WASHINGTON – In November, U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) narrowly flipped a swing congressional seat.
To do so, he waged a campaign to appeal to Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and independent voters. His actions in Congress will reflect how he responds to pressure from his district and the Republican Party.
Evans may fall in line with President-elect Donald Trump, in part because he endorsed him. He may also cater to moderate and swing voters in his district, which he won with 49% of the vote.
Kyle Saunders, a professor of political science at Colorado State University, described Evans as walking a tightrope between pleasing the Republican Party and the voters of his district.
Republicans have control of Congress. However, they have an unruly and slim majority in the House. Therefore, Evans may not vote against his party because it could result in policy failures for the Republican Party, Saunders said.
“There will be a lot of pressure on Evans to vote with the Republican caucus inside the House of Representatives, on every piece of key legislation,” Saunders said. “And somehow he’s got to navigate that.”
Evans followed the Republican Party by voting for the Laken Riley Act in one of his first votes. The bill would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take custody of “illegal aliens” who are arrested for minor crimes, such as larceny, burglary, and shoplifting. Former Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), who was defeated by Evans, voted for that bill in the last Congress.
Caraveo was able to break with her party since the vote was brought forward by Republicans, who also had a majority in the House in the previous Congress. Evans may not have that same liberty due to the GOP’s current slim majority.
Josh Huder, senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, said Evans is in a unique position to ask GOP leaders to prevent votes on bills that would negatively impact his district.
“You have a lot of members of the Republican party who are going to want more conservative policies reaching the floor and getting votes. … More conservative policies out there to enact Trump’s MAGA vision for the country,” Huder said. “And Gabe Evans is not going to be able to back that vision in a lot of cases. And if he tries to, he may find himself in a very, very difficult electoral spot. So he’s going to be in the position of trying to kill those pieces of legislation that will put him in a bad spot. And if the Republican leaders are smart, they’ll listen to him because they don’t want to lose his seat, potentially lose the majority because of it.”
One of Evans’ first actions was to co-sponsor a joint resolution to limit terms for members of the House to three terms. He was joined by many members of the House Freedom Caucus.
However, Huder said this is not an indication that he will align with the right-wing House Freedom Caucus in the future, adding that Evans will not likely support cuts to spending.
“Given he’s in such a narrow district, these members are more than happy to support spending and keeping the government open and functioning,” Huder said. “They’re not the ones that are going to sort of want a government shutdown, because it looks bad and it hurts them. It’s just a big political hit for them in a very, very narrow, narrow congressional district.”
Instead of joining the House Freedom Caucus, Evans joined the Problem Solvers Caucus. The Problem Solvers Caucus, according to its website, is a bipartisan group of members “committed to advancing common-sense solutions to key issues facing our nation.”
Evans is also the first incoming member of the House to join the Energy and Commerce Committee in 14 years.
Phil Chen, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver, said Evans was invited to sit on this committee to bring accomplishments back to the district if he runs for reelection.
“It’s not terribly surprising to see Evans get a fairly high profile and important committee spot because they’re trying to give him a way to sort of sell himself back to the district and sell his influence in a way that might help him win reelection in 2026,” Chen said.
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