The 2004 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born April 13, 1933) is an American Cheyenne politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, and as a United States Senator from Colorado f ...

decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. Democratic nominee

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

won the open seat, defeating Republican nominee

Pete Coors Peter Hanson Coors (born September 20, 1946) is an American businessman and politician. He formerly served as the chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of MillerCoors. Coors was the Republican party nominee in the 2004 United ...

Background

On March 3, 2004, incumbent Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell announced that he would not seek reelection due to health concerns, having recently been treated for

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

and

heartburn Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, cardialgia or acid indigestion, is a burning sensation in the central chest or upper central abdomen. Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus. It is the ma ...

. Before Campbell's retirement, no prominent Democrat had entered the race, with educator Mike Miles and businessman

Rutt Bridges Rutt Bridges is an American geophysicist and politician from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Business success Bridges began his career with Chevron Corporation, then founded Advance Geophysical in 1 ...

pursuing the Democratic nomination. After Campbell's retirement, many expected popular Republican Governor Bill Owens to enter the race, however he declined to run. Campbell's retirement and Owens' decision not to run prompted a number of prominent Democrats to reexamine the race.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Attorney General of Colorado The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the U.S. state of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Colorado state government. It is an elected position with a four- ...

* Mike Miles, educator

Campaign

On March 10, the same day Owens announced he would not run, U.S. Congressman

Mark Udall Mark Emery Udall ( ; born July 18, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, represe ...

entered the race. The next day, state Attorney General

entered the race, leading Udall to immediately withdraw and endorse him, Udall eventually elected in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Salazar lost to Mike Miles at the State nominating convention. In spite of this loss, the national Democratic Party backed Salazar with contributions from the DSCC and promotion of Salazar as the only primary candidate.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, former CEO and Chairman of

Coors Brewing Company The Coors Brewing Company started as an American brewery and beer company in Golden, Colorado. In 2005, Adolph Coors Company, the holding company that owned Coors Brewing, merged with Molson, Inc. to become Molson Coors. The first Coors brew ...

Bob Schaffer Robert Warren Schaffer (born July 24, 1962) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican former member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Colorado in the 105th United States Congress, 105th Congress and the two ...

, U.S. Representative

Campaign

The two candidates got into an ideological battle, as Schaffer attacked Coors because his company had provided benefits to the partners of its

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

employees, in addition to promoting its beer in

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

s. Coors defended himself by saying that he was opposed to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, and supported a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

to ban it, although he noted that he supported civil unions for gay couples. According to the ''Rocky Mountain News'', Coors described his company's pro-

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

practices as "good business, separate from politics."

Results

Coors defeated Schaffer with 61% of the vote in the primary, with many analysts citing his high name recognition in the state as a primary factor.

General election

Candidates

Major

(R), former CEO and Chairman of

(D), State Attorney General

Minor

* Douglas Campbell (C) * Victor Good (Re) * Finn Gotaas (I) * John Harris (I) * Richard Randall (L)

Campaign

Pete Coors, Chairman of

, ran as a moderate conservative. However, Salazar was also a moderate and a highly popular State Attorney General. Coors is also a great-grandson of

Adolph Coors Adolph Herman Joseph Coors Sr. (February 4, 1847 – June 5, 1929) was a German American brewer who founded the Adolph Coors Company in Golden, Colorado, in 1873. Early years Adolph Hermann Joseph Kuhrs was born in Barmen in Rhenish Pruss ...

, founder of the brewing company. His father is

Joseph Coors Joseph Coors, Sr. (November 12, 1917 – March 15, 2003), was the grandson of brewer Adolph Coors and president of Coors Brewing Company. Birth and education Coors was born in 1917 to Alice May Kistler (1885–1970) and Adolph Coors II. His sibl ...

, President of the company and founding member of the

conservative think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental org ...

, the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

. Salazar narrowly won the open seat. It was one of only two Democratic pickups in the 2004 Senate elections (Illinois was the other).

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 29, 2004

Finances

According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

, Coors gave his own campaign $1,213,657 and received individual donations of $60,550 from other Coors family members. A state record total of over $11 million was raised during the election.HighBeam
/ref>

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

{{United States elections, 2004 2004 Colorado elections

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

Campaign

Debates

Finances

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References