This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.

DENVER | All four of Colorado’s Republican congressional incumbents are receiving help from deep-pocketed super PACs in the run-up to the Nov. 3 midterm election — but one race in particular is drawing double the amount of outside spending as all the other races combined.

As of Oct. 20, $18.9 million in super PAC spending has flowed into Colorado’s 8th District race during the general election between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans and his challenger, Democratic state Rep. Manny Rutinel, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures. Outside groups have reported independent expenditures totaling $9.4 million across Colorado’s three other competitive congressional races this year.

Only two other House contests in the country — in North Carolina’s 1st District and Florida’s 25th District — have attracted more total spending by campaigns and PACs than the race between Evans and Rutinel this election cycle.

It’s the third election cycle in a row that the battleground 8th District — Colorado’s newest and most diverse congressional district, drawn by an independent commission in 2021 to include parts of Denver’s northern suburbs along with southern Weld County — has attracted tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending, much of it by partisan super PACs associated with Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington.

Unlike candidate campaign committees, which are subject to individual contribution limits and can’t accept money from certain kinds of contributors, super PACs can accept unlimited donations from individuals, corporations and other groups, including so-called “dark money” nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors.

While Evans had raised and spent $4.2 million in direct campaign cash as of Sept. 30, his reelection bid’s financial firepower is coming largely from pro-Republican super PACs, which have spent another $10.4 million to support his candidacy. That total includes more than $6 million from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a group associated with GOP House leadership and Speaker Mike Johnson; $1.5 million from No Going Back PAC, linked to President Donald Trump; and $843,000 from Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy network of conservative billionaire Charles Koch.

Evans has also received $344,000 in support from America PAC, founded by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close Trump ally. Musk is also a top donor to the Congressional Leadership Fund, having given the group $20 million this year. Other major funders of the PAC include conservative megadonor Miriam Adelson and the dark-money group American Action Network.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/z7atc/3/

Similarly, Rutinel, whose campaign reported spending a little over $3 million between his June Democratic primary victory and Sept. 30, has received more than $8.6 million in Democratic super PAC assistance during the general election. Like Evans, the bulk of that help has come from the group associated with his party’s House leadership, the House Majority PAC, which has aided Rutinel’s campaign to the tune of $4.3 million. That group’s top donor is a dark-money nonprofit, House Majority Forward.

Other groups backing Rutinel include the Mainstream Colorado Fund, a new super PAC that has reported contributions from several other PACs and the dark-money Sixteen Thirty Fund; and the LCV Victory Fund, a PAC associated with the League of Conservation Voters.

Other races

With control of the House of Representatives at stake in the midterms, Democrats say they’re targeting all four GOP-held congressional seats in Colorado, eyeing an unprecedented 8-0 sweep of its House delegation. The state’s four Democratic House incumbents face only token opposition this year, and none of the four races has attracted super PAC spending or significant fundraising by GOP challengers.

In the race in Colorado’s 5th District, where Democratic challenger Jessica Killin’s campaign has substantially outraised incumbent GOP Rep. Jeff Crank, spending from Republican super PACs is helping to offset Crank’s financial disadvantage. The 5th District, long considered a safe Republican seat, is centered on Colorado Springs, where Democrats have grown increasingly competitive in recent elections.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Ofvqq/2/

Crank’s top super PAC backer is Trump’s No Going Back PAC, which has spent $2.4 million on his behalf. Americans for Prosperity, Crank’s longtime employer, has also spent $680,000 supporting his candidacy. Killin, meanwhile, has received a total of about $1.5 million in support from the House Majority PAC and an array of other pro-Democratic groups.

Incumbent GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd has benefited from more than $1.6 million in spending from No Going Back and another Trump-affiliated group, the Safety and Affordability PAC, as he looks to hold on to his seat in the 3rd District, which spans much of Colorado’s Western Slope. His Democratic opponent, Aspen businessman Dwayne Romero, has lagged far behind Hurd in campaign fundraising, and also hasn’t received any significant super PAC support to date.

In the 4th District, which includes Douglas County and the Eastern Plains, Democratic challenger Eileen Laubacher has spent nearly $10 million in campaign cash so far during the 2026 election cycle, and has received a late boost of $1.5 million in super PAC spending opposing Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert by the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a clean-energy group.

As she looks to pull off an upset in Colorado’s most Republican-leaning congressional district, Laubacher is benefiting from a 6-to-1 financial advantage over incumbent Boebert, whose campaign has spent just $1.1 million in the 2026 cycle, while receiving about $760,000 in help from a PAC associated with the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

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