Manny Rutinel (D) – CO-08 House 2026

About

Manny Rutinel is the Democratic nominee for Colorado's 8th Congressional District and a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives, where he represented District 32 after being appointed in 2023 and elected in 2024. An environmental attorney, Army Corps of Engineers economist, and first-generation American, he won the Democratic primary on June 30, 2026, and resigned his state House seat in September 2026 to campaign full-time. His campaign emphasizes lowering costs for working families, protecting and expanding healthcare, immigration reform, and anti-corruption measures such as banning congressional stock trading and corporate PAC money.

Biography sources 15

Positions on Key Issues

Positions of Manny Rutinel on key issues
Issue	Stance	Sources
Healthcare	Lower healthcare costs and expand access by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices (including capping insulin at $35 per month) and by cracking down on surprise medical bills; the policy also supports bodily autonomy in abortion decisions.	Issues - Manny for Colorado: Lower Healthcare Costs and Expand Access
Economy	Manny Rutinel's economy platform centers on lowering costs for working families—reducing prescription drug costs, energy bills, and healthcare premiums—while expanding good-paying jobs, boosting vocational training, and supporting unions to reduce income inequality and strengthen the middle class. He also proposes policies to increase the minimum wage and expand tax credits for working parents to further ease household costs.	Issues \| Take Action for Colorado Families — Manny for Colorado Last year, Manny Rutinel had different positions on healthcare, student debt, fracking - The Colorado Sun
Abortion & Reproductive Health	Support Bodily Autonomy: The government should respect Americans’ freedom to make their own decisions about abortion without interference from politicians or others.	Issues \| Manny for Colorado: Abortion & Bodily Autonomy Manny Rutinel on Abortion & Reproductive Rights \| Local Candidates
Immigration	Manny Rutinel cosponsored Colorado SB25-276 Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status to limit immigration enforcement abuses and protect civil rights; he has stated in campaign materials that he supports protecting immigrants from ICE brutality and reforming immigration policy to align with civil rights protections.	Issues \| Take Action for Colorado Families — Manny for Colorado SB25-276 Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status \| Colorado General Assembly Manny Rutinel's Votes on All bills: 2025 - Colorado Capitol Watch
Civil Rights & Equality	Manny Rutinel supports protecting immigrant communities and civil rights, including opposing ICE abuses and supporting state-level immigrant protections; he cosponsored Colorado SB25-276, which focuses on policing practices to avoid ICE involvement and to protect residents' civil rights.	Issues \| Manny for Colorado Colorado SB25-276 – 2025 Regular Session
Tech & AI	Manny Rutinel supports AI regulation and consumer protections, evidenced by his sponsorship of Colorado SB24-205 (Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence), which requires high-risk AI developers and deployers to manage risks of algorithmic discrimination, disclose information, and provide remedies to consumers. He also backed the 2026 rewrite of Colorado's AI framework to maintain guardrails.	SB24-205 Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence \| Colorado General Assembly The AI Primary Came for a Latino Swing District - Newsweek AI leaders pour millions into Colorado's 8th District primary
Election Policy	Manny Rutinel’s campaign advocates anti-corruption election reforms, including banning stock trading by members of Congress, prohibiting corporate PAC money, opposing dark money in politics, and exploring voting reforms such as approval voting to empower voters.	Issues - Manny for Colorado End Citizens United endorses Manny Rutinel in Colorado's 8th Congressional District 314 Action Fund endorses Manny Rutinel to flip Colorado's Eighth Congressional District
Local Issues	Rutinel's Local Issues platform centers on reducing the cost of living for Colorado families, including lowering costs for working families and making housing affordable. He supports expanding tax credits for working parents, closing corporate loopholes, lowering prescription drug costs (including insulin), capping energy bills, and protecting Social Security and Medicare.	Issues - Manny for Colorado Manny Rutinel - Ballotpedia
Climate/Energy	I will lower energy costs for Colorado families by reducing energy bills.	Issues - Manny for Colorado
Firearms & Second Amendment	Rutinel supports gun safety measures and has sponsored Colorado legislation to restrict semiautomatic weapons and rapid-fire devices and keep dangerous weapons out of schools. He has been endorsed by Giffords and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.	Manny Rutinel - GIFFORDS Shannon Bird and Manny Rutinel respond to questions about gun control
Foreign Policy	Rutinel supports Israel's right to exist and a two-state solution with secure borders, and supports U.S. security assistance to Israel in line with the Obama administration's 2016 memorandum of understanding. He has condemned antisemitism.	DMFI focusing ire on anti-Israel Democrats running in swing districts
Education	A former public school teacher, Rutinel says he is working to protect public education, increase school funding, and expand vocational training so high school students can graduate with industry-recognized credentials. He supports fully funding public education.	Issues - Manny for Colorado Manny Rutinel on protecting public education

Review an issue

Healthcare

Lower healthcare costs and expand access by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices (including capping insulin at $35 per month) and by cracking down on surprise medical bills; the policy also supports bodily autonomy in abortion decisions.

Sources:

Issues - Manny for Colorado: Lower Healthcare Costs and Expand Access

Choose another issue above to review the remaining researched positions.

Background

Career History

State Representative 2023 – Present

Colorado House of Representatives

Representing District 32.

CEO 2021 – Present

Climate Refarm

CEO of Climate Refarm, a non-profit organization.

Associate Attorney 2021 – Present

Earthjustice

Worked as an associate attorney at Earthjustice after graduating from law school.

Economist 2016 – 2018

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Served as an economist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Upstate New York.

Education

Yale Law School Juris Doctor in Law (2021)

Johns Hopkins University Master of Science in Applied Economics (2018)

University of Florida Bachelor of Science in Microbiology (2016)

Pasco-Hernando State College Associate of Arts

Top Donors

Raised approximately $4.3M in total receipts for the 2025–2026 cycle as of June 30, 2026, with about $601K cash on hand, according to FEC filings. Nearly all of his funding comes from individual contributions — more than half from small-dollar donors giving under $200, the highest percentage of any candidate in the race. His campaign has been significantly boosted by Silicon Valley and tech-industry donors: super PACs funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt ($2M to Somos PAC, which gave $1.3M to Rutinel) and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen (nearly $1M via You Can Push Back PAC), plus over $265,000 from individual employees of Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta, with an average donation of $32.

Sources

RUTINEL, MANNY - Candidate overview - FEC Manny Rutinel resigns from Colorado legislature to focus on congressional race - The Gazette Silicon Valley donations make Colorado Democratic primary one of state's most expensive - The Guardian Democrat running for competitive Colorado House seat raises more than $1M - The Hill Millions in early fundraising flows into Colorado's 8th District race - Colorado Newsline

Voting Record

As a Colorado state representative (District 32, since Oct. 2023), Rutinel has consistently voted with the Democratic caucus. He earned a 3.33% alignment score from the Christian Employers Alliance in 2025, indicating near-total opposition to conservative business positions. He was a prime sponsor of HB26-1202 (statewide strategy to reduce homelessness, signed into law), HB26-1240 (removing the age cap on the state earned income tax credit), and HB26-1054 (worker safety protections). He also co-sponsored legislation to limit ICE cooperation in Colorado and supported AI guardrail bills during the 2025 session. He serves on the Energy & Environment Committee.

Sources

View full voting record

About this research

Data compiled from public sources and analyzed using AI. Last updated October 10, 2026. Visit candidate websites for the most current information.