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All voter registration statistics are as of Oct. 1, 2022, and provided by the Secretary of State. Redistricting commission ratings for congressional districts are based on election performance in the 2016 U.S. Senate and presidential races, the four top statewide election results in 2018, and the 2020 presidential and Senate election results. Some experts believe those numbers may overestimate Democratic advantage by as much as 5%.

Republicans are hoping to end a drought in major statewide races this year in Colorado, where the GOP hasn’t notched a statewide win since 2014.

The race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet is ranked among the most competitive in the country this year. Going into the election, the chamber is evenly divided, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaking vote, so if either party nets one seat, it would shift the balance of power.

The congressional races profiled in this voter guide are considered to be the most competitive and could determine control of U.S. House, where Republicans need to flip five seats to take the gavel from Democrats.

U.S. SENATE

Democrat Michael Bennet of Denver, who was appointed to the seat in 2010 and has been reelected twice, is seeking a third full term. Republican Joe O’Dea of Greenwood Village, a construction company owner, is challenging him.

Statewide voter registration numbers: Democrats: 1,045,459 Republicans: 935,045 Unaffiliated: 1,710,800 Total active voters: 3,759,999

DEMOCRAT

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet

• Email: info@michaelbennet.com
• Campaign website: www.michaelbennet.com
• Mailing address: Bennet for Colorado, PO Box 3078, Denver, Colorado 80202
• Twitter handle: @MichaelBennet
• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/michaelbennet/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelbennet/
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, Wesleyan University; J.D. from Yale Law School

What’s the first legislation you’ll introduce if elected?

My first bill will be to repeal the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations and make permanent the expanded Child Tax Credit, which we passed last year to benefit 90% of Colorado kids, cut child poverty almost in half, and cut hunger by a quarter.

What is your top spending priority?

Over the past 20 years, Washington has spent $5 trillion cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, and another $5 trillion fighting two, 20-year wars in the Middle East. Meanwhile, income inequality rose, economic mobility fell, and our infrastructure degraded. Our priority should be creating more economic opportunity and security for working families. The best place to start is making permanent my expanded Child Tax Credit.

Please describe your positions on:

Energy and climate

For decades, we’ve had an energy policy that’s been bad for consumers, lousy for America’s energy security, and terrible at reducing emissions. It’s subjected families to price spikes at the pump, accelerated climate change, and enriched dictators like Vladimir Putin. We desperately needed change, and the Inflation Reduction Act delivered it. It established a responsible energy policy that draws on our abundant resources – including solar, wind, and natural gas – to lower costs for families, slash carbon pollution, and secure our energy independence. It’s the largest investment ever to deploy clean energy, revitalize clean energy manufacturing, and help rural communities transition.

Taxes

Our tax code is a mirror of Washington’s misplaced priorities. For 40 years, Congress has cut taxes for the wealthiest people and corporations, hoping they would magically trickle down to everyone else. They haven’t. Instead, income inequality is greater than at any time since the Great Depression. Economic mobility is low. Our democracy cannot withstand another decade of an economy that doesn’t provide opportunity for working Coloradans.

We began to turn the page on these failed economic policies with the Inflation Reduction Act, which established a 15% minimum corporate tax to ensure companies like Amazon aren’t paying a lower rate than teachers and firefighters. We have to go further by ending Trump’s tax giveaways for the wealthiest Americans and cutting taxes for working Coloradans, like my expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Making our tax code more fair is critical to build an economy that grows for everyone, not just the wealthiest few.

Abortion after Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court’s decision stripped the American people of the first fundamental, constitutional freedom since Reconstruction.

I’m grateful to live in a state where women’s access to abortion is protected, but this can’t be a state-level issue. We need to codify abortion access at the federal level so every woman in America has the same access to reproductive health care as women in Colorado.

I’ve always stood firm to protect a woman’s right to choose. You cannot say the same for my opponent. He voted for a ballot measure that would have imposed a statewide abortion ban in Colorado with no exceptions for rape or incest. We cannot allow my opponent to win and give the Republican Party the majority they need to pass a national abortion ban.

REPUBLICAN

Joe O’Dea

• Email: info@joeodea.com
• Website: www.joeodea.com
• Mailing address: 4950 South Yosemite Street, Suite F2-225
• Twitter handle: @OdeaForColorado
• Facebook page: Joe O’Dea for Colorado
• Instagram: odeaforcolorado

What’s the first legislation you’ll introduce if elected?

We need a government-wide focus that embraces American energy production of all kinds – wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas and oil. The first piece of legislation I will pursue would promote a smarter regulatory approach to address the soaring cost of energy that’s driving inflation. We need reforms that leverage innovation to continue to drive down carbon emissions to address climate change. At the forefront of this national push, America needs a bold approach to permitting reform to get all sources of energy producing in a more robust, clean, and sustainable way.

Expanding energy production is one of the most important things we can do to attack America’s inflation crisis. Higher energy prices are the primary driver of inflation, making food, gas, and manufacturing more expensive. We can become a stronger country and help struggling families by reversing Biden’s war on energy. I won’t stop until we have a government-wide focus – and permitting reform to back it – that restores American energy dominance.

What is your top spending priority?

With a substantial portion of spending cuts, we should drive down the deficit. We need to get the deficit back to pre-pandemic levels, and work in a concerted way to fully balance the budget over time.

The other part is reprioritizing federal spending. We should zero-out the 87,000 new IRS agents and cut the federal bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., and make a massive investment in border security – including a border wall – and hire more police to protect our neighborhoods and schools instead.

Please describe your positions on:

Energy and climate:

Climate change is real and humans contribute to it. We need a government-wide focus that embraces American energy production of all kinds – wind, solar, nuclear, natural gas and oil. We need a smart regulatory approach that leverages innovation to continue to drive down carbon emissions to address climate change. At the forefront of this national push, America needs a bold approach to permitting reform to get all sources of energy producing in a more robust, clean, and sustainable way. Expanding energy production is one of the most important things we can do to attack America’s inflation crisis. Higher energy prices are the primary driver of inflation, making food, gas, and manufacturing more expensive. We can become a stronger country and help struggling families by reversing Biden’s war on energy. I won’t stop until we have a government-wide focus – and permitting reform to back it – that restores American energy dominance.

Taxes:

Washington isn’t focused on working people. And those policies have deep consequences. Out-of-control inflation, taxation, and red tape are destroying the value of work in our country. When everything costs more, your paycheck is worth less, and your work is devalued. That’s wrong. Out of control debt at the federal level is a moral issue. We are saddling our kids and grandkids with huge debts that will only be paid for with huge tax increases. Washington needs to look at borrowing money the same way a business does and the same way a family does. We can’t say yes to everything. We have to prioritize and only borrow when we know how we’re going to pay it back. Otherwise, we’re just raising taxes on our kids.

Abortion after Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade:

I support Roe vs. Wade and I oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn it. I don’t support a ban on abortion. I would vote to codify a woman’s right to choose in the first five months of pregnancy, as well as in the case of rape, incest and medical necessity.