“I couldn’t keep quiet: ‘Don’t vote for my cousin Gabe Evans for Congress.’

My cousin, Gabe Evans, is running for Congress in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. I really love him, and I have since the day he was born. But I sincerely hope he doesn’t make it to Congress.

My name is Jennifer and I am Gabe’s mother’s sister. As anyone reading this can probably imagine, it’s incredibly difficult to encourage you not to vote for my cousin. Family is very important, but so is standing up for what you believe in and doing what is right.

I believe in freedom, rights, fairness and opportunity. I believe in the right to love who you want to love. The right to make your own health care decisions, especially when it comes to starting a family. I believe in democracy and protecting our free and fair elections.

My cousin does not share these beliefs. He has an extreme, far-right ideology that, simply put, is terrifying. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I am terrified of what his agenda could do to my rights.

He believes in and has called for a ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest. He has threatened the fabric of our democracy by questioning the results of free and fair elections, joining extremists like Lauren Boebert in doing so.

He believes in and has called for the banning of same-sex marriage; he even called gay marriage “bestiality.”

He has tried to claim that his views have changed over time, but the truth is that I have seen firsthand that this is not the case. He has long held a deeply held belief that same-sex marriage is wrong and unacceptable.

Gabe has been working with the Convention of States – a group that wants to rewrite the US Constitution to establish a far-right government. The group is backed by the most extreme leaders, including the authors of Project 2025, the policy proposals from extreme Republicans that would go into effect in 2025 if Trump were elected president.

Not only has Gabe attended events held by the Convention of States; he has actively worked to implement their agenda by introducing a resolution in the Colorado State Legislature word for word copied their proposals and would achieve their goal of overthrowing the Constitution.

Gabe already has an extreme record. But now it is clear that he is laying the foundation for the Project 2025 agenda. If Gabe and his fellow far-right extremists are in control, they will implement Project 2025, and this should concern us all deeply.

Project 2025 would take away our rights and freedoms by monitoring women’s pregnancies, limiting access to contraception, and moving toward a national abortion ban. It would be detrimental to our wallets, education and access to healthcare.

It would raise costs for middle-class families while closing public schools and dismantling the Ministry of Education. The list goes on.

The hardest thing to watch is Gabe exploiting my father’s legacy for political gain. Gabe advertises his Mexican heritage, which comes from my father. But my father, who earned his American citizenship by fighting for this country in World War II, was kind, respectful and selfless. He would be disgusted by the hateful platform Gabe runs on.

With so much at stake, I couldn’t stay silent. I understand my cousin well enough to know that he will promote a far-right agenda that is simply too dangerous.

Jennifer Chavez is the aunt of Colorado Congressional candidate Gabe Evans. She says, “I love my cousin and am very proud of his military and law enforcement achievements, but he has dishonored and disrespected the family name, which was very important to our father.“