The 2008 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 the ...

in 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, coinciding with the presidential and

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. Colorado had seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and three Republicans. After the elections, it consisted of five Democrats and two Republicans. District 4 changed party (from Republican to Democratic), which was the only district CQ Politics had forecasted to be at some risk for the incumbent party. The Primary election was held August 12, 2008.

Overview

Match-up summary

District breakdown

District 1

Democratic incumbent

Diana DeGette Diana Louise DeGette (; born July 29, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, her district is based in Denver. DeGette was a Chief Deputy Whip from 2005 ...

won against Republican nominee George Lilly. DeGette was unopposed in her primary, and Lilly won against Charles Crain in his primary. ''CQ Politics'' forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 2

Democratic nominee

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...

, a businessman, won against Republican nominee Scott Starin, an aerospace engineer. ''CQ Politics'' forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'. This district had been represented by Democrat

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, repre ...

since 1999. With the retirement of Senator

Wayne Allard Alan Wayne Allard (born December 2, 1943) is an American veterinarian and politician who served as a United States Representative (1991–1997) and United States Senator (1997–2009) from Colorado, as well as previously a Colorado State Senator ...

, Udall ran for the Senate, leaving this an open seat. Polis won the Democratic primary against Senate President

Joan Fitz-Gerald Joan Fitz-Gerald is an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Colorado Senate, representing the 16th district from 2001 until 2007. She also served as President of the Senate, the first woman to hold that office. Fitz-G ...

and Colorado Conservation Trust Director Will Shafroth. Starin was unopposed in the Republican primary. Former Eagle County Commissioner Tom Stone was earlier considered a possible Republican candidate, as was

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Mayor Mark Ruzzin for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

. Democrats held a strong edge in this district, with the most recent Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, having won 59% in 2004, as it was centered around heavily Democratic

District 3

Democratic incumbent

John Salazar John Tony Salazar (born July 21, 1953) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2005 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture in the C ...

won against Republican nominee Wayne Wolf. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 4

Democratic nominee

Betsy Markey Elizabeth Helen Markey (born April 27, 1956) is a former American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2009 to 2011. She also served as assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs in th ...

, businesswoman and regional director for Senator

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 B ...

won against Republican incumbent

Marilyn Musgrave Marilyn Neoma Musgrave (née Shuler; born January 27, 1949), American politician, is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who served from 2003 to 2009, representing the 4th District of Colorado. Musgrave ser ...

), who had represented this district since 2003. Both ran unopposed in the party primary elections. ''CQ Politics'' forecasted the race as 'Leans Democratic'. ''The Rothenberg Political Report'' rated it 'Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic'. ''The Cook Political Report'' ranked it 'Republican Toss Up'. Musgrave, a conservative known for her staunch opposition to gay marriage, won in 2006 by winning a plurality (46%) of the vote against

Angie Paccione Angela Veronica "Angie" Paccione (born February 21, 1960) is a former Colorado legislator and was a 2006 Congressional candidate. A college basketball player at Stanford and professional basketball player in the 1980s, Paccione became a high ...

(D) and a strong Reform Party challenge from Eric Eidsness, who managed to garner 11% of the vote. That, along with her 51% showing in 2004 despite George W. Bush winning 58% of the vote in this eastern Colorado district that includes the

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

area, made her vulnerable in 2008. Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Schaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field. Eidsness switched parties again, having switched from Republican to Reform Party the year prior, and became a Democrat, which could have fueled a potential rematch with Musgrave in 2008. 2006 nominee

briefly launched a campaign as well, but left the race in September 2007. On October 24, 2008, the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

abandoned Marilyn Musgrave's 2008 reelection campaign, believing the race was lost. This decision was based solely on Musgrave's poor poll numbers. Musgrave launched a negative advertisement, attacking Markey over the business of Syscom Systems, the data-processing equipment company run by Markey and her husband. The Musgrave ad was called "highly misleading" by a Denver television station that investigated the facts. After her defeat, Musgrave would not comment on the election results with the media, nor would she concede the race or contact Markey to congratulate her. She also did not thank her campaign staff for their efforts. She later recorded a

robocall A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service or em ...

for Republican Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, saying that she was defeated by "leftist special interests" who "suppressed the truth with vicious attacks and lies."

District 5

Freshman Republican incumbent

Doug Lamborn Douglas Lawrence Lamborn (born May 24, 1954) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. His district is based in Colorado Springs. Early life and career Born ...

won against Democratic nominee

Hal Bidlack Harold Wilford Bidlack (born 1958) is a retired United States Air Force officer and national security aide. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in Colorado's 5th congressional district as the Democratic nominee ...

, a Clinton administration

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

official, and Independent Rich Hand campaign website, running as a write-in candidate. The district is based in heavily Republican

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. ''CQ Politics'' forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'. Lamborn got bad press when two constituents accused him of making a threatening phone call in response to a critical letter they wrote. He won against Jeff Crank and

Bentley Rayburn Bentley B. Rayburn (born June 15, 1953) is an American retired Air Force major general and businessman. Rayburn graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Georgetown University, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He was named ...

, more moderate Republicans who had also run in 2006, in the Republican primary. In 2006, Lamborn had narrowly won a nasty multi-candidate primary with 27% of the vote, despite previous representative Joel Hefley's endorsement of Crank, citing Lamborn's "sleazy" campaign. Crank and Rayburn thus came to a gentleman's agreement - they would jointly conduct a poll of the primary, and whoever of the two of them was in third place would drop out and endorse the other, so as to have a better chance of defeating Lamborn. Rayburn came third in the poll, but he refused to drop out and Lamborn won the primary with 44% of the vote. Amid worries of vulnerability, Lamborn then won the general election by a 59%-41% margin, becoming the highest vote getter for a GOP Congressional candidate in the state in the 2006 cycle.

District 6

Republican nominee

Mike Coffman Michael Harold Coffman (born March 19, 1955) is an American politician, businessman, and veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps serving as Mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2019. A Republican, Coffman served as the U.S. representative for ...

won against Democratic nominee Hank Eng. ''CQ Politics'', ''The Cook Political Report'' and ''The Rothenberg Political Report'' all forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican', despite some minor controversies surrounding Mike Coffman and Colorado Ethics Watch.Ethics Watch Requests Criminal Investigation of Coffman
''Colorado Ethics Watch'', June 15, 2007 Eng ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary. Coffman defeated a crowded field of candidates including Ted Harvey, Steve Ward, and Will Armstrong (who was endorsed by the State GOP). Republican incumbent

Tom Tancredo Thomas Gerard Tancredo (; born December 20, 1945) is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 as a Republican. He ran for Pres ...

, who held the seat since 1999, decided to retire leaving it an open seat. His seat was considered to be the most Republican-dominated district of the Denver-area seats and was also one of the wealthiest in the nation. Tancredo was the second highest vote getter for a Republican congressional candidate statewide (59%-40%) in 2006, just behind Doug Lamborn in the 5th district. The district includes

Columbine High School Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shooti ...

, which was devastated in a tragic 1999 school massacre.

District 7

Democratic incumbent

Ed Perlmutter Edwin George Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, his district is located in the northern and western suburbs of the Denver metropolitan are ...

, who had represented this district since 2007, won against Republican nominee John W. Lerew. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'. In 2006, Perlmutter won 55% of the vote in this suburban Denver district that narrowly went to John Kerry with 52% in 2004. The district's voter registration was split, with independents constituting a slim plurality of 35% compared to Democrats (34%) and Republicans (31%).

References

;Specific ;General
2008 Competitive House Race Chart
''

The Cook Political Report ''The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter'' is an American online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the U.S. Presidency, the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and U.S. governors' offices. Sel ...

'', October 28, 2008
2008 House Ratings
''

The Rothenberg Political Report Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columnist at ''Roll ...

'', October 22, 2008

External links

Elections Center
from the ''Colorado Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for Colorado
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Colorado U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Colorado congressional races
from

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) ...

District 1 race ranking and details
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

District 1 campaign contributions
from

District 2 race ranking and details
from

District 2 campaign contributions
from

District 3 race ranking and details
from

District 3 campaign contributions
from

District 4 race ranking and details
from

District 4 campaign contributions
from

Musgrave (R-i) vs Markey (D)
graph of collected poll results from ''Pollster.com''
District 5 race ranking and details
from

District 5 campaign contributions
from

Cherry Creek News: Where's Hank
from ''Cherry Creek News''
District 6 race ranking and details
from

District 6 campaign contributions
from

District 7 race ranking and details
from

District 7 campaign contributions
from

{{2008 United States elections

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; ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, 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 wes ...