851,590 822,731 Start date November 2, 2010 | 48.1% 46.4% | |
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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 selected incumbent U.S. Senator Ken Salazar to become Secretary of the Interior. After Salazar resigned from his seat, Democratic Governor Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to fill the seat, who won re-election to his first full term.
Contents
Candidates
Endorsements
Candidates
Three other candidates were defeated at the Republican state convention and were not on the primary ballot:
Candidates
Major
Minor
Source: Official Candidate List
Campaign
This was one of the most expensive elections in the nation, as more than $30 million was spent by outside organizations. 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. 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 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.
Debates
Fundraising
These totals reflect the campaign accounts of the candidates themselves, and do not include independent expenditures by other groups.