2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

Overview

Statewide

By district

Results of the 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado by district:

District 1

DeGette:
Lilly: Incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette, who had represented this Denver based district since 1997, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 79.8% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+18.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Diana DeGette, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• George Lilly, sales and marketing representative, Constitution nominee for state representative in 2000 and for this seat in 2002 & 2004

Eliminated in primary

• Charles Crain

Results

General election

Endorsements

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO

Organizations

• Citizens for Global Solutions
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Organizations

• Republican Liberty Caucus

Predictions

Results

| reg. electors = 343,812

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 2

Polis:
Starin: Incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, who had represented the district, centred around heavily Democratic Boulder, since 1999, ran for the Senate following the retirement of Senator Wayne Allard, leaving this an open seat. He was re-elected with 68.2% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+8.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jared Polis, Colorado Board of Education President

Eliminated in primary

• Joan Fitz-Gerald, former President of the Colorado Senate
• Will Shafroth, Colorado Conservation Trust Director

Declined

• Alice Madden, Majority Leader of the state house
• Ron Tupa, state senator
• Mark Udall, incumbent U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Organizations

• EMILYs List

Newspapers

• Rocky Mountain News

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott Starin, aerospace engineer

Declined

• Tom Stone, former Eagle County Commissioner

Results

Green primary

Candidates

Nominee

• J. A. Calhoun, nominee for this seat in 2006

Declined

• Mark Ruzzin, Mayor of Boulder

Unity primary

Candidates

Nominee

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

General election

Endorsements

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Results

| reg. electors = 398,114

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 3

|250px|County results |250px|Precinct results Wolf:
Tie:
Incumbent Democrat John Salazar, who had represented the conservative, west Colorado district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re–elected with 61.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+6.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Salazar, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Wayne Wolf, rancher and Delta County commissioner

Declined

• Josh Penry, state senator
• Ellen Roberts, state representative
• Scott Tipton, businessman and nominee for this seat in 2006 (running for state representative)
• Al White, state representative

Results

General election

Endorsements

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO

Organizations

• Blue Dog Coalition

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Results

| reg. electors = 382,649

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 4

|200px|Precinct results Musgrave:
Tie:
Incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, who had represented this conservative east Colorado-based district since 2003, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 45.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+9. Musgrave, a conservative known for her staunch opposition to gay marriage, won in 2006 by winning a plurality (46%) of the vote against Angie Paccione and a strong Reform Party challenge from Eric Eidsness, who managed to garner 11% of the vote. That, along with her 51% showing in 2004 despite George W. Bush winning 58% of the vote in this eastern Colorado district that includes the Fort Collins area, made her seem vulnerable in 2008.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Marilyn Musgrave, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary

Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Shaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field. Eidsness switched parties again, having switched from Republican to Reform Party the year prior, and became a Democrat, which could have fuelled a potential rematch with Musgrave in 2008. 2006 nominee Angie Paccione briefly launched a campaign as well, but left the race in September 2007.

Candidates

Nominee

• Betsy Markey, businesswoman and regional director for Senator Ken Salazar

Withdrawn

• Eric Eidsness, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Water and Reform nominee for this seat in 2006
• Angie Paccione, former state representative and nominee for this seat in 2006
• Brandon Shaffer, state senator

Declined

• Bill Long, Bent County Commissioner
• Jim Riesberg, state representative

Results

General election

Campaign

Musgrave launched a negative advertisement, attacking Markey over the business of Syscom Systems, the data-processing equipment company run by Markey and her husband. The Musgrave ad was called "highly misleading" by a Denver television station that investigated the facts. On October 24, the National Republican Congressional Committee abandoned Marilyn Musgrave's 2008 re-election campaign, believing the race was lost. This decision was based solely on Musgrave's poor poll numbers.

Endorsements

Organizations

• Eagle Forum

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Red to Blue" Program
• EMILYs List
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Polling

Predictions

Results

After her defeat, Musgrave would not comment on the election results with the media, nor would she concede the race or contact Markey to congratulate her. She also did not thank her campaign staff for their efforts. She later recorded a robocall for Republican Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, saying that she was defeated by "leftist special interests" who "suppressed the truth with vicious attacks and lies."

| reg. electors = 383,292

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 5

Lamborn:
Bidlack: Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn, who had represented this conservative district based in Colorado Springs and its suburbs district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 59.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+16.

Republican primary

Campaign

Lamborn had received bad press when two constituents accused him of making a threatening phone call in response to a critical letter they wrote. He won against Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn, more moderate Republicans who had also run in 2006, in the Republican primary. In 2006, Lamborn had narrowly won a nasty multi-candidate primary with 27% of the vote, despite previous representative Joel Hefley's endorsement of Crank, citing Lamborn's "sleazy" campaign. Crank and Rayburn thus came to a gentleman's agreement - they would jointly conduct a poll of the primary, and whoever of the two of them was in third place would drop out and endorse the other, so as to have a better chance of defeating Lamborn. Rayburn came third in the poll, but he refused to drop out.

Candidates

Nominee

• Doug Lamborn, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

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

Endorsements

U.S. representatives

• Joel Hefley, U.S. representative from Colorado's 5th congressional district (1987–2007)

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Hal Bidlack, retired United States Air Force Lieutenant colonel and National Security Council aide

Declined

• John Morse, state senator

Results

General election

Endorsements

Organizations

• Eagle Forum

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Results

Amid worries of vulnerability, Lamborn won the general election by a 59%-41% margin, becoming the highest vote getter for a GOP Congressional candidate in the state in the 2008 cycle.

| reg. electors = 359,874

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 6

|[[File:2008 CO-06 Election by precinct.svg|200px]]|Precinct results Eng:
Tie: Incumbent Republican Tom Tancredo, who had represented this solidly conservative district based in the Denver suburbs since 1999, retired in order to run for President. He was re-elected with 58.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+10.

His seat was considered to be the most Republican-dominated district of the Denver-area seats and was also one of the wealthiest in the nation. Tancredo was the second highest vote getter for a Republican congressional candidate statewide in 2006, just behind Doug Lamborn in the 5th district. The district includes Columbine High School, which was devastated in a tragic 1999 school massacre.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Coffman, Secretary of State of Colorado

Eliminated in primary

• Wil Armstrong, businessman and son of former senator William L. Armstrong (endorsed by the State GOP)
• Ted Harvey, state senator
• Steve Ward, state senator

Declined

• Frank McNulty, state representative
• Tom Tancredo, incumbent U.S. Representative
• Tom Wiens, state senator, nominee for Colorado State Treasurer in 1978 and candidate for the 3rd District in 1982

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Hank Eng, aerospace engineer

Withdrawn

• Mike Collins, Vietnam veteran

Declined

• Dave Hnida, physician
• Joe Rice, state representative
• David Wasserman, physician

Results

General election

Campaign

Despite some minor controversies surrounding Mike Coffman and Colorado Ethics Watch, CQ Politics, The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report all forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Endorsements

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Results

| reg. electors = 459,807

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

District 7

|250px|Precinct results Lerew:
Tie: Incumbent Democratic Ed Perlmutter, who had represented this suburban Denver district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 54.9% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+2. The district's voter registration was split, with independents constituting a slim plurality of 35% compared to Democrats (34%) and Republicans (31%).

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ed Perlmutter, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Lerew, founder of a financial planning center

Results

General election

Endorsements

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO

Organizations

• Citizens for Global Solutions
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Newspapers

• The Denver Post

Predictions

Results

| reg. electors = 314,642

Finances

Campaigns

Outside Spending

Notes

References

General

• 2008 Competitive House Race Chart The Cook Political Report, October 28, 2008
• 2008 House Ratings The Rothenberg Political Report, October 22, 2008

References

1. [http://www.elections.colorado.gov/WWW/default/Candidates/primary_election_candidate_list.pdf Candidate List for the August 12, 2008 Primary Election] {{Webarchive. link. (July 16, 2008 ''Colorado Secretary of State'')
2. (2009-08-14). "Official Publication of the Abstract of Votes Cast for the 2008 Primary and 2008 General". [[Secretary of State of Colorado]].
3. "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
4. "Cook Political Report, PVI for the 110th Congress". Cook Political Report.
5. "Colorado AFL-CIO Candidate Endorsements". AFL-CIO.
6. "Global Solutions PAC Endorsed Candidate".
7. "2008 Congressional Results". Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
8. (23 October 2008). "Endorsements". The Denver Post.
9. "Republican Liberty Caucus 2008 Endorsed Candidates".
10. (6 November 2006). "2008 Competitive House Race Chart". [[The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.
11. (2 November 2006). "2008 House Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report.
12. (6 November 2008). "2008 House". Sabato's Crystal Ball.
13. (7 November 2008). "Battle for the House of Representatives". Real Clear Politics.
14. "Race Ratings Chart: House". Congressional Quarterly Inc.
15. (3 April 2007). "Fitz-Gerald to file exploratory committee to run for Congress". Summit Daily News.
16. (18 April 2007). "Leading State Lawmaker to Bid for Udall’s Open Colorado House Seat". Congressional Quarterly.
17. (21 July 2008). "Colorado: Newspaper Prefers Upstart in House Race". Roll Call.
18. (3 January 2008). "GOP’s Wolf makes switch for House run official". The Denver Post.
19. (25 February 2008). "Colorado Has Seen Heavy Turnover in House Districts". Roll Call.
20. "Blue Dog Members and Fundraisers". Blue Dog Political Action Committe.
21. [http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070530/UPDATES01/70530013] ''The Coloradoan''
22. (27 September 2007). "Paccione Decides Against Rematch With Musgrave". Roll Call.
23. (4 June 2007). "Democrats Search for Consensus in Musgrave District". Roll Call.
24. (2 April 2007). "Chair: Five Democrats Consider Musgrave Race". Roll Call.
25. (September 19, 2008). "Musgrave Attack Ad Hits Markey On Biz Dealings". [[KCNC-TV]].
26. (3 November 2008). "2008 Candidates Endorsed By Eagle Forum PAC". Eagle Forum PAC.
27. "Red to Blue 2008". DCCC.
28. [https://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=1ccadc3d-8b8d-43b3-a671-939370c87ca3 SurveyUSA 4th]
29. link. (2007-09-28 ''KJCT 8 News'', September 2, 2007)
30. "Rayburn loses GOP gamble {{!}} Colorado Statesman".
31. Mozgovaya, Natasha: [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=1015065&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1& "Democratic Convention Notes: Meet Chinese Jewish candidate Hank Eng"], Haaretz.com. August 25, 2008. Accessed November 05, 2008
32. [http://elections.suntimes.com/dynamic/external/pre-election/bios/59350.html "Elections 2008"], ''Chicago Sun-Times''. Accessed on November 05, 2008.
33. [http://www.coloradoforethics.org/node/24035 Ethics Watch Requests Criminal Investigation of Coffman] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-01-09 ''Colorado Ethics Watch'', June 15, 2007)