Michael Bennet elected to his 3rd U.S. Senate term as Colorado voters reject Republican Joe O’Dea
If Bennet, a Democrat, serves his full six-year term he will become Colorado’s longest-serving U.S. senator in the century since state legislatures stopped selecting senators
The Colorado Sun
The Colorado Sun archive
Colorado voters sent Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet back to Washington for a third six-year term Tuesday, rejecting Republican Joe O’Dea, a first-time candidate and Denver construction company owner.
Bennet was leading O’Dea with 58% of the vote to O’Dea’s 40% at 8:09 p.m., when The Associated Press called the race about an hour after the polls closed. Other news outlets called the race for Bennet earlier in the night.
O’Dea called Bennet to concede shortly after The Associated Press called the race, according to the Republican’s campaign. O’Dea congratulated Bennet and asked that the senator embrace some of the themes he talked about during the campaign. The pair specifically discussed the need for immigration reform.
“I want to acknowledge Joe O’dea who called me to concede,” Bennet said to cheers at the Colorado Democratic Party watch party. “We agreed to stay in touch. I appreciate the fact that he stepped up and ran for office. It’s not an easy think to do.”
This story is from The Colorado Sun.
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