State Lawmakers to Square Off in New Colorado Congressional District

Voters in Colorado’s new congressional district will see familiar names on their November ballot, with two state lawmakers set to square off after winning their June 28 primaries.

Republican State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer edged three rivals in the Republican primary for the state’s newly created Congressional District 8 (CD 8) to advance to the general election.

Kirkmeyer will face state Democrat Rep. Yadira Caraveo in November, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

A Weld County Commissioner for 20 years before being elected to the state senate in 2021, Kirkmeyer’s well-established ground game proved to be the difference in emerging victorious from a crowded field in the most competitive campaign of Colorado’s primaries.

Tyler Allcorn of Westminster, a U.S. Army Green Beret veteran of combat in Syria who works in the oil industry, ran a spirited campaign as a first-time candidate but fell short of winning the nomination.

Thornton mayor Jan Kulmann, an engineer who has worked in the oil industry for years, and Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine, finished third and fourth.

All four CD 8 Republican primary candidates touted similar conservative “America First” agendas that addressed border security, election integrity, gun-owners’ rights, school choice, parents’ rights, restricting abortion, support for law enforcement, and the reversal of Democratic energy policies.

Energy development and regulation are particularly relevant issues because many of northeast Colorado’s oil and gas workers live in CD 8, one of seven new U.S. House districts created nationwide following post-2020 Census redistricting.

CD 8, the first new district established in Colorado since the 2000 Census, reflects population growth east of Interstate-25 north of Denver, spanning parts of Adams, Larimer, and Weld counties. The district incorporates most of the state’s oil and gas extraction industry.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State Office, as of May 1, there were 115,404 registered