Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) is warning that Denver stands as a cautionary tale of what Democrat policies do to American cities, pointing to a hollowed-out downtown, a crippling fentanyl crisis, and a business climate so hostile that opening a restaurant costs more than in New York City.
In an exclusive interview on Breitbart News Daily, Evans, who represents Colorado’s 8th Congressional District in a race widely rated a “toss up,” argued the Mile High City’s struggles are not an accident but the product of a generation of activist-driven Democratic governance.
‘One Step South and You’re in Denver’
Evans, whose district borders the city limits, said the contrast is stark for his constituents. “I border Denver proper, so you can stand in my district, take one step south, and you’re now officially in the city and county of Denver,” he explained.
The freshman Republican blamed a political class in Colorado that he says has never run a business for driving companies out of the state. “It’s that second generation of Democrat activists who have never run a business that are running Colorado,” Evans said. “Business unfriendly state now.”
Evans offered a slew of statistics to back up the claim, noting Colorado is now “the sixth most heavily regulated state in the nation.” He said the regulatory environment has made it “more expensive in terms of regulatory burden to open a restaurant in Denver, Colorado, than it is in New York City.”
Energy Industry Exodus
A decade ago, Evans said, energy companies anchored Denver’s economy, with oil and gas firms comprising 35 percent of downtown Denver’s corporate base. Today? “It’s seven percent,” he said.
The result, he argues, is a downtown in freefall. Evans cited a 40 percent vacancy rate in Denver’s central business district — the highest in the nation — and said the hollowing out has a cascading effect.
“You lose all of the foot traffic, which means all of your restaurants struggle, your retail stops struggle,” he said.
‘Nobody Walks on 16th Street Now’
Evans pointed to the famed 16th Street Mall as a symbol of the city’s dysfunction. The pedestrian promenade, once a bustling artery of shops and foot traffic, is now all but empty, he said.
And the city’s response? Evans said Denver’s local government spent $100,000 on a study to consider rebranding the 16th Street Mall to simply “16th Street.”
“You want to talk about government waste?” he asked. “The city and county of Denver spent $100,000 to study rebranding the 16th Street Mall to 16th Street. Nobody walks on 16th Street now.”
That study, Evans noted, was commissioned to decide whether the street should change its name — a move he characterized as a meaningless gesture while the fundamental problems of crime and economic decline persist.
Fentanyl Crisis Hits Home
Evans also highlighted the drug epidemic gripping his state, delivering what he called a “startling statistic”: despite only two percent of the nation’s population, Colorado accounts for “over ten percent of the country’s fentanyl,” much of it concentrated in Denver.
“Colorado’s got two percent of the nation’s population and over ten percent of the country’s fentanyl, with a lot of that centered in Denver,” the incumbent said.
He tied that statistic directly to the Democrat policy agenda on public safety and the economy.
“This is what Democrats will do to public safety,” Evans said. “This is what Democrats do to the economy.”
A ‘Toss Up’ Race in the Suburbs
Evans’s remarks come as he campaigns in a district that national political handicappers have rated as a toss-up, one of the most competitive House seats in the country. His district stretches across Colorado’s northern suburbs, including parts of Adams and Weld counties, and runs right along the Denver city line.
That geography, Evans suggested, makes his district a living laboratory for the stark differences between Republican-led and Democrat-led governance.
“This is what Democrats will do to a city,” he said, framing Denver’s troubles as a preview of where the entire country could head under similarly progressive policies.
Evans’ interview on Breitbart News Daily, which airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern, comes as Democrats nationally try to paint Republican lawmakers as extreme. The Colorado Republican argues the evidence on the ground tells a different story.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2026/09/02/exclusive-rep-gabe-evans-denver-stands-as-example-of-what-democrat-policies-will-do-to-a-city/