EXCLUSIVE: An incoming House Republican, who defeated the incumbent Democrat in Colorado, reveals what he expects to see from Republicans in the House during the next Congress.
Rep.-elect Gabe Evans, who defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado's 8th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital that voters in his district "could see with their own eyes" that rising crime was a problem.
"I didn't have to convince people there was a problem. I just had to show them that. Look, as a Colorado native born and raised here, 12 years in the U.S. Army and the Colorado Army National Guard, one combat deployment overseas, and then doing all the stuff the National Guard does domestically here in Colorado, another 10 years in law enforcement, married with two boys, state representative," Evans said. "I know how to fix these problems and I know how to bring the actual dinner table solutions to make everybody's lives better, safer and more affordable."
Evans explained that his district, which is 40% Hispanic, was frustrated with the crisis at the southern border.
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"There's actually quite a lot of frustration around the folks like my family, you know, my mom's first generation American, my abuelito is an immigrant from Chihuahua, northern part of Mexico," Evans said.
"He earned his citizenship with two Purple Hearts in World War Two. My uncle reminds me constantly, you know, gave the citizenship for our branch of the Chavez family, was paid for in blood on the battlefields of Western Europe," he continued. "And so for a large segment of the Hispanic population, you know, the folks that did it right, that are here working jobs, that are law-abiding, to see this massive influx across the border of folks who, you know, at the very least, are immediately rolling across the border and getting the red carpet rolled out via taxpayer funded handouts and resources."
Evans will enter Congress in January, when Republicans have control of both chambers and the White House. However, in the House of Representatives, they will have a razor-thin majority with a small margin for error. Evans told Fox News Digital he is confident Republicans in the House will unite to push through Trump’s agenda.
"I think that we will get on the same page and I think that the next two years are going to be very, very different from the last two years because we do have a unified government," Evans said.
"And so folks know that it is now time for the Republicans who control the House, the Senate and the presidency to come through on all of those campaign promises, everything that we talked about, making safe and secure communities, making sure that we're securing the borders. Making sure that we're improving America's standing globally and that we're once again projecting those calm, steady hands on the wheels in the international community through consistent, steady American leadership, all of these things. It's up to us to deliver those now."
"My promises to my district were things like public safety. I'm going to stand by our state and local law enforcement," he continued. "I'm going to make sure that we're giving them the tools that they need to keep our communities safe and so much of that starts with ensuring that we are working to get rid of these sanctuary state policies that blatantly ignore federal law and that in Colorado, at least outright prohibit law enforcement from even being able to work with Immigration and Customs to deport violent gangbangers, cartel members and other criminals who are taking advantage of the left's soft on crime policies and these open border policies."
In terms of the economy, Evans said that Republicans will work to be "making sure that we get the economy empowered again to get the cost of living down, cut punitive regulations, cut red tape, and make sure that folks can get good paying jobs, that those good paying jobs are available for them, and that the overall economy is flourishing again so that things can be affordable."
Evans said that Trump's victory in November shows that Republicans have a mandate in the next Congress.
"The American people have given the Republican Party unified government for the next two years. I think that is absolutely indicative of the fact that they want to see change," Evans said. "They know that their lives are not better now than they were four years ago. They're ready to go a different direction. And so, for the next two years, it's up to us to roll up our sleeves and truly get to work for all Americans, whether they voted for us or not."
