My question is, will this hurt her politically or make her seem more relatable? I certainly don’t think it should hurt her, but that’s not the sort of political world Americans inhabit just now.
Would likely depend on her district. If they won a tight race in a contested district, that might be enough to tilt an election. But I would imagine/hope that in today’s world the electorate would not consider seeking treatment for a diagnosed medical condition to be disqualifying factor.
Having said that - if a mental/emotional condition were severe enough, and lasted long enough that it significantly interfered with an official’s performance of their duties, that might be another matter.
It’s a competitive district. The 8th was newly drawn for 2022 by the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission and has an “Even” Cook Partisan Voting Index. Colorado is probably no longer that “purple” of a state overall, but the 8th folds together parts of (reliably Democratic) north Denver, (very conservative) Weld County, and (historically a GOP stronghold but increasingly blue) Larimer County.
Yadira Caraveo eked out a 48.38% to 47.69% margin over her Republican opponent, Barbara Kirkmeyer, in territory that went for Biden by 4 points in 2020. Her 2024 challenger, Gabe Evans, handily won the GOP primary and, although Trump-endorsed, doesn’t seem to be pursuing the Lauren Boebert approach to politics and in relative terms is if not moderate at least not extreme by party standards.
I would venture to say “strong candidate” would not be most Coloradans choice of words to describe Dr. Caraveo, whose approval was underwater in polls this spring and who has been trying to reduce whatever daylight exists between her and Evans by, e.g., joining the GOP to condemn “border czar” Kamala Harris. I don’t know how much this will move the needle, but she probably needs things to actually help her, not just “not move the needle.”
I am in her district. Kirkmeyer (R) ran last year and lost because she originally said no abortion even for rape & incest. Then changed it to yes to abortions for rape and incest but nothing else. Then she removed her stance on abortion from her campaign website and refused to talk about it. And then she still came within 1600 votes of winning.
Gabe Evans, who is running against Caraveo in 2024, has his pro-choice agenda buried with the rest of his AMERICA platform. Interestingly, since his wife had multiple miscarriages he supports spending tax money on women’s reproductive health … just not abortion. He supports teachers but still wants school choice. He is very quiet on gender issues although he did vote against requiring new state government buildings to have gender neutral bathrooms. In short, he’s as close to a moderate Republican as you can get in Weld County.
His signs are all around but I have yet to see a Caraveo sign. I have gotten maybe 2 mailings from her yet I get an Evans mailing every week. I predict a flip for Colorado CD8 but not because of her depression but because her candidate is running a better campaign than she is.