Two of Colorado’s freshly elected GOP congressman are getting a taste of what life in Washington, D.C., will be like—but will they be able to resist the establishment as they promised voters on the campaign trail? That’s the question Politico poses to some members of the incoming freshman class of the U.S. House of Representatives, as they’re courted by conservative interests from the Tea Party Patriots to FreedomWorks. Colorado Republicans Cory Gardner and Scott Tipton, who successfully unseated incumbents Betsy Markey and John Salazar, respectively, note the differences between their districts back home, both of which cover most of Colorado’s rural counties, and D.C. “It’s business as usual,” Tipton says of the nation’s capitol. “They aren’t suffering like the rest of the country is, and I think that that will be a constant reminder, because this is something that we won’t cure overnight.”

Gardner talks with The Greeley Tribune about his priorities for the upcoming session, and social issues are notably absent from the Q&A. That’s probably best for Republicans like Gardner and Tipton. Another Politico article looks at how abortion politics played out in this year’s midterm elections and in particular how U.S. Senator Michael Bennet benefited from female voters who considered Republican Ken Buck to be too extreme on the issue.