After being elected as Colorado's First Latina Congresswoman, Yadira Caraveo says it "hasn't really sunk in yet"

Congresswoman-elect Yadira Caraveo stood in the backyard of the home where she grew up in Adams County while her family watched from nearby and discussed her against-all-odds journey from medical school, to the state legislature and now Congress.

 "I've been an underdog my entire life," said Caraveo, who is not only as the first person to represent Colorado's new 8th Congressional District, but the first Latina to represent Colorado in Washington. "I don't know if it's really sunk in yet."

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Caraveo says she will represent working class families like her family.

"Seeing my dad get home every day smelling of diesel and dust and being tired because of his work as a construction worker. Being able to smell cakes cooking on weekends because my mom cooked wedding cakes on the weekend to make sure we could make ends meet," Caraveo said.

A pediatrician, Caraveo says, she will also represent families like the ones she saw in the clinic.

"And having to have conversations about whether they could afford health care and whether the prescriptions I was giving them would allow them to still eat that week," she said.

Caraveo believes she entered politics to also fix a broken health care system.

"To make sure it's not about insurance companies or drug companies but patients and doctors, the people medicine should really be centered around." Caraveo said.

Addressing climate change, she says will also be a top priority as well. Caraveo says she understands many in her district rely on oil and gas jobs.

"I also see kids struggling to breathe every single day and I have to send them to the hospital to put them on oxygen and so I'm going to focus on making sure we have a healthy community, a healthy environment," she said.  

While she lost Weld County, Caraveo says she won the race in large part due to the support of Latinos, who make up 39% of the district.

"I had so many people pull me aside, give me hugs, give me kisses on the cheeks and say it's so great to finally see somebody like us, not just running for Congress but possibly representing us... and I am so honored to have their backing and to be able to be that voice for them in Congress," Caraveo said.

Caraveo's opponent, Barb Kirkmeyer, also aggressively courted Latinos with a message about high inflation and crime, but like so many other Republican candidates this year, she couldn't overcome voters negative view of the GOP in general and former President Trump in particular.