2022 Colorado Senate Race

Michael Bennet & Joe O’Dea Debate

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Joe O’Dea participated in the final debate before the 2022 midterm elections in Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center Oct. 28.

Hosted by Denver’s 9News, this was the last of six debates where candidates laid out their plans if elected to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate. Various issues such as inflation, abortion access, gun control, border security and the opioid crisis were discussed.

O’Dea explained that while he did vote for a 22-week abortion ban across the state, he supports a woman’s right to choose up to five months into a pregnancy and in cases of rape or incest or to save the mother’s life after five months. Bennet stayed true to protecting abortion access, even in late-term cases.

“I don’t think Joe O’Dea should be in that hospital room,” Bennet said. “I don’t think any politician should. … I trust America’s mothers and women.”

Both candidates supported universal background checks for firearm sales at the federal level. In terms of a ban on assault weapon sales to minors, Bennet signaled his support for such a measure while O’Dea opposed it. The same was true for their stances on a federal ban on assault weapon sales. Neither candidate supported a mandatory 10-day waiting period to purchase a firearm.

Bennet was running for reelection to a seat he has held since 2009. During his last reelection run in 2016, Bennet received the most votes of any Democrat in a statewide race in Colorado history. Bennet was also one of the many Democrats to announce their presidential candidacy for the 2020 primary elections, though his campaign was suspended after nine months.

Coming from a successful business background, O’Dea posed himself as a “political outsider.” His campaign largely focused on the inflation that O’Dea blames on President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats’ “reckless” spending and the passage of the American Rescue Plan earlier this year.

“Our economy can’t take another six years of a rubberstamp for a spender that just blesses everything that comes across his desk,” O’Dea said. “That’s terrifying to me, our economy can’t take that.”

Bennet ultimately secured another six years in office when the electoral count was tabulated on Election Day. Although this was expected to be a very competitive race, Bennet came out with 65% of all votes compared to O’Dea’s 42%.

Colorado Democrats’ Campus Visit

Gov. Jared Polis, Sen. Michael Bennet, Congressman Joe Neguse and other Democratic candidates for Colorado office visited Colorado State University Nov. 7, the day before the primary elections. Polis, Bennet and Neguse are all Democratic incumbents who won reelection in this year’s midterm elections.

Along with Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, the lawmakers spoke to a crowd of students gathered on the Lory Student Center Plaza about their political agendas and urged students to vote and to encourage their friends and peers to vote as well. Following their brief speeches, the candidates spoke with students individually and posed for photos with them.

According to a report from CSU, 76% of students voted in the 2020 national elections, whereas the national average of other schools during the same cycle was 66%.