Cara DeGette grew up in Denver, CO. After receiving journalism degree, she did a three-year stint in the Central Rockies at the Vail Daily. She helped launch the Colorado Springs Independent, an alt weekly, in 1993, first as the news editor and for five years beginning in 2001, as editor-in-chief.

The recipient of numerous national and regional journalism awards, Cara is currently a contributing editor at the Independent, and continues to write her weekly column, investigative pieces, as well as mentoring other writers. A previous stringer with the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, Cara has broken numerous stories with national impact, and was one of the first journalists in the country to cover the so-called Patriot Movement of the 1990s.

As a senior fellow for Colorado Confidential, Cara is focusing on CD-5, the Colorado Republican Party as well as the GOP presidential race, religion, education, print media criticism, and news from the Colorado Springs area.