Yadira Caraveo, MD

Rep. Yadira Caraveo, MD, represents Adams County in the Colorado General Assembly as the State Representative for House District #31. Currently the only medical doctor in the legislature, she utilizes her experiences from her 11-year pediatrics career to improve the healthcare system and fight for working families statewide.

Prior to elected office, Rep. Caraveo supported her community through her medical career and through her advocacy efforts. Eleven years into her career as a pediatrician, she sees 80 patients per week when at the clinic, and she has treated over 3,000 children in Colorado and New Mexico. Meanwhile, her work with groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists was honored by the Obama White House when the administration designated her a Champion of Change in 2013.

After the 2016 elections, she decided to get involved with the local Democratic party and run for the State House in 2018. As the Vice Chair of the House Health and Insurance Committee, she has passed legislation to invest in primary care, reform prior authorizations for procedures and tests, promote comprehensive human sexuality education, and enact new stringent oil and gas regulations to protect the public’s health. In 2019, she secured $6 million in census outreach funding so that the state counts every Coloradan and collects the health-related data that it needs in order to receive vital resources for the state. She was a leader in the legislature’s response to the COVID-19 crisis during the 2020 session, carrying a best-in-the-nation paid sick leave bill that expanded paid sick days to all Coloradans. She also passed legislation to make polluters pay for their emissions and a referred ballot measure to establish a nicotine tax.

She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Colorado and graduated cum laude from Regis University in Colorado. After medical school, she attended the pediatric residency program at the University of New Mexico.