The 2010 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who will represent the state of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 112th Congress.
Colorado has seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2008-2009 congressional delegation consisted of five Democrats and two Republicans.
Incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette, who had represented this liberal Denver based district since 1997, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 71.9% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of D+21.
Fallon's campaign was characterized by informal "town hall meetings," often held at local pubs, and by "door-to-door" interaction with voters. On September 20,, Fallon made national news when the NRCC upgraded him to "On the Radar" status - the first of three levels in their Young Guns Program. This prompted DeGette to sent an email to supporters, informing them of Fallon's "On the Radar" status, and requesting donations, stating that, "We can't take anything for granted this year." The fundraising request received significant local media attention.
The Denver Post strongly endorsed DeGette for re-election, praising her for having "served [her] district well" and for being "a steady voice who has served the interests of her district and the nation."
Incumbent Democrat Jared Polis, who had represented the district, centred around heavily Democratic Boulder and the northwestern suburbs of Denver, since 2009, ran for re-election. He was elected with 62.6% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of D+11.
Brancato briefly suspended his campaign in July following a local newspaper reporting on 2009 domestic incident that the police attended. Brancato's wife vehemently denied there had been domestic abuse and stated that she called police because her husband was suffering from an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Incumbent Democrat John Salazar, who had represented the conservative, west Colorado district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re–elected with% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of R+5.
A contentious race ensued. Tipton attacked Salazar for voting for the 2009 Stimulus while Salazar retaliated that Tipton wanted to "[cut] Social Security and Medicare spending in half."
While the Denver Post praised Scott Tipton as a state lawmaker who "is knowledgeable about the issues, and touts his private sector experience," the Post endorsed Salazar for re-election, citing his "ability to work with people from differing political views to seek solutions that work for the district."
Incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey, who had represented this conservative east Colorado-based district since 2009, ran for re-election. She was elected with% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of R+6.
Markey, seen as a vulnerable member of Congress faced a tough challenge from Gardner. Challenger Gardner attacked Markey for supporting the 2009 Stimulus, asking rhetorically, "You want a shovel ready project we don't need? It's digging more debt," to which Markey responded, "I don't need to be lectured by someone who actually wants to tax the wind," a reference to a bill supported by Gardner in the state legislature that some claimed would allow for taxation of wind energy. Gardner further attacked Markey for a variety of votes that she supposedly cast in a television advertisement, but controversy ensued and a local Fox News affiliate yanked the ad off the air when it came to surface that the votes that Congresswoman Markey "cast" were actually cast by Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey.
The Denver Post, citing Gardner's reputation as a "go-to guy in the legislature" and praising his motivation to bring "fiscal discipline to government," endorsed the Republican, expressing their discontent with Markey for "[straying] to the left" during her time in Congress.
Though polls indicated that Gardner held a narrow lead at best, Markey ultimately was defeated in her bid for a second term by a fairly comfortable eleven point margin of victory.
Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn, who had represented this conservative district based in Colorado Springs and its suburbs district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 60.0% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+14.
Incumbent Republican Mike Coffman, who had represented this solidly conservative district based in the southern Denver suburbs and some parts of Aurora, since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 60.7% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of R+8.
Incumbent Democratic Ed Perlmutter, who had represented this suburban Denver district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with% of the vote in 2008 and the district had a PVI of D+4.
Both candidates levied heavy attacks against each other as election day drew nearer. Frazier attacked Perlmutter for supporting the 2009 Stimulus, decrying it as a waste of taxpayer money; Perlmutter provided evidence that a charter school that Frazier represented, as well as the city of Aurora, received stimulus money. In a bizarre moment during the campaign, the two candidates were discussing health care reform at a debate when Frazier pointed his hand at Perlmutter, who slapped it away, apologizing immediately thereafter.
The Denver Post, calling for "new blood in Congress," endorsed Frazier over Perlmutter, declaring that despite Frazier's young age of 33, "his grasp on the key issues facing the country has grown considerably since he first surfaced on the political scene." The Post, meanwhile, criticized Congressman Perlmutter for being "a solid vote for the Democratic majority" and for supporting "the Obama Administration’s over-reaching agenda."
Despite the nationwide swing against the Democrats, Perlmutter comfortably won re election to a third term by 11 points, with Frazier only improving 2.3% on John McCain vote share from 2008.
In their post election round up, the website Colorado Pols described the Frazier campaign as "amateurish at best" and that he had proved to be "immature, vacuous and just plain silly in unscripted moments".
Notes
12345Key: A – all adults RV – registered voters LV – likely voters V – unclear
1234567Rothenberg Political Report (November 1, 2010). "House Ratings". Rothenbergpoliticalreport.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
↑Drehle, David Von (September 21, 2010). "2010: Races to Watch". Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2016– via www.time.com.
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