2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

November 2, 2010 (2010-11-02)
All 7 Colorado seats to the United States House of Representatives
Registered	2,477,958
Turnout	73.49%
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 2 seats, 43.38% 5 seats, 55.16% Seats before 2 5 Seats won 4 3 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 884,032 800,900 Percentage 50.14% 45.42% Swing 6.75% 9.73%
Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Democratic   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

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.

Overview

Statewide

Party		Candidates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Republican	7	884,032	50.14	4	2	57.14
	Democratic	7	800,900	45.42	3	2	42.86
	Libertarian	6	38,864	2.20	0		0.0
	Constitution	4	27,419	1.56	0		0.0
	Others	2	8,968	0.51	0		0.0
	Green	1	2,923	0.17	0		0.0
	Write-in	3	46	0.00	0		0.0
Total		30	1,763,152	100.0	7		100.0

Popular vote

Republican			50.14%
Democratic			45.42%
Libertarian			2.20%
Other			2.24%

House seats

Republican			57.14%
Democratic			42.86%

By district

Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado by district:

District	Republican		Democratic		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	59,747	28.97%	140,073	65.81%	7,931	5.22%	207,751	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 2	98,171	37.90%	148,720	57.41%	12,143	4.69%	259,034	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 3	129,257	50.10%	118,048	45.76%	10,694	4.14%	257,999	100.0%	Republican gain
District 4	138,634	52.48%	109,249	41.35%	16,298	6.17%	264,181	100.0%	Republican gain
District 5	152,829	65.75%	68,039	29.27%	11,566	4.98%	232,434	100.0%	Republican hold
District 6	217,368	65.68%	104,104	31.46%	9,471	2.86%	330,943	100.0%	Republican hold
District 7	88,026	41.76%	112,667	53.44%	10,117	4.80%	210,810	100.0%	Democratic hold
Total	884,032	50.14%	800,900	45.42%	78,220	4.44%	1,763,152	100.0%

District 1

2010 Colorado's 1st congressional district election

Nominee Diana DeGette Mike Fallon Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 140,073 59,747 Percentage 67.4% 28.8%

County results DeGette:      50–60%      60–70% Fallon:      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Diana DeGette Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Diana DeGette Democratic

See also: Colorado's 1st congressional district

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Diana DeGette, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana DeGette (incumbent)	57,527	100.0
Total votes			57,527	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Fallon, emergency room physician

Withdrawn

• Steven Barton

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Fallon	13,970	100.0
Total votes			13,970	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Clint Jones, human resources manager

Eliminated in primary

• Jeffrey Schitter, business owner

Results

Libertarian primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Clint Jones	216	59.5
	Libertarian	Jeffrey Schitter	147	40.5
Total votes			363	100.0

Green primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Gary Swing, perennial candidate

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Chris Styskal, former corporate manager

General election

Campaign

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."

Endorsements

Diana DeGette (D)

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Mike Fallon (R)

Organizations

• Eagle Forum
• National Republican Congressional Committee "On the Radar" Program
• Tea Party Express

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Diana DeGette (D)	Mike Fallon (R)	Undecided
ccAdvertising (R)	October 17–19, 2010	698 (LV)	±?%	44%	36%	20%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe D	November 1, 2010
RCP	Safe D	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe D	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Safe D	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Safe D	November 1, 2010

Results

Congresswoman DeGette was heavily favored to win re-election, and on election day, she overwhelmingly won an eighth term in Congress.

Colorado's 1st congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana DeGette (incumbent)	140,073	67.4
	Republican	Mike Fallon	59,747	28.8
	Green	Gary Swing	2,923	1.4
	Libertarian	Clint Jones	2,867	1.4
	American Constitution	Chris Styskal	2,141	1.0
Majority			80,326	38.7
Turnout			214,472	71.1
Registered electors			301,491
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Diana DeGette (D)	$825,016	$822,289	$108,829
Mike Fallon (R)	$196,993	$196,993	$0
Clint Jones (L)	Unreported
Gary Swing (G)	Unreported
Chris Styskal (C)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Diana DeGette (D)	$20,509	$0
Mike Fallon (R)	$0	$0
Clint Jones (L)	$0	$0
Gary Swing (G)	$0	$0
Chris Styskal (C)	$0	$0

District 2

2010 Colorado's 2nd congressional district election

Nominee Jared Polis Stephen Bailey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 148,720 116,619 Percentage 57.4% 37.9%

County results Polis:      50–60%      70–80% Bailey:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Jared Polis Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Jared Polis Democratic

See also: Colorado's 2nd congressional district

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jared Polis, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Polis (incumbent)	47,347	100.0
Total votes			47,347	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephen Bailey, software marketing director

Eliminated in primary

• Bob Brancato, private investigator

Campaign

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.

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephen Bailey	23,439	69.4
	Republican	Bob Brancato	10,353	30.6
Total votes			33,792	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Curtis Harris, retired businessman and investor

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jenna Goss, event promotions contractor

Unity primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

• Bill Hammons, founder and National Chairman of the Unity Party of America

General election

Endorsements

Jared Polis (D)

Newspapers

• Boulder Weekly
• The Denver Post

Stephen Bailey (R)

Organizations

• Tea Party Express

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jared Polis (D)	Stephen Bailey (R)	Other	Undecided
Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies (R)	September 20, 2010	688 (LV)	±3.7%	48%	36%	8%	8%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe D	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe D	November 1, 2010
RCP	Safe D	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe D	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Safe D	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Safe D	November 1, 2010

Results

As expected, Polis won by a wide margin, albeit a smaller one than this district is used to giving its Democratic representatives.

Colorado's 2nd congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Polis (incumbent)	148,720	57.4
	Republican	Stephen Bailey	98,171	37.9
	American Constitution	Jenna Goss	7,080	2.7
	Libertarian	Curtis Harris	5,056	2.0
	Write-in		7	0.0
Majority			50,549	19.5
Turnout			267,021	72.5
Registered electors			368,143
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Jared Polis (D)	$1,248,539	$895,953	$382,126
Stephen Bailey (R)	$130,886	$130,747	$139
Curtis Harris (L)	$8,474	$8,476	$0
Jenna Goss (C)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Jared Polis (D)	$96,882	$0
Stephen Bailey (R)	$0	$0
Curtis Harris (L)	$0	$0
Jenna Goss (C)	$0	$0

District 3

2010 Colorado's 3rd congressional district election

Nominee Scott Tipton John Salazar Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 129,257 118,048 Percentage 50.1% 45.8%

County results Tipton:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Salazar:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. Representative before election John Salazar Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Scott Tipton Republican

See also: Colorado's 3rd congressional district

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Salazar, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Salazar (incumbent)	46,148	100.0
Total votes			46,148	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott Tipton, state representative and nominee for this seat in 2006

Eliminated in primary

• Bob McConnell, retired lawyer and Army officer

Withdrawn

• Martin Beeson, district attorney for the 9th Judicial District (endorsed Tipton)

Endorsements

Bob McConnell

Statewide officials

• Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Tipton	39,346	55.8
	Republican	Bob McConnell	31,214	44.2
Total votes			70,560	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Gregory Gilman, electrical engineer

Other Candidates

• Jake Segrest, small business owner (Independent)

General election

Campaign

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."

Endorsements

John Salazar (D)

Organizations

• Blue Dog Coalition

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Scott Tipton (R)

Organizations

• Eagle Forum
• National Republican Congressional Committee "Young Guns" Program
• Tea Party Express

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	John Salazar (D)	Scott Tipton (R)	Other	Undecided
Penn Schoen Berland (The Hill/ANGA)	October 19–21, 2010	400 (LV)	±4.9	43%	47%	2%	8%
Ayres, McHenry & Associates (R–American Action Forum)	August 23–28, 2010	400 (LV)	±4.9	43%	51%	–	7%
Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies (R)	August 17–19, 2010	?	±3.1	43%	49%	–	8%
Tarrance Group (R)	December 8–9, 2009	?	±5.7	46%	44%	–	10%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Tossup	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Tilt R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
RCP	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Tossup	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Tossup	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010

Results

Colorado's 3rd congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Tipton	129,257	50.1
	Democratic	John Salazar (incumbent)	118,048	45.8
	Libertarian	Gregory Gilman	5,678	2.2
	Independent	Jake Segrest	4,982	1.9
	Write-in		34	0.0
Majority			11,209	4.3
Turnout			267,822	72.5
Registered electors			355,428
	Republican gain from Democratic

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
John Salazar (D)	$2,067,198	$2,474,562	$57,389
Scott Tipton (R)	$1,232,113	$1,207,832	$24,117
Gregory Gilman (L)	Unreported
Jake Segrest (I)	$18,767	$18,465	$300

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
John Salazar (D)	$213,381	$1,452,647
Scott Tipton (R)	$106,637	$2,067,485
Gregory Gilman (L)	$0	$0
Jake Segrest (I)	$0	$0

District 4

2010 Colorado's 4th congressional district election

Nominee Cory Gardner Betsy Markey Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 138,634 109,249 Percentage 52.5% 41.4%

County results Gardner:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Markey:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Betsy Markey Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Cory Gardner Republican

See also: Colorado's 4th congressional 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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Betsy Markey, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betsy Markey (incumbent)	33,982	100.0
Total votes			33,982	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Cory Gardner, state representative

Withdrawn

• Diggs Brown, financial adviser, military veteran and Fort Collins City Council member
• Tom Lucero, businessman and former member of University of Colorado Board of Regents
• Dean Madere, conservative activist

Declined

• Greg Brophy, state senator
• Ken Buck, Weld County District Attorney
• Mark Hillman, former acting State Treasurer and Majority Leader of the state senate
• Bill Jerke, former Weld County Commissioner
• Marilyn Musgrave, former U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cory Gardner	57,358	100.0
Total votes			57,358	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

• Jassen Bowman

Constitution primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Doug Aden, small business owner

Unity primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

• Mike Nelson, oilfield worker

General election

Campaign

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.

Endorsements

Betsy Markey (D)

Organizations

• Blue Dog Coalition
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Frontline" Program

Newspapers

• Boulder Weekly

Cory Gardner (R)

Organizations

• Tea Party Express

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Betsy Markey (D)	Cory Gardner (R)	Undecided
ccAdvertising (R)	October 1, 2010	2,743 (LV)	±?%	35%	47%	18%
Penn Schoen Berland (The Hill/ANGA)	September 25–27, 2010	391 (LV)	±5.0	41%	44%	14%
Bennett, Petts & Normington	September 6–7, 2010	400 (LV)	±?	38%	38%	24%
Ayres, McHenry & Associates (R–American Action Forum)	August 23–28, 2010	400 (LV)	±4.9	39%	50%	11%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
RCP	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Likely R (flip)	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Lean R (flip)	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Likely R (flip)	November 1, 2010

Results

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.

Colorado's 4th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cory Gardner	138,634	52.5
	Democratic	Betsy Markey (incumbent)	109,249	41.4
	American Constitution	Doug Aden	12,312	4.7
	Independent	Ken Waskiewicz	3,986	1.5
Majority			29,385	11.1
Turnout			271,316	75.5
Registered electors			359,391
	Republican gain from Democratic

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Betsy Markey (D)	$3,505,293	$3,516,268	$10,617
Cory Gardner (R)	$2,426,591	$2,407,602	$18,989
Doug Aden (C)	Unreported
Ken Waskiewicz (I)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Betsy Markey (D)	$297,186	$876,129
Cory Gardner (R)	$251,250	$742,904
Doug Aden (C)	$0	$341,842
Ken Waskiewicz (I)	$0	$0

District 5

2010 Colorado's 5th congressional district election

Nominee Doug Lamborn Kevin Bradley Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 152,829 113,027 Percentage 65.8% 29.3%

County results Lamborn:      50–60%      60–70% Bradley:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Doug Lamborn Republican Elected U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn Republican

See also: Colorado's 5th congressional district

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.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Doug Lamborn, incumbent U.S. Representative

Declined

• Jeff Crank, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce vice president and candidate for this seat in 2006 & 2006
• Bentley Rayburn, United States Air Force Major General and candidate for this seat in 2006 & 2008

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Lamborn (incumbent)	60,906	100.0
Total votes			60,906	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kevin Bradley, businessman

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kevin Bradley	20,814	100.0
Total votes			20,814	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jerell Klaver, businessman

General election

Endorsements

Doug Lamborn (R)

Organizations

• Tea Party Express

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Results

Colorado's 5th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Lamborn (incumbent)	152,829	65.8
	Democratic	Kevin Bradley	68,039	29.3
	American Constitution	Brian Scott	5,886	2.5
	Libertarian	Jerell Klaver	5,680	2.4
Majority			84,790	36.5
Turnout			238,902	69.6
Registered electors			343,288
	Republican hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Doug Lamborn (R)	$338,476	$182,883	$154,563
Kevin Bradley (D)	Unreported
Jerell Klaver (L)	Unreported
Brian Scott (C)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Doug Lamborn (R)	$0	$0
Kevin Bradley (D)	$5,068	$0
Jerell Klaver (L)	$0	$0
Brian Scott (C)	$0	$0

District 6

2010 Colorado's 6th congressional district election

Nominee Mike Coffman John Flerlage Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 217,368 104,104 Percentage 65.7% 31.5%

County results Coffman:      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. Representative before election Mike Coffman Republican Elected U.S. Representative Mike Coffman Republican

See also: Colorado's 6th congressional district

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.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Coffman, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Coffman (incumbent)	81,067	100.0
Total votes			81,067	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Flerlage, retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel and airline pilot

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Flerlage	37,950	100.0
Total votes			37,950	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Rob McNealy, small business owner and community activist

General election

Endorsements

Mike Coffman (R)

Organizations

• Tea Party Express

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe R	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe R	November 1, 2010
RCP	Safe R	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe R	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Safe R	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Safe R	November 1, 2010

Results

Colorado's 6th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Coffman (incumbent)	217,368	65.7
	Democratic	John Flerlage	104,104	31.5
	Libertarian	Rob McNealy	9,466	2.9
	Write-in		5	0.0
Majority			113,264	34.2
Turnout			345,534	75.8
Registered electors			455,805
	Republican hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Mike Coffman (R)	$904,466	$576,556	$411,537
John Flerlage (D)	$152,157	$151,280	$876
Rob McNealy (L)	$24,052	$24,138	$0

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Mike Coffman (R)	$0	$0
John Flerlage (D)	$6,952	$0
Rob McNealy (L)	$0	$0

District 7

2010 Colorado's 7th congressional district election

Nominee Ed Perlmutter Ryan Frazier Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 112,667 88,026 Percentage 53.4% 41.8%

County results Perlmutter:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Ed Perlmutter Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter Democratic

See also: Colorado's 7th congressional district

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ed Perlmutter, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	40,534	100.0
Total votes			40,534	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ryan Frazier, Aurora City Council member

Eliminated in primary

• Lang Sias, military pilot and lawyer

Endorsements

Lang Sias

U.S. Senators

• John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona (1987–present) and nominee for President in 2008

Organizations

• Eagle Forum

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Frazier	26,765	64.3
	Republican	Lang Sias	14,835	35.7
Total votes			41,600	100.0

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Buck Bailey, small business owner

General election

Campaign

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."

Endorsements

Ryan Frazier (R)

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Young Guns" Program
• Tea Party Express

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ed Perlmutter (D)	Ryan Frazier (R)	Other	Undecided
Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies (R)	August 8, 2010	830 (LV)	±3.4%	39%	40%	10%	11%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Lean D	November 1, 2010
Rothenberg	Likely D	November 1, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely D	November 1, 2010
RCP	Safe D	November 1, 2010
CQ Politics	Likely D	October 28, 2010
New York Times	Lean D	November 1, 2010
FiveThirtyEight	Likely D	November 1, 2010

Results

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.

Colorado's 7th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	112,667	53.4
	Republican	Ryan Frazier	88,026	41.8
	Libertarian	Buck Bailey	10,117	4.8
Majority			24,641	11.7
Turnout			215,961	73.4
Registered electors			294,412
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Ed Perlmutter (D)	$2,443,962	$2,943,593	$45,222
Ryan Frazier (R)	$1,775,458	$1,771,943	$3,515
Buck Bailey (L)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Ed Perlmutter (D)	$952,596	$638,278
Ryan Frazier (R)	$129,821	$560,941
Buck Bailey (L)	$0	$0

Aftermath

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".

External links

• Elections Center from the Colorado Secretary of State
  • Official candidate list
• U.S. Congress candidates for Colorado at Project Vote Smart
• Colorado U.S. House from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Colorado from OpenSecrets
• 2010 Colorado General Election graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• House - Colorado from the Cook Political Report
• Election 2010 at The Denver Post