1 week Ago
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — One of the closest congressional races in the country is right here in Colorado. As of Friday evening, Democrat Yadira Caraveo currently trails Republican Gabe Evans by fewer than 2,600 votes in the race to represent Colorado's Congressional District 8.
Thousands of ballots haven’t been processed yet because they were flagged for signature verification. Not even a snowstorm can stop the campaigns from making sure every vote is counted. "This is one of the last races in the entire country that hasn’t been called yet," Drew Sexton, a volunteer knocking on doors for the Evans campaign, said.
"Every extra seat that we can build makes a difference." Three days ago, Sexton helped Lauren Boebert win her congressional race as her campaign manager. Friday he was part of an army of Republican volunteers trying to push Gabe Evans over the finish line.
"We’re on a pretty tight deadline so we’ve just got to hit as many homes as possible," Sexton said as he stood in a Thornton neighborhood with heavy snow falling. As of Friday, Caraveo was trailing Evans by 2,529 votes. Yet there are thousands of outstanding ballots that need to be cured.
In most cases, they were flagged for signature verification. The Evans campaign estimates there are somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 that still need to be cured. Every person whose ballot needs to be cured gets a message from the county clerk.
The campaigns follow up with texts, calls and door knocks. They are focusing on voters who they believe cast a ballot for their candidate. Credit: KUSA "All she has to do, the instructions are there, she has to text in her information with a photo ID and that way her vote will be confirmed," Sexton told a voter.
"We really appreciate it because every vote counts right now." Credit: KUSA The National Republican Congressional Committee has flown in people from Washington to help cure ballots. The Evans campaign believes they can get enough signatures cured to get him elected.
9NEWS reached out to Caraveo’s campaign to ask if we could tag along with their volunteers as well. We spoke to her campaign multiple times over the past 24 hours about setting this up, but they never made anyone available. A campaign spokesperson said her team was not out knocking on doors Friday because of the snow and instead focused on calling people over the phone.
"We know that this stuff matters," Sexton said. "We know that both sides are doing it. It’s just on us to get out there and get it done.
" Everyone voted, but not every vote has been counted. Every door knock helps change that as both campaigns still believe they can win. "When people see that you’re willing to either knock when it’s 100 degrees out or in a snowstorm, I think they’re a little more appreciative of the fact that you’re willing to do that," Sexton said.
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