Who is forecasted today to win the Colorado 8th District House race?

Manny Rutinel is favored. The VotePredictor forecast gives Rutinel a 55% chance of beating Gabe Evans, with a predicted margin of Rutinel +0.8. That is still close to a toss-up: Rutinel wins a little more often than not, and Evans in the other 45%.

What the forecast is built on

On its 2026 lines the district's 2024 presidential lean is R+0.5 relative to the nation. The House model starts from that lean, adds the national environment as a uniform swing, and weighs incumbency (Gabe Evans holds the seat) and fundraising in the win probability.

• District polls: 1 poll averaging Evans +2.0, blended with the model by how much each is worth.
• The published forecast: Rutinel +0.8, a 55% chance for Rutinel.

Misses of a few points are common, so a 0.8-point lead is a 55% chance and not a lock.

Can you trust this forecast?

Every VotePredictor forecast is scored after the election against the same outcomes as everyone else's. Across 615 past races (Senate, governor, House and president), our final forecasts rank #2 of every forecaster that covered them all (Brier score 0.075, lower is better); FiveThirtyEight is first at 0.074. The full record is on the forecaster rankings and methodology pages.