Former Colorado teachers union president Amie Baca-Oehlert launches congressional bid
Amie Baca-Oehlert, a former teachers union president, launches her congressional campaign in Colorado's 8th District at Adams City High School on June 5, 2025. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)
It's suddenly a very crowded race in the Democratic primary for Colorado's most competitive congressional seat.
One day after Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young announced his bid, former teachers union president Amie Baca-Oehlert became the latest Democratic hopeful in the 8th Congressional District, a key battleground in the nationwide battle for control of the House of Representatives.
Baca-Oehlert, who served as president of the Colorado Education Association from 2018 to 2024, launched her campaign in front of a crowd of about 50 supporters Thursday evening at Adams City High School, where she got her first teaching job.
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'When I look at Congress, I don't see people like me,' Baca-Oehlert said. 'I don't see enough teachers, Latinos, moms, union members or middle class Americans. What I do see is a broken system, a system that caters to the wealthy and well-connected, where plenty of politicians are looking out for themselves and their billionaire donors.'
Drawn by an independent redistricting commission in 2021, the 8th District includes parts of Denver's northern suburbs as well as more rural areas in southern Weld County. Four in 10 residents of the district are Latino.
The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican who unseated former Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo by a margin of fewer than 2,500 votes in the 2024 election. Despite representing one of the nation's most evenly divided congressional districts, Evans has remained a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump's historically extreme anti-immigration agenda, his chaotic efforts to launch a global trade war and a sweeping GOP budget bill that would cut $625 billion from Medicaid.
'Nearly all of us are hurting right now, because of the fear, division and economic turmoil that Trump has created,' Baca-Oehlert said. 'And Evans is literally standing by — standing beside his friends like Lauren Boebert, to promote this disastrous agenda, and not fight against it.'
Boebert, a staunch Trump supporter, is the Republican representative of Colorado's 4th Congressional District.
Caraveo has launched a bid to win back her seat in 2026, joining a Democratic primary that also includes Young, state Reps. Manny Rutinel of Commerce City and Shannon Bird of Westminster.
Baca-Oehlert's campaign launch featured endorsements from Adams County Commissioner Emma Pinter and former state Reps. Judy Solano and Joe Salazar.
'I know all the candidates that are running, I know all of them,' Solano told the crowd. 'But Amy's the one.'
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