WHY AP CALLED COLORADO FOR MICHAEL BENNET
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet was drawing in higher numbers of votes in many areas than he did during his 2016 campaign — by a margin of as many as 10 percentage points.
That’s what led AP to call the race for the Democratic incumbent on Tuesday over Republican challenger Joe O’Dea.
O’Dea, a first-time candidate, focused his campaign on crime and inflation.
But his position as the rare Republican who backs some abortion rights carved out for O’Dea a unique position. Republicans saw O’Dea as one of their best recruits, although GOP-aligned PACs were slow to spend money on his behalf.
Colorado has been shifting toward Democrats in recent elections, thanks in part to an influx of college-educated voters in the expanding Denver metropolitan area.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
