potential spoiler candidates in competitive races.

While Caraveo defeated Kirkmeyer last year by just over 1,600 votes – out of almost 240,000 ballots cast – Libertarian nominee Richard Ward received more than 9,000 votes despite not mounting an active campaign, prompting some Republicans to describe the third-party candidate as a spoiler.

“I think that pledge indicates the level of frustration we’re seeing in Colorado with the left being in complete control of really everything in this state,” Evans said. “But there’s some things there I can’t agree to. Most concerning is ultimately moving toward degrading, getting rid of the intelligence community. I’ve been overseas, I’ve seen the threat that adversaries like Iran, Russia, North Korea and China pose. In 2023, we’ve got a dangerous environment in the international community, so we’ve got to make sure we have the tools to protect our country, protect the homeland.”

He said he has reservations about additional elements contained in the lengthy pledge.

A campaign spokesperson late lasts month wouldn’t say whether James intends to sign the pledge.

Neither of the two Republicans running in Colorado’s other battleground U.S. House seat, the Western Slope-based 3rd Congressional District, plan to sign the Libertarians’ pledge, campaign spokespersons for U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and her primary challenger, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, told Colorado Politics last month.

State Libertarian chair Hannah Goodman, who negotiated the agreement earlier this summer with Colorado Republican Chairman Dave Williams, said last month that the minor party plans to field Libertarian nominees “against any Republican candidates who do not sign this pledge.”

Last week, Ward announced that he’s hoping to run again next year in the 8th CD, though he’s seeking the Unity Party nomination after leaving the Libertarian Party over policy differences.