Republicans’ attempt to recover some influence in Colorado’s state legislature appears to have failed.
The party aimed to regain the state Senate and exert major control over the Democratic Party’s agenda. However, preliminary findings indicate that they have made little, if any, progress in the chamber.
The state House and governor’s office will continue to be under Democratic rule in the meantime.
Republican candidates were in the rear-view mirror as of midnight on Tuesday in every district considered a fight, as well as one in northern Colorado that many believed to be a safe seat for the party this year. Democrats were in the lead by more than 10 percentage points in a number of the competitive seats.
At around 10:30 p.m., Senate Democrats declared victory despite the fact that hundreds of ballots remained to be tallied.
The Senate’s Democrats were being written off by everyone, according to Senate President Steve Fenberg. But today, we won’t only maintain the majority; we’ll also go above and above everyone’s expectations.
Many political experts believed for weeks that Democrats would win both the governor’s office and the state House by sizable percentages. However, the fight for the state Senate was more heatedly contested, with both parties investing more than $20 million into the tight contests.
To gain the majority, Republicans needed at least seven victories in close seats. However, they were trailing in each of those races as of midnight. Republicans may even lose Senate seats if the early results hold.
Paul Lundeen, a state senator who oversaw the Republican campaign for the Senate, said he was awaiting additional information.
Tomorrow should bring more clarity. He texted CPR News, “There are a lot of contests with significant uncounted votes. We are aware that the results will be improved by the day-of ballots, many of which have not yet been counted.
Democratic incumbent Sen. Nick Hinrichsen led Republican challenger Stephen Varela by six points in Pueblo. Democratic Rep. Tony Exum had a roughly 7-point lead over Republican Sen. Dennis Hisey in Colorado Springs.
The race was most closely contested in Senate District 15, in northern Colorado, where Democrat Janice Marchman defeated Republican Sen. Rob Woodward by a margin of around 3.5 points, or 2,000 votes. Comparatively to other political battlegrounds, that district has received substantially less attention and funding from the major parties.
Republicans would have been able to obstruct legislation and thwart Democratic objectives for at least the next two years if they had won the Senate. Additionally, it would have been the first time since 2018 that the party had any kind of state-level power.
When Democrats won another Senate seat in 2020, Republicans were further pushed to the margins of society. And when Sen. Kevin Priola defected to the Democratic Party in autumn, things only got worse for the Republicans.
Independent expenditure organisations have made significant contributions to Senate candidates on both sides.
As of October 26, two Republican organisations had spent more than $11 million in total, the majority of which was allocated to competitive Senate contests. The Senate Majority Fund and Unite for Colorado were such organisations.
Democrats had made a small savings. As of October 26, their major organisation, All Together Colorado, reported spending roughly $9 million, with a further $1.5 million set aside, according to reports.
With the exception of Senate District 20, where Republican Tim Walsh spent more over $1 million, largely of his own money, the amount of money spent by the candidates themselves was pretty evenly distributed. He was 13 percentage points behind Democratic contender and state lawmaker Lisa Cutter as of late on Tuesday.
Otherwise, as of late October, the typical Democratic expenditure in contested districts was $174,000, while the typical Republican expenditure was roughly $122,000.
