Colorado Dem Manny Rutinel Flip Flops on Meat and Oil, Then Flips House Seat
Colorado Democrat Manny Rutinel, who previously campaigned against the meat and oil industries, beat Republican incumbent Gabe Evans in Colorado’s competitive 8th Congressional District after repositioning himself as a moderate.
With about 81% of votes counted, Rutinel led by 15.4 points when the race was called shortly before 11 p.m. His victory was wider than many expected; Evans had won the seat previously by roughly 2,500 votes. Rutinel had spent time distancing himself from his activist past while running, emphasizing a more centrist image.
Earlier,Rutinel worked for environmental groups such as Earthjustice and criticized large meat companies. He spoke at an Animal Legal Defense Fund convention and coauthored a piece proposing a “farm transition” climate policy that would pay meat producers too switch to plant farming. He also carried a record in the state legislature of supporting progressive measures.
Rutinel has tried to portray himself as friendly to ranchers in a district where animal agriculture was worth about $1.2 billion in 2022,saying he hasn’t been vegan for several years. past writings from his Yale Law School days that praised socialism were publicized during the campaign; a spokesman responded by saying Rutinel is neither a vegan nor a socialist. evans, a former police officer and Army helicopter pilot, criticized Rutinel’s left-wing history and highlighted his own conservative record, including support for tax cuts and stricter Medicaid work requirements.
Rutinel managed to win over swing district voters after distancing himself from his left-wing past
Colorado Democrat Manny Rutinel, a former anti-meat and anti-oil crusader who went great lengths to distance himself from his activist past, successfully unseated the Republican incumbent, Gabe Evans, in the state’s competitive Eighth Congressional District.
Rutinel was up 15.4 points with 81 percent of the vote counted when the race was called shortly before 11 p.m. The race was expected to be one of the closest in the nation, though Rutinel ran away with it. Evans flipped the seat in 2024 by roughly 2,500 votes.
Rutinel’s efforts to recast himself as a moderate appear to have paid off. The Democrat spent years condemning the ranching and oil industries, attacks that continued until just months before launching his congressional bid, and pushed left-wing legislation while serving in the state legislature.
In October 2024, Rutinel spoke at a convention hosted by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a group that aims to give animals equal rights as humans and once filed a negligence lawsuit on behalf of an American quarter horse. He told the audience his “whole job” working for the far-left environmental group Earthjustice “was to take on large meat corporations and sue them for all they’re worth.”
He also coauthored an article advocating for a “farm transition climate policy” through which meat producers would be paid to farm plants rather than raise livestock due to “animal agriculture’s climate impact.”
While vying to represent the eighth district, where ranches and other animal-based agriculture generated roughly $1.2 billion in 2022, Rutinel began describing himself as a “friend” to ranchers and said he hasn’t “been a vegan for several years.”
That wasn’t the only time Rutinel rewrote the past. Between 2013 and 2014, the Yale Law School graduate published blog posts with headlines like “What Would Jesus Do? Socialism” and “Why a More Socialistic Society Is Superior.” When the Washington Free Beacon exposed the blog, a campaign spokesman said, “Manny is not a vegan or a socialist.”
Evans flipped the eighth district in 2024, making him the first Republican to win the seat after it was drawn in 2021. The former police officer and Army helicopter pilot regularly denounced Rutinel’s left-wing résumé and touted his own solidly Republican voting record, such as backing tax cuts and stricter Medicaid work requirements included in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
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