Yadira Caraveo has among the highest staff turnover rates in Congress
Among the 10 members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, Caraveo has the highest rate of turnover during their tenures, according to LegiStorm
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, or in the 87th percentile. This year, the service ranked her at 31st out of 437 members of Congress, or in the 93rd percentile.
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:
- Brian Sowyrda, who served as chief of staff for the congresswoman when she took office but then left in June 2023 after six months. He was replaced by Joe Diver, who remains in the position.
- Kaylin Dines, who served as the first communications director for Caraveo and then also became her deputy chief of staff. She left in January, after about 14 months, and was replaced by Luke Bishop, who left the job in July after about six months. Her communications director is now Kevin Porter.
- Caraveo’s press secretary, Jack O’Shea, left in January. His LinkedIn page shows he worked for Caraveo for six months before departing.
- District Director Katie Wallace left her job in June after 16 months
- Erika Cabrera was the congresswoman’s deputy district director before leaving in September 2023. LinkedIn shows she worked for Caraveo for six months.
- Luci Kelemen was Caraveo’s regional outreach director before leaving her post in November 2023 after about 11 months.
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.”
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.”
Colorado county clerks began mailing ballots to Colorado voters on Friday. Election Day is Nov. 5.
