![\"Where](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/elex-2026-cd8.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\tWhere Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel stand on the issues in Colorado\u2019s 8th Congressional District primary<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\u25b6 FULL STORY\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nBird, 57, who is white, emphasizes her much deeper roots and her willingness to listen to the priorities of Latino voters in the fast-developing district, which stretches from Denver\u2019s northern suburbs through Adams and Weld counties up U.S. 85 into Greeley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The district has never been represented by someone who isn\u2019t Latino since the U.S. House seat was created in 2021. It’s currently represented by Republican Gabe Evans, who is the grandson of Mexican immigrants on his mother\u2019s side. He won the 8th District in 2024 by just about 2,000 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Groups working to elect Latinos have spent $3 million to support Rutinel, who they believe can unseat Evans. Rutinel has raised more than $4 million in campaign contributions, nearly double what Bird has taken in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in Los Angeles, Rutinel spent the first six years of his life living in the Dominican Republic, where his mother is from. He moved to Colorado four years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was appointed to his state House seat representing the Commerce City area in 2023 by a vacancy committee. He was elected to the seat the following year after running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird, meanwhile, has represented Westminster in the Colorado General Assembly since 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have more Latinos than we have any other demographic,\u201d said Deb Suniga, first chair of the 8th District\u2019s Democratic committee, who has not taken a side in the primary race. \u201cBut I want the best person who is going to work for everyone. I want them to see the people and do the work for our constituents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a wait and see I think,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel is new to Colorado<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel first arrived in 2020 to work on John Hickenlooper\u2019s first Senate campaign, when he said he fell in love with the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He became a permanent resident in 2022, fresh out of Yale Law School. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8th-Congressional-Dem-primary_17-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&ssl=1\")
State Rep. Manny Rutinel participates in a forum for the Democratic candidates running in the 8th Congressional District May 28, 2026, at The University of Northern Colorado Campus in Greeley. (Tanya Fabian, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRutinel wasn\u2019t drawn to Denver or a mountain community but settled in Commerce City within the 8th District because he said it reminded him of the Latino, working class communities he grew up in California and Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel says growing up as the son of a single, immigrant mother and the work ethic that she instilled in him makes him the best person to represent the heavily-Latino district. His candidacy comes amid an immigration crackdown and the weakening of the Voting Rights Act, which Democrats say endangers Black-majority districts across the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel rejects speculation that he moved to Commerce City to be able to run for Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of lies have been spewed. No doubt about that,\u201d he said in a short interview with The Colorado Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the campaign trail, Rutinel readily shares stories about his family\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the bank planning to foreclose on his family\u2019s house when he was in high school in Florida, Rutinel said he began selling his plasma to bring in money. He worked at McDonald\u2019s, turned the car engine off at red lights to save gas, got a job as a tutor and took courses at a community college so he could get a degree faster. Once enrolled in the University of Florida, Rutinel said he slept on friends\u2019 couches and floors during his first semester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder to me that no one\u2019s going to outwork me when it comes to taking back this seat and winning this seat back for the working people of this district,\u201d Rutinel said of how his experience informs his run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird\u2019s longstanding presence is important to her supporters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Bird supporters, her longstanding presence in the district is one of her biggest strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird served on the Westminster City Council<\/a> from 2015 to 2019 before being elected to the Colorado House of Representatives where she led the powerful Joint Budget Committee, the small group of bipartisan lawmakers tasked with the high stakes job of balancing the state\u2019s budget. At the legislature, she was known as a more moderate Democrat who earned the respect of her Republican colleagues by working across the aisle<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8th-Congressional-Dem-primary_21-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&ssl=1\")
Former state Rep. Shannon Bird participates in a forum for the Democratic candidates running in the 8th Congressional District May 28, 2026, at The University of Northern Colorado Campus in Greeley. (Tanya Fabian, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nShe resigned from her seat this year in order to run for Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShe shares working class roots with Rutinel. She was raised by a single mother and her grandmother in a trailer park in Reno, Nevada, where her grandmother worked as a casino dealer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird was the first person in her family to attend college. She moved to Colorado in 1987 to study economics at the University of Colorado and then earned a law degree from the University of Denver. She and her husband settled in the district in 2002 and raised their two children there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When her kids were in preschool, she became a classroom volunteer at the school, and later became president of the parent teacher organization as her kids moved through the Adams 12 Five Star Schools system, which is 45% Latino, she said. She was asked to chair the school district\u2019s education foundation, where she raised money for the career and technical education program, and then became the citizen chair for the district\u2019s 2014 bond and mill levy campaign to upgrade existing buildings and construct new ones<\/a>, which was ultimately unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt was after that that I had people in the community asking me to run for public office, and that’s what led me to run for city council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to Rutinel\u2019s questions about her lack of Latino heritage last month, Bird countered with her deep roots in the district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a longtime, years-long community volunteer well before I ever considered running for office,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd during my campaign, I understand and recognize how crucial the Latino community is in Colorado\u2019s 8th. It\u2019s why I\u2019ve prioritized community outreach to the Latino community, engaging with their small businesses, going to community events that I know are so important to Latinos in this district.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She prided herself in visiting \u201call four corners\u201d of the vast district and knowing the voters there well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we know the people we want to represent,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m doing that work so that I can be ready on day one to be a representative who fights for you and is ready to go on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marie Valenzuela, a 72-year-old retired state employee who lives in Westminster, remembers Bird’s husband knocking on her door during a campaign several years ago. When he couldn\u2019t answer all of Valenzuela\u2019s questions, she said, he called Bird and told her to come over. Soon, Bird herself was there on Valenzuela\u2019s doorstep with answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel wasn\u2019t drawn to Denver or a mountain community but settled in Commerce City within the 8th District because he said it reminded him of the Latino, working class communities he grew up in California and Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel says growing up as the son of a single, immigrant mother and the work ethic that she instilled in him makes him the best person to represent the heavily-Latino district. His candidacy comes amid an immigration crackdown and the weakening of the Voting Rights Act, which Democrats say endangers Black-majority districts across the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rutinel rejects speculation that he moved to Commerce City to be able to run for Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of lies have been spewed. No doubt about that,\u201d he said in a short interview with The Colorado Sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the campaign trail, Rutinel readily shares stories about his family\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the bank planning to foreclose on his family\u2019s house when he was in high school in Florida, Rutinel said he began selling his plasma to bring in money. He worked at McDonald\u2019s, turned the car engine off at red lights to save gas, got a job as a tutor and took courses at a community college so he could get a degree faster. Once enrolled in the University of Florida, Rutinel said he slept on friends\u2019 couches and floors during his first semester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder to me that no one\u2019s going to outwork me when it comes to taking back this seat and winning this seat back for the working people of this district,\u201d Rutinel said of how his experience informs his run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird\u2019s longstanding presence is important to her supporters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Bird supporters, her longstanding presence in the district is one of her biggest strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird served on the Westminster City Council<\/a> from 2015 to 2019 before being elected to the Colorado House of Representatives where she led the powerful Joint Budget Committee, the small group of bipartisan lawmakers tasked with the high stakes job of balancing the state\u2019s budget. At the legislature, she was known as a more moderate Democrat who earned the respect of her Republican colleagues by working across the aisle<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She resigned from her seat this year in order to run for Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She shares working class roots with Rutinel. She was raised by a single mother and her grandmother in a trailer park in Reno, Nevada, where her grandmother worked as a casino dealer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bird was the first person in her family to attend college. She moved to Colorado in 1987 to study economics at the University of Colorado and then earned a law degree from the University of Denver. She and her husband settled in the district in 2002 and raised their two children there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When her kids were in preschool, she became a classroom volunteer at the school, and later became president of the parent teacher organization as her kids moved through the Adams 12 Five Star Schools system, which is 45% Latino, she said. She was asked to chair the school district\u2019s education foundation, where she raised money for the career and technical education program, and then became the citizen chair for the district\u2019s 2014 bond and mill levy campaign to upgrade existing buildings and construct new ones<\/a>, which was ultimately unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was after that that I had people in the community asking me to run for public office, and that’s what led me to run for city council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response to Rutinel\u2019s questions about her lack of Latino heritage last month, Bird countered with her deep roots in the district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was a longtime, years-long community volunteer well before I ever considered running for office,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd during my campaign, I understand and recognize how crucial the Latino community is in Colorado\u2019s 8th. It\u2019s why I\u2019ve prioritized community outreach to the Latino community, engaging with their small businesses, going to community events that I know are so important to Latinos in this district.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n She prided herself in visiting \u201call four corners\u201d of the vast district and knowing the voters there well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we know the people we want to represent,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m doing that work so that I can be ready on day one to be a representative who fights for you and is ready to go on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marie Valenzuela, a 72-year-old retired state employee who lives in Westminster, remembers Bird’s husband knocking on her door during a campaign several years ago. When he couldn\u2019t answer all of Valenzuela\u2019s questions, she said, he called Bird and told her to come over. Soon, Bird herself was there on Valenzuela\u2019s doorstep with answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n