2010 United States Senate election in Colorado

The 2010 United States Senate election in Colorado took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. In December 2008, President-elect Barack Obama nominated incumbent U.S. Senator Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior.^[1] After Salazar resigned from his seat,^[2] Democratic governor Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to fill the seat.

2010 United States Senate election in Colorado

← 2004 November 2, 2010 2016 →

Nominee Michael Bennet Ken Buck Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 854,685 824,789 Percentage 48.08% 46.40%

County results Precinct results Bennet:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Buck:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      No votes

U.S. senator before election Michael Bennet[a] Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet Democratic

Bennet won a full term, defeating former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary, and Republican nominee Ken Buck in the general election.^[3][4] With a margin of 1.7%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2010 Senate election cycle after the concurrent one in Illinois.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Michael Bennet, incumbent U.S. Senator^[5]

Eliminated in primary

• Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives^[6][7]

Endorsements

Bennet

• President Barack Obama^[8]
• U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
• Congresswoman Diana DeGette
• Congressman Ed Perlmutter
• Congresswoman Betsy Markey
• U.S. Senator Mark Udall
• Congressman Jared Polis
• Congressman John Salazar
• Former U.S. Senator Gary Hart
• Governor Bill Ritter

Romanoff

• Former president Bill Clinton^[9]

Polling

Poll Source	Dates Administered	Michael Bennet	Andrew Romanoff	Undecided
The Tarrance Group[10]	September 16–17, 2009	41%	27%	32%
Public Policy Polling[11]	May 19, 2010	46%	31%	23%
Survey USA[12]	June 15–17, 2010	53%	36%	11%
Survey USA[13]	August 1, 2010	45%	48%	7%
Public Policy Polling[14]	August 7–8, 2010	49%	43%	9%

Results

Results by county:

  Bennet

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Romanoff

•   50–60%

Democratic primary results^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Bennet (incumbent)	184,714	54.15%
	Democratic	Andrew Romanoff	156,419	45.85%
Total votes			341,133	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ken Buck, Weld County District Attorney^[17]

Eliminated in primary

• Jane Norton, former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado^[18]

Eliminated in convention

• Cleve Tidwell, businessman
• Robert Greenheck
• Steve Barton

Withdrew

• Tom Wiens, former state senator^[19]

Declined

• Bob Beauprez, former U.S. Representative for Colorado's 7th congressional district^[20]
• Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for United States District Court for the District of Colorado^[21]
• Ryan Frazier, Aurora city councilman^[22]

Endorsements

Notable Individuals and Organizations endorsing Ken Buck

• Jim DeMint, U.S. Senator^[23]
• Erick Erickson, blogger^[24]
• Tom Wiens, state senator^[25]

Notable Individuals and Organizations endorsing Jane Norton

According to her website:^[26][27]

• American Conservative Union
• Family Research Council
• Susan B. Anthony List
• Bill Owens, Governor
• Sarah Palin, former Governor
• William L. Armstrong, former U.S. Senator
• Hank Brown, former U.S. Senator
• Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator
• Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator
• Bob Beauprez, former U.S. Congressman
• John Suthers, State Attorney General
• Mark Hillman, former state treasurer
• Jan Brewer, Arizona Governor
• Wayne Allard, Former U.S. Senator
• Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senator
• Josh Penry, state senator
• United States Chamber of Commerce^[28]

Polling

Poll Source	Dates Administered	Ken Buck	Jane Norton
The Tarrance Group[29]	September 16–17, 2009	15%	45%
Public Policy Polling[30]	March 3, 2010	17%	34%
Magellan[31]	March 14, 2010	13%	41%
Magellan[31]	April 19, 2010	32%	29%
Public Policy Polling[11]	May 19, 2010	26%	31%
Magellan[31]	June 8, 2010	42%	32%
Survey USA[32]	June 15–17, 2010	53%	37%
Public Opinion Strategies[33]	June 20–21, 2010	33%	39%
Survey USA[13]	August 1, 2010	50%	41%
Public Policy Polling[14]	August 7–8, 2010	43%	45%

Results

Results by county:

  Buck

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Norton

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Tie

•   50%

Republican Primary results^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Buck	211,099	51.57%
	Republican	Jane Norton	198,231	48.43%
Total votes			409,330	100.0%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mac Stringer

Eliminated in primary

• John Finger

Results

Libertarian Primary results^[34][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Mac Stringer	1,186	52.45%
	Libertarian	John Finger	1,075	47.55%
Total votes			2,261	100.0%

General election

Candidates

Major

• Michael Bennet (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Ken Buck (R), Weld County DA

Minor

• Bob Kinsey (G) (campaign site, archived November 4, 2010, PVS)
• Charley Miller (I) (campaign site, PVS)
• J. Moromisato (I) (campaign site, PVS)
• Jason Napolitano (I) (PVS)
• Mac Stringer (L) (campaign site Archived October 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, PVS)
• Bruce E. Lohmiller (G) (Write-in) (Congress.org)
• Michele M. Newman (I) (Write-in) ()
• Robert Rank (R) (Write-in) (^{[permanent dead link‍]}) campaign site, () YouTube campaign video

Source: Official Candidate List^{[permanent dead link‍]}

Campaign

This was one of the most expensive elections in the nation, as more than $30 million was spent by outside organizations.^[35] Conservative third party groups hammered Bennet for voting 92% of the time with the Democratic leadership, including voting for healthcare reform and the stimulus package.^[36] Liberal third party groups called Buck extremist. Bennet focused on attacking Buck's views on abortion, which he believed should be banned including those of cases of rape and incest. He was also attacked for wanting to eliminate the Seventeenth Amendment^[37] and refusing to prosecute an alleged rapist as Weld County district attorney. Planned Parenthood mounted a mail campaign, targeting women voters with the warning that "Colorado women can't trust Ken Buck." Bennet won the women vote by 17 points according to exit polls. After the election, Buck conceded to the Denver Post that the main reason why he lost is because of social issues.^[38]

Debates

• September 12: Sponsored by Club 20 in Grand Junction^[39]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report[40]	Tossup	October 26, 2010
Inside Elections[41]	Tossup	October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[42]	Tossup	October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[43]	Lean R (flip)	October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[44]	Tossup	October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Michael Bennet (D)	Ken Buck (R)
Public Policy Polling[45]	April 17–19, 2009	40%	39%
Public Policy Polling[46]	August 14–16, 2009	39%	35%
Rasmussen Reports[47]	September 9, 2009	43%	37%
Rasmussen Reports[48]	December 8, 2009	38%	42%
Daily Kos/Research 2000[49]	January 11–13, 2010	41%	38%
Rasmussen Reports[50]	January 13, 2010	38%	43%
Rasmussen Reports[51]	February 2, 2010	41%	45%
Rasmussen Reports[52]	March 2, 2010	38%	44%
Public Policy Polling[53]	March 5–8, 2010	47%	40%
Rasmussen Reports[51]	April 5, 2010	40%	44%
Rasmussen Reports[51]	May 3, 2010	41%	48%
Public Policy Polling[54]	May 19, 2010	45%	39%
Rasmussen Reports[55]	June 7, 2010	41%	46%
Survey USA[32]	June 15–17, 2010	43%	46%
Rasmussen Reports[56]	July 8, 2010	39%	48%
Rasmussen Reports[57]	July 26, 2010	42%	48%
Survey USA[58]	August 1, 2010	43%	43%
Public Policy Polling[59]	August 10, 2010	46%	43%
Rasmussen Reports[60]	August 11, 2010	41%	46%
Ipsos/Reuters[61]	August 20–22, 2010	40%	49%
Rasmussen Reports[62]	August 30, 2010	44%	47%
Rasmussen Reports[63]	September 14, 2010	45%	49%
CNN/Time[64]	September 17–21, 2010	44%	49%
Rasmussen Reports[60]	September 27, 2010	43%	51%
Rasmussen Reports[65]	September 27, 2010	43%	51%
McClatchy/Marist[66]	September 26–28, 2010	42%	50%
Survey USA[67]	September 28–30, 2010	43%	48%
Public Policy Polling[68]	September 30 – October 2, 2010	46%	45%
Rasmussen Reports[60]	October 14, 2010	45%	47%
Fox News/Pulse Opinion Research[69]	October 16, 2010	45%	46%
Ipsos/Reuters[70]	October 18, 2010	45%	48%
SurveyUSA[71]	October 19–21, 2010	47%	47%
Public Policy Polling[72]	October 21–23, 2010	47%	47%
Rasmussen Reports[60]	October 25, 2010	44%	48%
CNN/Time/Opinion Research[73]	October 20–26, 2010	46%	47%
Marist College[74]	October 26–28, 2010	45%	49%
Fox News/Pulse Opinion Research[69]	October 30, 2010	46%	50%
Public Policy Polling[75]	October 30–31, 2010	48%	49%

Fundraising

These totals reflect the campaign accounts of the candidates themselves, and do not include independent expenditures by other groups.

Candidate (Party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash On Hand	Debt
Michael Bennet (D)	$11,463,661	$10,698,578	$763,541	$887,692
Ken Buck (R)	$3,827,432	$3,011,656	$1,039,994	$100,000
Source: Federal Election Commission[76]

Results

United States Senate election in Colorado, 2010^{[77][78][79][16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Bennet (incumbent)	854,685	48.08%	−3.22%
	Republican	Ken Buck	824,789	46.40%	−0.13%
	Green	Bob Kinsey	38,884	2.19%	N/A
	Libertarian	Maclyn Stringer	22,646	1.27%	+0.79%
	Independent	Jason Napolitano	19,450	1.09%	N/A
	Independent	Charley Miller	11,351	0.64%	N/A
	Independent	J. Moromisato	5,780	0.33%	N/A
	Write-in		83	0.07%	N/A
Total votes			1,777,668	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Garfield (largest municipality: Glenwood Springs)
• Bent (Largest city: Las Animas)
• Mineral (Largest city: Creede)
• Rio Grande (Largest city: Monte Vista)
• Archuleta (Largest city: Pagosa Springs)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Chaffee (largest city: Salida)
• Ouray (largest city: Ouray)

Notes

1. In January 2009, Bennet was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Ken Salazar, who had appointed Secretary of the Interior.