Calling the political system “rigged against working-class people,” Democrat Amie Baca-Oehlert, a former president of Colorado’s largest teachers union, on Friday ended her bid to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in the state’s most competitive congressional district.

Baca-Oehlert’s exit from the Democratic primary leaves four prominent Democrats running for the chance to take on Evans next year in the closely divided 8th Congressional District, which has been won by less than a 1 percentage point margin in the last two elections.

Created ahead of the 2022 election, the 8th CD covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area. It’s the lone Colorado congressional seat labelled a toss-up by national election forecasters and is expected to be one of the country’s most expensive and hardest-fought House races in 2026.

The Democrats remaining in the primary include state Reps. Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City, and Shannon Bird, D-Westminster; State Treasurer Dave Young; and Marine veteran and investment executive Evan Munsing.

Baca-Oehlert, a first-time candidate and former head of the Colorado Education Association, trailed her opponents’ fundraising through the year’s third quarter, reporting about $50,000 on hand at the end of the period, compared to Evans’ $1.9 million, Rutinel’s $1 million and Bird’s $560,000.

“When I look at Congress, I don’t see people who look like me,” Baca-Oehlert said late Friday in an email to supporters. “What I do see is a broken system made up of the wealthy and well connected who are looking out for their wealthy donors, rather than the everyday people they are meant to serve.”

Saying she’d hoped to provide a “real alternative,” Baca-Oehlert described the campaign fundraising requirements she encountered in her run as “incredibly eye-popping.”

“Running for Congress demands an astronomical amount of resources, and the influence of money and special interests casts a long shadow over the entire process,” she said.

“It’s a system that, frankly, is rigged against working-class people. Our politics are designed to exclude the very voices that should be amplified — the voices of working Americans who understand the struggles and triumphs of everyday life.”

She added: “We regret not being able to continue to provide that real alternative for Democrats this election cycle.”

Colorado Politics’ attempts to reach Baca-Oehlert after her announcement were unsuccessful, as her campaign cell phone, email and website were inoperative late Friday afternoon.

Bird thanked Baca-Oehlert for her work in the political realm in a statement to Colorado Politics.

“Running for office isn’t easy, and I’m grateful to everyone who throws their name in the ring to make Colorado the best state to live in,” Bird said in an email. “As chair of the Joint Budget Committee, I worked with Amie Baca-Oehlert to pass the bill that fully funded Colorado’s schools for the first time in over a decade, and I’m grateful for her service to our state.”

Young expressed similar sentiments in a Facebook post, saying he was inspired by Baca-Oehlert’s “commitment to public education and to building a fairer, more equitable Colorado.”

“I want to thank Amie Baca-Oehlert for her years of service to Colorado’s students, educators, and working families, and for the passion and dedication she brought to this race,” Young wrote. “As the first Latina to lead the Colorado Education Association, Amie broke barriers and amplified the voices of educators across our state.”

Former U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Thornton Democrat who held the 8th CD seat for one term before losing her run for reelection in 2024 to Evans, launched a bid for a rematch earlier this year but dropped out in mid-September.

Announcing her withdrawal, the pediatrician and first Latina to represent Colorado in Washington cited “very strong resistance” to her candidacy in response to her acknowledged struggles with mental health issues, including multiple suicide attempts during her term Congress.

Colorado’s primary election is June 30.