An exodus of top staffers from Yadira Caraveo’s congressional office
Plus: Michael Bennet will vote “no” on Proposition 131. The remaining barriers to affordable housing. An NRCC burglary.
admin
U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo has among the highest rates of staff turnover in Congress, according to an analysis by a nonpartisan legislative tracking service, with a number of top aides leaving in the less than two years the Thornton Democrat has been in office.
LegiStorm found that Caraveo ranks 54th out of 428 for congressional staff turnover since taking office in January 2023. This year, the service ranked her at 31st out of 437 members of Congress.
LegiStorm analyzes staff turnover by salary, assigning a higher turnover score to members of Congress whose highest-paid aides are replaced.
The top Caraveo staffers who have departed during her first term include:
The Colorado Sun reached out to each of the staffers above who left Caraveo’s office. They either didn’t respond or declined to comment.
In a written statement, Diver, Caraveo’s chief of staff, said the congresswoman “deeply values the hard work and dedication of our team members who tirelessly serve the constituents of Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.”
“Out of respect for the privacy of our team, it is our longstanding policy not to comment on personnel matters,” Diver said in a written statement Monday. “We are, however, immensely proud of the contributions of our staff, both past and present. Their dedication continues to drive the success of our efforts in advocating for policies that make a difference in the lives of Coloradans.”
Welcome to The Unaffiliated, the politics and policy newsletter from The Colorado Sun. Each week, we take you inside the political arena to deliver news and insights on Colorado politics. Keep reading for even more exclusive news.
If you’re reading this newsletter but not signed up for it, here’s how to get it sent directly to your email inbox. Please send feedback and tips to jesse@coloradosun.com.
HOW TURNOVER IN CARAVEO’S OFFICE COMPARES
The relatively high rate of turnover, paired with the reluctance of former staff members to publicly talk about their experience under Caraveo, raises questions about her management of her staff. The top staffers who have departed were responsible for running Caraveo’s office, directing media strategy, handling constituent relations, and matching her work in Washington with the district’s needs.
Congressional experts have told The Sun the turnover in Caraveo’s office is unusual for a first-term lawmaker. A study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that between 2006 and 2016, the median tenure for a U.S. House chief of staff was 2.8 years, while the median tenure for a communications director was 1.3 years and 2.2 years for a district directo.
Caraveo declined to be interviewed about the turnover. The Sun reached out to Caraveo’s office on Thursday morning inquiring about its turnover findings and her LegiStorm ratings, giving a Monday evening deadline to respond.
Caraveo is running for reelection this year in Colorado’s highly competitive 8th Congressional District. Her opponent is Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans. Millions of dollars have poured into the race from super PACs seeking to influence voters. The outcome of the contest could determine which party controls Congress.
Caraveo beat her Republican opponent in 2022 by about 1,600 votes.
Among the 10 members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, Caraveo has the highest rate of turnover during their tenures, according to LegiStorm, edging out U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican firebrand from Windsor who took office in 2021. While some key original top staffers from Boebert’s office have left — Legislative Director Paige Agostin and Communications Director Ben Goldey — she has retained, for instance, her chief of staff, Jeff Small.
The lowest turnover rate belongs to Democratic U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, of Lakewood, who was elected to Congress at the same time as Caraveo.
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Centennial, has had a higher turnover rate than Caraveo in 2024, per LegiStorm, but his turnover rate since taking office in 2019 is about half that of Caraveo’s. The staffers who left Crow’s office this year include Chief of Staff Shira Siegel, who held the position for about 20 months before leaving in August to take a job as the deputy chief of staff at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, according to LinkedIn.
The turnover comes amid news that Caraveo has been suffering from depression and was treated during an inpatient stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The congresswoman told Colorado Public Radio in August that she was admitted in the spring to the neuropsychiatry program at the hospital.
CPR reported that Caraveo’s depression flared up multiple times before her inpatient stay, “causing her to miss a handful of events. At one point this spring she received medical attention in Colorado.”
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
THE BIG STORY
Lawmakers did a lot on housing. Barriers remain.
It was a banner year at the Colorado Capitol for housing advocates.
Lawmakers passed measures to study local housing needs and fund solutions; to increase density near transit; and to relax restrictions on accessory dwelling units. They also dramatically expanded tax credits for new affordable housing projects, while giving local governments new tools to preserve the low-income housing their communities already have.
But at our SunFest panel last month, housing experts said Colorado still has a long way to go to solve its housing affordability crunch. Here are some of the barriers that remain:
NEIGHBORHOOD RESISTANCE
One of the biggest challenges is political. Kinsey Hasstedt, director of state and local policy for Enterprise Community Partners, said voters often support the idea of new housing — like when they approved Proposition 123, which sets aside state tax dollars for affordable housing — only to throw up roadblocks to doing so in their neighborhoods.
Jason Peasley, who leads the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, spent years crafting the plan that became the doomed Brown Ranch project: a mixed-income community in Steamboat Springs that would have included more than 2,200 units of affordable housing for its workforce.
“Here’s a cautionary tale when you spend a lot of time listening to people that need housing,” Peasley said. “Guess where they don’t live? The city of Steamboat Springs. And guess where they can’t vote? The city of Steamboat Springs.”
City voters had previously approved a tax increase for affordable housing. But opponents forced a public referendum on the project, which would have added as many as 6,000 residents to a city of 13,000. This time, city voters said no.
His lesson learned: You can’t just tailor a project to those who need housing; you also have to win over the existing homeowners who don’t.
“It turned out to be a flaw in our public process, which is crazy to think about,” Peasley said. “We’re doing the right thing (by working with stakeholders) and that turned out to be, maybe, in this case, the wrong thing.”
LAND AND WATER
The good news, according to Kelly Moye, a Realtor in Westminster, is that for-profit housing developers still see Colorado as a place they want to build.
“They see we have a housing shortage. They see there’s opportunity,” she said. “But they can’t find a piece of ground that’s cheap enough to build — something that they can actually make any money on.”
Moye said part of her job is finding that piece of ground for some of her clients — but once she does, developers can’t always turn it into a money-making project.
Rising construction costs and insurance play a role. The cost of building leads developers to higher density products like townhouses — the more units the better, to make the finances work.
Add it all up, and profitable projects take more units than they used to, which means more land. That pushes development farther from Denver — and reduces the chance that there’s access to water and other essential infrastructure.
“It’s probably in Milliken or Fort Morgan, and then there’s no water,” Moye said. “And if there’s no water, then you can’t build. It’s just a constant issue with all of our resources as to how they can build and make it profitable.”
THE LACK OF CONDOS
Moye and Peasley pointed to sluggish condo construction as an ongoing barrier to affordability for first-time homebuyers.
They say construction defects reform — making it harder for residents to sue developers, which could in turn drive down the cost of insurance — would help. But, they suggested, it’s more nuanced than some proponents at the state Capitol might have you believe.
Moye said the construction defects law passed in 2017 could have led to more condos if the timing wasn’t so terrible. The pandemic undercut a key market for condos — the downtown office employee, who increasingly works at home.
Peasley said there’s another factor: Apartments are simply more profitable for developers and their investors. And insurance isn’t the only reason.
“If you’re building an apartment, that cash flow (from rent) goes to investors, that goes to banks,” Peasley said. “They’re very good at making money. When you’re talking about condos, that appreciation in value goes to the homeowner. And so that’s why it’s so much more important to be delivering that supply.”
Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at underwriting@coloradosun.com for more information.
THE POLITICAL TICKER
PROPOSITION 131
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, will be voting against Proposition 131, the measure on the November statewide ballot that would change most of the state’s primaries so candidates from all parties run against each other, with the top four vote-getters advancing to a ranked choice voting general election. He is now the most prominent Democrat in the state to come out in opposition to the initiative.
“Colorado, with its excellent existing system and strong voter turnout, should not be the guinea pig for interests pursuing their own experiments,” Bennet wrote in an email Sunday to his supporters. Proponents of Proposition 131 “should practice on a different state with a broken election system, not Colorado.”
Bennet argued that Proposition 131 “risks handing even more power to wealthy donors at the expense of Colorado voters.” He didn’t explain how, however. The campaign finance argument is frequently made by opponents of the measure, though their supporting evidence is thin.
“Colorado has spent decades building our exceptional voting system on principles of security, accessibility, and transparency,” he wrote, adding that the measure “adds significant complexity and uncertainty to our elections.”
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
The money keeps pouring into the highly competitive 8th Congressional District race, according to weekend campaign finance filings.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the Republican super PAC tied to House Speaker Mike Johnson, has now reported spending $3.4 million on the contest. The Mainstream Colorado Fund, a Democratic super PAC whose donors haven’t been reported yet, has spent about $850,000 on the contest.
OpenSecrets, the nonpartisan campaign finance tracker, reports that at least $13 million in outside spending has been dedicated to the race.
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
The National Republican Congressional Committee’s field office in Thornton was broken into last week.
According to a police report, about $1,500 worth of goods was stolen from the office, which opened in July.
READ MORE
???? = source has article meter or paywall
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Why the names of some Colorado congressional candidates appear with a term limits disclaimer
Coloradans receiving their 2024 ballots may notice that the names of some congressional candidates have a disclaimer below them that others do not.
For instance, beneath the name of Frank Atwood, an Approval Voting Party candidate running to represent the 4th Congressional District, is a notice that he has signed a declaration to limit his service to no more than three terms should he be elected. James Wiley, a Libertarian candidate running in the 3rd Congressional District, has the same notice below his name. Ditto for Unity Party candidate Critter Milton on the ballot in the 1st Congressional District.
The disclaimer has nothing to do with the fact that all three are third-party candidates. Rather, it’s there because they each signed an unenforceable declaration approved by Colorado voters nearly two decades ago.
In 1998, Colorado voters narrowly approved Amendment 18, a change to the state constitution that allows congressional candidates to sign a pledge declaring that they will serve no more than three terms in the U.S. House or two terms in the U.S. Senate.
Amendment 18 passed by less than a percentage point.
Something you should know: While the pledge is totally unenforceable, a candidate running for a fourth term in the U.S. House or third term in the U.S. Senate, is unable, under rules issued by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, to sign the pledge and have the disclaimer appear under their name.
There are a total of six congressional candidates running in Colorado this year who have signed the pledge. Four are members of the Approval Voting Party.
No major-party candidate running for Congress this year in Colorado signed the pledge.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
THE BIGGER PICTURE
???? = source has article meter or paywall
The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.
Corrections & Clarifications
Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.
