Rutinel: “I will support reversing Trump and Evans’s cuts to Medicaid”

FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN COLORADO SEEKS CONGRESSIONAL SEAT FOR DISTRICT 8

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Former state representative Manny Rutinel is seeking to represent Colorado’s 8th Congressional District with an agenda focused on easing the financial strain on families. The candidate proposes lowering the cost of living, curbing inflation, and restoring essential healthcare programs while stating: “I will reverse Trump and Evans’s cuts to Medicaid.”

Jesús Sánchez Meleán: Who is Manny Rutinel?

Manny Rutinel: I am the son of a single mother who immigrated to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream. We worked hard every single day for this country, but we still faced hardships. I remember being about ten years old filling out forms for food stamps and Medicaid—the very same programs that Trump and Gabe Evans are destroying right now to give tax cuts to their billionaire donors.

I worked at McDonald’s for about two and a half years. I sold my plasma at a donation center more than a hundred times just to make ends meet. Eventually, I got into college, and I spent my first semester sleeping on the floor and on my friends’ couches. I graduated from college and became an economist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Then I started applying to law schools. My mom doesn’t always like me telling this story, but when I started applying to law schools, I called her and said, “Mami, I just got accepted to Yale,” and she replied, “Did you just get sent to jail?” Over time, I became a state representative and championed more than 400 laws to lower the cost of living.

Rutinel: “I will support reversing Trump and Evans’s cuts to Medicaid”

JSM: Describe District 8 in a single sentence?

MR: A place of kind, generous, and hardworking people who are trying to make ends meet and raise their families.

JSM: What is the first bill you would like to support or introduce?

MR: One to reverse the cuts that Trump and Evans have imposed on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Families have told me that in 2025 they were paying $500 a month for healthcare; in 2026, for that same plan, they are going to have to pay $2,000 a month. I can’t even imagine how to come up with an extra $1,500 a month.

JSM: Which congressional committee would you like to serve on?

MR: Any committee where I can work to lower costs, and on the Oversight Committee to use my skills to investigate corruption in the current administration.

Rutinel: “I will support reversing Trump and Evans’s cuts to Medicaid”

JSM: You claim that Evans has no plan to lower inflation. However, we have heard him say that if regulations and taxes on the energy sector are eliminated, transportation, heating, power, and gas costs would decrease. What is your proposal to curb inflation?

MR: I believe we should bring back the tax credits eliminated by the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and end the war in Iran. Those are two concrete actions to lower the cost of energy and fuel. Beyond that, inflation is a product of how much people pay. Trump and Evans destroyed Medicaid and Obamacare. So I am going to support restoring those programs. And I also want to end the corrupt tariff policies, which act as a tax on the American people that raises the price of food and supplies across our economy.

JSM: District 8 sits on the fourth most important energy basin in the U.S., so energy production is crucial here. Could you explain your stance on energy production?

MR: I believe in an all-of-the-above energy system. We must utilize every way we can produce energy, and I want to make sure the system we have is abundant, affordable, and secure. We also need to guarantee that we have the highest-paying jobs here. I believe in a broad energy system.

JSM: Does that mean you do not support more regulations on the energy sector?

MR: What I want to ensure is that we keep our communities safe and enforce existing laws against those who illegally and inappropriately pollute our air and water. Those are the laws of the land. But on the other hand, I want a comprehensive energy system; I believe we can have both. We can enforce the law and prevent illegal pollution to protect our neighbors, air, and water, while simultaneously securing great, well-paying jobs and a diverse energy system here.

JSM: What is your proposal to prevent a potential housing crisis in your district?

MR: When I was a teenager, my mom walked into the house one day with a stack of envelopes. She opened one, read it, ran to her room, and started crying because she had just learned that the bank was going to foreclose on our home. This was during the Great Recession.

I believe we can advance the creation of a fund at the national level to build housing for low-income individuals, just as we have done in Colorado. Another thing we must do is cut red tape. Currently, we make it extremely difficult for builders to construct housing in Colorado.

JSM: What is your stance on immigration?

MR: I believe that for Dreamers and for people who have been here the longest, there must be a pathway to citizenship. And, of course, we must also secure our border and give law enforcement the necessary resources to prevent human trafficking and the smuggling of drugs like fentanyl. What Trump and Evans are doing is trying to terrorize our communities.

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