Controversy erupts in hotly contested race for Colorado's 8th Congressional District

Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo accused her Republican challenger Gabe Evans of not adequately condemning anti-Semitic posts by his political director Jessica Spindle. Evans fired Spindle, who also sits on the Weld County Board of Education, after learning about the posts through an article in the Colorado Times Recorder. His campaign released a statement saying:

“Gabe strongly opposes the offensive content of these social media posts, which is why he responded immediately when he learned about them.”

The situation was the topic this week Left, Right, Center led by Shaun Boyd, political reporter for CBS News Colorado.

“So, Dick, is that statement sufficient?” Boyd asked Republican political analyst Dick Wadhams of CBS in Colorado.

“Yes,” Wadhams replied. “I think Gabe reacted immediately. He fired her. He condemned it, and that's enough. Caraveo is just trying to make it a story that will last longer.”

Wadhams pointed out that candidates usually know the people they hire for their campaigns, even if background checks aren't done. Spindle's election to the Weld County Board of Education was a time when those positions could have come up, but didn't.

Mike Dino, Democratic analyst for CBS Colorado, agreed that Evans handled the situation appropriately and quickly and that it should no longer be an issue at this point. Dino stated that in the campaigns he has worked for, most staff and volunteers were not very thoroughly vetted.

“You rely on word of mouth, so to speak. I've had to fire people because of it. During one of the mayoral campaigns in Denver, we turned to one of his employees who had published a paper at the university in which some things were not so great. So in a campaign, anything goes,” said Dino.

Dino said campaign teams will likely never have enough money to conduct thorough background checks on staffers. Wadhams pointed out that they may need to do so now that social media is a factor.