DENVER (AP) — Democrat Michael Bennet received reelection to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, besting Republican businessman and first-time challenger Joe O’Dea.
Bennet received his third race on his pledge to guard abortion rights, a sign of how vital the problem is to the blue-leaning state of Colorado. O’Dea was the uncommon Republican to assist Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights ruling that conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned this summer season. However that didn’t assist him.
Bennet’s marketing campaign hammered O’Dea on his opposition to abortions late in a being pregnant and on his assist for the very GOP-appointed justices who overturned Roe.
Bennet and his backers dramatically outspent the novice candidate on the airwaves, whereas O’Dea solely bought rhetorical assist from Senate Republicans in Washington, who by no means despatched important monetary assets his means.
O’Dea tried to place himself as a future “Republican Joe Manchin,” referring to the conservative Democratic West Virginian senator for example of a nonpartisan deal-maker who may finish Washington gridlock. The son of a police officer, O’Dea stated crime and the financial system have been his principal considerations, not social points. He had voted twice for Donald Trump, however O’Dea stated he’d marketing campaign in opposition to the previous president within the 2024 GOP major, citing higher choices like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Colorado voters didn’t purchase it, cementing the state’s transformation from a aggressive swing state early within the century to a extra reliably Democratic one. Just one Republican, Cory Gardner, has received a federal race in Colorado since 2004, and voters ousted him from the Senate in 2020.
Related Press author Sarah Rankin in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Comply with AP’s protection of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
Take a look at https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to study extra in regards to the points and components at play within the 2022 midterm elections.