Joe O'Dea

The 2022 United States Senate election in Colorado was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet won reelection to a third term, defeating the Republican candidate, businessman Joe O'Dea. Originally appointed to the seat in 2009, Bennet won full terms in 2010 and 2016.

Bennet won by nearly 15 points, significantly outperforming his polling. His margin was the highest for a Democrat in a Senate election in Colorado since 1974. This was the first time in Bennet's Senate career that he received a majority of the vote.

The election resulted in both the best performance by a Democrat, and the worst performance by a Republican in the Class 3 seat since 1974.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Bennet was appointed to the U.S. Senate in January 2009 by Governor Bill Ritter following the resignation of the incumbent Senator, Ken Salazar, who become the Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama. Bennet was then narrowly elected in 2010 for his first full term, defeating Representative Ken Buck with 48.08% of the vote. In the 2016 election, he was re-elected to a second term with 49.97% of the vote, defeating Republican El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn.

Due to some of his centrist positions, such as his opposition to Medicare for All and his support for fracking, Bennet faced a potential challenge from the left, particularly from Joe Salazar, a former state representative. Salazar ultimately opted to run for the Colorado State Senate, and thus Bennet was easily renominated at the Democratic convention.

Nominee

*Michael Bennet, incumbent U.S. Senator

Eliminated at convention

*Karen Breslin, lawyer and university instructor

Declined

* Joe Salazar, former state representative and candidate for Colorado Attorney General in 2018 ''( ran for state senate)''

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Initially, a wide field of candidates declared their intention to seek the Republican nomination. However, instead of gathering the required number of signatures to be placed on the primary ballot, Bremer and most of the other candidates sought to earn the nomination by winning the required 30% of the delegate vote at the Colorado GOP convention in April 2022. As a result of the crowded field of candidates, delegate support was divided, with only State Representative Ron Hanks crossing the 30% threshold. Debora Flora, a radio show host, missed the ballot by a single percentage point, receiving 29% of the vote.

With the other candidates eliminated, State Representative Ron Hanks and construction CEO Joe O'Dea were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The contrast between the two Republicans was stark. Hanks supported a complete ban on abortion and echoed former president Donald Trump's assertions of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, while the more moderate O'Dea expressed support for LGBTQ rights, some abortion rights, and rejected Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud.

Though O'Dea was initially considered the frontrunner as a result of his fundraising advantage, Hanks was buoyed by an attempt by Democrats to influence the primary. Democratic Colorado, an entity formed in June 2022, received roughly $4 million from the Senate Majority Fund, a PAC associated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. They ran ads characterizing Hanks as "too conservative", in order to elevate Hanks over O'Dea, who was perceived as a stronger general election candidate. This attempt to interfere in the GOP primary was denounced by numerous former Colorado Democratic officials, including former governor Roy Romer, and former senators Mark Udall, Tim Wirth, and Gary Hart, who previously mounted unsuccessful attempts to win the Democratic nomination for president in 1984 and 1988.

Despite the support from Democrats and his lobbying for the endorsement of Donald Trump, Hanks was defeated by O'Dea by a 9% margin. He performed best in rural parts of the state, while O'Dea was successful in urban areas, such as Denver.

Nominee

*Joe O'Dea, construction company ownerJoe O’Dea beats Ron Hanks in Colorado’s Republican U.S. Senate primary
''The Colorado Sun'', June 28, 2022.In debate between Senate hopefuls Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea, it’s hardcore vs. softcore
''The Colorado Sun'', June 22, 2022.U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea believes abortions should be legal through 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions after
''The Colorado Sun'', August 19, 2022.$5 million in TV ads attacking Joe O’Dea in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race are hitting the airwaves
''The Colorado Sun'', September 23, 2022.

Eliminated in primary

*Ron Hanks, state representative for the 60th district (2021–2023) and nominee for in 2010

Eliminated at convention

*Eli Bremer, Olympic athlete, U.S. Air Force major and former chair of the El Paso Republican Party
*Gino Campana, former Fort Collins council member, city developer
*Deborah Flora, former radio host
*Daniel Hendricks, small business owner
*Juli Henry, nonprofit founder
*Gregory J. Moore, Colorado Christian University professor
*Peter Yu, businessman and nominee for Colorado's 2nd congressional district in 2018

Withdrew

*Erik Aadland, Army veteran ''(became Republican nominee for Colorado's 7th congressional district)''

Declined

*Ken Buck, U.S. Representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district, chair of the Colorado Republican Party, and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010
*Heidi Ganahl, University Regent ''( ran for Governor)''
*Cory Gardner, former U.S. Senator from Colorado (2015–2021)
*Darryl Glenn, former Colorado Springs city councilman (2005–2011), former El Paso County commissioner (2011–2019), and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016 (''ran for Mayor of Colorado Springs'')
*Clarice Navarro, former state representative
* Bill Owens, former governor of Colorado (1999–2007)
* Steven Reams, Weld County sheriff ''(ran for re-election)''

Endorsements

Polling

Results

General election

In recent years, Colorado has started voting more Democratic in the federal level, transitioning from a purple state to a moderately (and increasingly strongly) blue state, and the shift was largely contributed to the left-wing shift in the growing Denver metropolitan area, with President Joe Biden winning the state by 13.5% in the 2020 election, almost nine points to the left of the national result of around 4.9%. Prevailing in 2010, a year where Colorado was considered a swing state and Democrats performed very poorly, Bennet had a generally strong electoral history. He also outperformed Hillary Clinton on the same ballot in 2016. Ahead of 2022, Bennet was generally favored to win, though polling showed him as potentially vulnerable, largely due to the state of the economy and President Biden's low approval ratings. Colorado had not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since Cory Gardner in 2014, another very strong year for Republicans nationwide and while Colorado was still considered a swing state, even then Gardner only won narrowly. Bennet ultimately won reelection by a comfortable 14.6 point margin, outperforming Biden's victory two years prior and his own polling averages. Bennet also flipped three counties he had lost in his 2016 re-election bid, flipping Grand County by a narrow 1.1% and Chaffee County, and Garfield County by wide margins. However, O'Dea did narrowly flip Conejos County by a slim 1%.

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

Aggregate polls

Graphical summary

Michael Bennet vs. Ron Hanks

Michael Bennet vs. Eli Bremer

Michael Bennet vs. Gino Campana

Michael Bennet vs. Lauren Boebert

Michael Bennet vs. generic Republican

Michael Bennet vs. generic opponent

Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican

Debates

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Conejos (largest city: Manassa)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Chaffee (largest city: Salida)
* Garfield (largest city: Rifle)
* Grand (largest city: Granby)

By congressional district

Bennet won five of eight congressional districts.

See also

* 2022 United States Senate elections
* List of United States senators from Colorado

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Michael Bennet (D) for SenateJoe O'Dea (R) for Senate

{{2022 United States elections

2022
Colorado
United States Senate
Michael Bennet