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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
← 2004November 2, 20102016 →
 
NomineeMichael BennetKen Buck
PartyDemocraticRepublican
Popular vote854,685824,789
Percentage48.08%46.40%
County results
Bennet:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Buck:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
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

Eliminated in primary

Endorsements

Bennet
Romanoff

Polling

Poll SourceDates AdministeredMichael
Bennet		Andrew
Romanoff		Undecided
The Tarrance Group Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback MachineSeptember 16–17, 200941%27%32%
Public Policy PollingMay 19, 201046%31%23%
Survey USAJune 15–17, 201053%36%11%
Survey USAAugust 1, 201045%48%7%
Public Policy PollingAugust 7–8, 201049%43%9%

Results

Results by county:
  Bennet
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Romanoff
  •   50–60%
Democratic primary results[8][9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticMichael Bennet (incumbent) 184,714 54.15%
DemocraticAndrew Romanoff156,41945.85%
Total votes341,133 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Eliminated in convention

  • Cleve Tidwell, businessman
  • Robert Greenheck
  • Steve Barton

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Notable Individuals and Organizations endorsing Ken Buck
Notable Individuals and Organizations endorsing Jane Norton

According to her website:[19][20]

Polling

Poll SourceDates AdministeredKen
Buck		Jane
Norton
The Tarrance Group Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback MachineSeptember 16–17, 200915%45%
Public Policy PollingMarch 3, 201017%34%
MagellanMarch 14, 201013%41%
MagellanApril 19, 201032%29%
Public Policy PollingMay 19, 201026%31%
MagellanJune 8, 201042%32%
Survey USAJune 15–17, 201053%37%
Public Opinion StrategiesJune 20–21, 201033%39%
Survey USAAugust 1, 201050%41%
Public Policy PollingAugust 7–8, 201043%45%

Results

Results by county:
  Buck
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Norton
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
Tie
  •   50%
Republican Primary results[8][9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
RepublicanKen Buck 211,099 51.57%
RepublicanJane Norton198,23148.43%
Total votes409,330 100.0%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

  • John Finger

Eliminated in primary

  • Mac Stringer

Results

Libertarian Primary results[21][9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
LibertarianMac Stringer 1,186 52.45%
LibertarianJohn Finger1,07547.55%
Total votes2,261 100.0%

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

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.[22] 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.[23] 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 17th Amendment[24] 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.[25]

Debates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Cook Political Report[27]TossupOctober 26, 2010
Inside Elections[28]TossupOctober 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[29]TossupOctober 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[30]Lean R (flip)October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[31]TossupOctober 26, 2010

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s) administeredMichael
Bennet (D)		Ken
Buck (R)
Public Policy PollingApril 17–19, 200940%39%
Public Policy PollingAugust 14–16, 200939%35%
Rasmussen ReportsSeptember 9, 200943%37%
Rasmussen ReportsDecember 8, 200938%42%
Daily Kos/Research 2000January 11–13, 201041%38%
Rasmussen ReportsJanuary 13, 201038%43%
Rasmussen ReportsFebruary 2, 201041%45%
Rasmussen ReportsMarch 2, 201038%44%
Public Policy PollingMarch 5–8, 201047%40%
Rasmussen ReportsApril 5, 201040%44%
Rasmussen ReportsMay 3, 201041%48%
Public Policy PollingMay 19, 201045%39%
Rasmussen ReportsJune 7, 201041%46%
Survey USAJune 15–17, 201043%46%
Rasmussen ReportsJuly 8, 201039%48%
Rasmussen ReportsJuly 26, 201042%48%
Survey USAAugust 1, 201043%43%
Public Policy PollingAugust 10, 201046%43%
Rasmussen ReportsAugust 11, 201041%46%
Ipsos/ReutersAugust 20–22, 201040%49%
Rasmussen ReportsAugust 30, 201044%47%
Rasmussen ReportsSeptember 14, 201045%49%
CNN/TimeSeptember 17–21, 201044%49%
Rasmussen ReportsSeptember 27, 201043%51%
Rasmussen ReportsSeptember 27, 201043%51%
McClatchy/MaristSeptember 26–28, 201042%50%
Survey USASeptember 28–30, 201043%48%
Public Policy PollingSeptember 30 – October 2, 201046%45%
Rasmussen ReportsOctober 14, 201045%47%
Fox News/Pulse Opinion ResearchOctober 16, 201045%46%
Ipsos/ReutersOctober 18, 201045%48%
SurveyUSAOctober 19–21, 201047%47%
Public Policy PollingOctober 21–23, 201047%47%
Rasmussen ReportsOctober 25, 201044%48%
CNN/Time/Opinion ResearchOctober 20–26, 201046%47%
Marist CollegeOctober 26–28, 201045%49%
Fox News/Pulse Opinion ResearchOctober 30, 201046%50%
Public Policy PollingOctober 30–31, 201048%49%

Fundraising

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

Candidate (Party)ReceiptsDisbursementsCash On HandDebt
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[32]

Results

United States Senate election in Colorado, 2010[33][34][35][9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DemocraticMichael Bennet (incumbent) 854,685 48.08% -3.22%
RepublicanKen Buck824,78946.40%-0.13%
GreenBob Kinsey38,8842.19%N/A
LibertarianMaclyn Stringer22,6461.27%+0.79%
IndependentJason Napolitano19,4501.09%N/A
IndependentCharley Miller11,3510.64%N/A
IndependentJ. Moromisato5,7800.33%N/A
Write-in830.07%N/A
Total votes1,777,668 100.0%
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Notes

References

Debate
Official campaign websites (Archived)
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