The New 8th Congressional District – Mostly in Adams County, Very Blue Collar

More than 60 percent of the approximately 721,000 residents in the new 8th Congressional District are residents of Adams County (63%), with a third (34%) in Weld County, although the district goes up to Greeley (108,000 residents). The largest city in the district is Thornton (141,000).

It has significant economic activity that reflects the more traditional working class version of the Democratic Party, including its large Hispanic population (39%). Agriculture, construction, trucking, manufacturing, oil and gas, and warehousing are major employers, along, of course, with the usual big government employers of schools, cities and counties. 

Republicans

Voter registration mirrors the state with a slight edge for Democrats (28%) over Republicans (25%), but the balance of power is held by unaffiliated voters (44%). However, voting performance is different than the state’s. In 2016, while Donald Trump lost the state by 5 points, he carried the voters in the new 8th district by 1.7 percent. In 2018, while George Brauchler was losing statewide by 6 points to Attorney General Phil Weiser, he carried the district’s votes by 1.7 percent.

Democrats

Democrats do carry the district’s voters, but in close votes, regardless of how they do statewide. In 2016, Michael Bennet won the state by 6 points and the district by 2.3 percent. Jared Polis got 1.9 percent in 2018 while carrying the state by 11 percent, and in 2020 when John Hickenlooper beat Senator Cory Gardner by 10 points statewide, he won the district by 1.7 percent.

Competitive

Competitive is the definition of the district, with probably a right lean on social issues and a working class orientation toward economics (i.e., protect jobs, increase wages and keep the cost of living under control).

Read The Colorado Sun: A deep dive into the electorate in Colorado’s super competitive new 8th Congressional District