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Sen. Michael Bennet has narrowly defeated tea party Republican Ken Buck to win a hard-fought Senate seat in Colorado. The victory for Bennet allows Democrats to hold onto a seat once viewed a prime opportunity for the GOP to make gains. Bennet provided a crucial firewall against further Republican gains in the Senate during midterm elections. The race attracted more out-of-state campaign money than any other Senate contest this year. In a victory speech, Bennet called it a "race for the record books."

Appointed U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet will be elected to the U.S. Senate after pulling ahead of challenger Ken Buck this morning. Long after most Coloradans -- including the candidates and their supporters -- had gone to bed, returns from Denver and Boulder moved Bennet past Buck and into the lead, 47.5 percent to 47.1 percent. A recount would be required if the difference between the two candidates' vote totals is less than one-half of 1 percent of the highest vote total, or about 3,900 votes based on current tallies. Bennet leads by nearly 7,000 votes with an estimated 30,000 still...

Colorado voters on Tuesday rejected what was said to be the nation's only pro-life amendment. Personhood Amendment 62, which would have given human rights to the unborn, was defeated by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. This is the second time the pro-life measure was voted down. "Tonight’s victory sends a strong message that Colorado is a pro-choice state," Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Monica McCafferty told The Colorado Independent. After a failed attempt in 2008, "pro-life missionaries" and volunteers were optimistic this time around as they mobilized churches and the pro-life faithful. Language was also altered to define "person" to include "every human...

Tom Tancredo will become Colorado's next governor, and Republicans will take over the state's legislature while Attorney General John Suthers will be re-elected, predicted David Flaherty, president and CEO of Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, a Louisville, CO, pollster that works for Republicans around the country. In a phone interview, Flaherty said polls that show John Hickenlooper winning the gubernatorial race are using demographics and turnout numbers that incorrectly skew their results in favor of Democrats. "I do believe that Tom Tancredo is going to win," Flaherty declared. In recent polls, Tancredo has about 73% of Republican voters. Flaherty thinks...

As of noon in Colorado, nearly 74,000 more Republicans have voted than Democrats: DEM–419444 REP–493399 UAF–291152 TOTAL–1211297

Republican candidate Dan Maes now has just single-digit support, but Democrat John Hickenlooper still holds a slight lead over independent candidate Tom Tancredo in Colorado’s race for governor. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows Hickenlooper with a 47% to 42% lead over Tancredo, a former GOP congressman now running as the candidate of the American Constitution Party. Maes trails with five percent (5%) support. Six percent (6%) like some other candidate in the race, and one percent (1%) is undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) This is the best showing yet...

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper comments on disgraced Obama energy czar Van Jones.

In primaries this year, Republican voters in Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada, and Utah, have rejected—en masse—the candidates preferred by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Rove is said to informally advise. The Conservative Party candidate Tom Tancredo—a known enemy of Rove—is trouncing the GOP-backed candidate in the race for governor of Colorado.

Tancredo celebrates rising poll numbers, mocks GOP Digg Tweet By John Tomasic 10/18/10 12:35 PM Candidate for governor Tom Tancredo is buoyed by the results of a Rasmussen poll taken Friday. The poll has Tancredo, a late-entry third-party candidate in the Colorado race, pulling within four points of Democratic frontrunner John Hickenlooper and swamping GOP Tea Party candidate Dan Maes. “They say I’m going to sink the Republican Party if I draw too many votes. That’s funny. There is someone in this race sinking the Republican Party but it’s not me. It’s the guy running as a Republican who’s polling...

He's not there yet, but it appears that former Congressman Tom Tancredo has made a race in Colorado. The Republican is running as an independent in the three-way race for Governor of that state. Despite the fact that Tancredo started around 10% in the polls, a weak Republican candidate has allowed him to surge into a solid second place. The race appears to be volatile, which may help Tancredo win over independent and disaffected voters. In this Republican wave year, he may be able to win over those who like his critical view of illegal immigration and enforcement. With two...

Pictures and short video of the Tancredo Republican Round-up, Aurora, Colorado, October 16, 2010. I'm assuming this car that was in front of the Stampede belongsto a conservative. Tancredo for Governor The Entertainment State Rep. Kent Lambert (R) and a Tancredo supporter

Tom Tancredo may be a third-party candidate for Colorado governor, but he's no longer coming in third. Mr. Tancredo surged ahead of GOP candidate Dan Maes in a Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday, capturing 25 percent of the vote to 21 percent for Mr. Maes. Both trail John Hickenlooper, a Democrat with 46 percent support in the survey of 750 likely Colorado voters. Mr. Tancredo, a former congressman and outspoken critic of illegal immigration, received more good news Tuesday when a state judge ruled that he may remain on the November ballot as a candidate from the American Constitution Party....

Colorado’s Third Congressional District’s terrain is as rugged and independent as the miners who founded it, stretching from the Continental Divide to the Book Cliffs of Grand Junction, incorporating former frontier towns, working class areas and bustling ski resorts. While Democrat John Salazar represents the Third Congressional District, this region is Republican leaning, with a Cook PVI Rating of R+5, and has a proven record of voting for Republicans. In 2004, George W. Bush received 55 percent of the vote and in 2008 John McCain won the district with 50 percent to Obama’s 47 percent. Prior to John Salazar, Republican...

Weld District Attorney Ken Buck has opened a 9 percentage point lead in his bid to unseat incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., according to a poll released Wednesday. The Reuters/Ipsos Public Affairs poll of 453 likely voters shows Buck leading Bennet 49 percent to 40 percent, with 10 percent unsure and 1 percent opting for a third party. The poll had a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points. A Rasmussen Reports Poll earlier this month showed Buck leading 46 percent to 41 percent. The Reuters/Ipsos survey also polled 601 registered voters. This poll showed the race as a statistical...

Democratic candidate John Hickenlooper now holds a double-digit lead in the three-way race for governor of Colorado. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Colorado Voters finds Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver, with 43% support. Businessman Dan Maes, the winner of Tuesday’s Republican Primary, captures 31% of the vote, while American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo trails with 18%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided. This is the first poll conducted since Maes won the Republican primary. It shows Maes with a bit more support than he had before...

Lt. Gov. Jane Norton conceded defeat in her campaign against Weld District Attorney Ken Buck for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. With 4,115 of 5,458 precincts reporting statewide, or 75 percent, Buck was leading Norton in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, with 177,617 votes (52 percent) to Norton's 166,955 (48 percent). With about 90 percent of the votes counted in Weld County, Buck was trouncing Norton 76 percent to 23 percent.

Andrew Romanoff entered the presidential robo-calls/appearances derby today, with a late entry from former President Bill Clinton. Clinton also brought up a fairly unexplored topic in this campaign, mentioning Romanoff as “the top-line candidate.” Tuesday’s results in Colorado may well turn up an indicator of how much Democratic candidates want to be seen with Obama for the general election campaign.

(snip) In an interview Wednesday, Norton said she is not sure yet what to do about illegal immigrants currently in the country. But she is intrigued by an idea that would allow illegal immigrants to turn themselves in to police, undergo a background check and pay a fine. Instead of a jail sentence, they could do community service. Norton is not endorsing the idea, she said, but "I would absolutely entertain it. The person would have a criminal record. It would be a record that they broke the law," she said. (snip)

The slayings of 10 aid workers in Afghanistan by the Taliban are a stark reminder of what could happen without American involvement there, U.S. Sen. John McCain said. McCain stumped Sunday at Mesa State College for Grand Junction native Jane Norton, urging about 150 people to get out the vote in the Republican primary election. Norton faces Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, and the winner will face the victor in the Democratic Party primary pitting Sen. Michael Bennet against former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. (snip) McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential...

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Republican Senate candidate Jane Norton has been criticized throughout her campaign for being too cozy with Arizona Sen. John McCain. Two days before the contest ends, though, the former Colorado lieutenant governor launched a cross-state sweep promoting her association with McCain, whom she called an "American hero."McCain told reporters in suburban Denver he came to the state two weeks before his own Republican primary because he wanted to urge Republicans here to choose Norton over Weld County prosecutor Ken Buck. "We need a lot of help right now," McCain said, talking about Republicans in the Senate.