If there was only one person who could decide control of Congress this fall, she would look a lot like Jen Hernandez.
Hernandez, an independent who has voted for Republicans, Democrats and third-party candidates, was undecided in late September when she spoke to the Washington Post about her choices in the midterm elections.
She lives in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, where Rep. Gabe Evans (R) faces Democrat Manny Rutinel, a former state lawmaker. This swing district voted for Joe Biden in 2020, then for Donald Trump in 2024, when Evans unseated a Democratic incumbent by less than a percentage point.
People like Hernandez — a married Mexican-American millennial without a college degree who lives in a small town — are disproportionately important in determining control of the House, a Post analysis found earlier this year.
So who will she vote for?
Hernandez said she appreciated Evans’ support for oil and gas (the district has a large oil industry), but favored Rutinel’s positions on health care, immigration and the economy.
After careful consideration, she decided to vote Democratic.
Many in his community — which stretches from Denver’s northern suburbs to his home in the Greeley meatpacking center — seem to be heading in the same direction.
On October 23, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report upgraded the race from a “toss-up” to a “Democratic-leaning” race, reporting that Rutinel has a slight advantage.
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