2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

←  2006 November 4, 2008 2010  →
All 7 Colorado seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 4 3 Seats won 5 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,259,768 990,870 Percentage 55.16% 43.38% Swing 1.04% 2.85%
Election results by district Election results by county Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

The 2008 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the state of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011.

Colorado had seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and three Republicans. After the elections, it consisted of five Democrats and two Republicans. District 4 changed party (from Republican to Democratic), which was the only district CQ Politics had forecasted to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

The Primary election was held August 12, 2008. ^[1]

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2008 [2]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Democratic	1,259,768	55.16%	5	+1
	Republican	990,870	43.38%	2	–1
	Libertarian	12,136	0.61%	0	0
	Green	10,031	0.50%	0	0
	American Constitution	8,894	0.44%	0	0
	Unity	2,176	0.11%	0	0
	Independent	56	0.00%	0	0
Valid votes		2,283,931	82.60%	—	—
Invalid or blank votes		138,305	17.40%	—	—
Totals		2,422,236	100.00%	7	—
Voter turnout		91.67%

Match-up summary

District	Incumbent	2008 Status	Democratic	Republican	Other Party
1	Diana DeGette	Re-election	Diana DeGette	George Lilly
2	Mark Udall	Open	Jared Polis	Scott Starin
3	John Salazar	Re-election	John Salazar	Wayne Wolf
4	Marilyn Musgrave	Re-election	Betsy Markey	Marilyn Musgrave
5	Doug Lamborn	Re-election	Hal Bidlack	Doug Lamborn
6	Tom Tancredo	Open	Hank Eng	Mike Coffman
7	Ed Perlmutter	Re-election	Ed Perlmutter	John W. Lerew

District breakdown

District 1

See also: Colorado's 1st congressional district

Democratic incumbent Diana DeGette won against Republican nominee George Lilly. DeGette was unopposed in her primary, and Lilly won against Charles Crain in his primary. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Colorado's 1st congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana DeGette (incumbent)	203,756	71.94
	Republican	George Lilly	67,346	23.78
	Libertarian	Martin Buchanan	12,136	4.28
	Independent	Gary Swing (write-in)	11	0.00
Valid ballots			283,249	92.84
Invalid or blank votes			21,844	7.16
Total votes			305,093	100.00
Turnout				88.74
	Democratic hold

District 2

See also: Colorado's 2nd congressional district

Democratic nominee Jared Polis, a businessman, won against Republican nominee Scott Starin, an aerospace engineer. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

This district had been represented by Democrat Mark Udall since 1999. With the retirement of Senator Wayne Allard, Udall ran for the Senate, leaving this an open seat. Polis won the Democratic primary against Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and Colorado Conservation Trust Director Will Shafroth. Starin was unopposed in the Republican primary. Former Eagle County Commissioner Tom Stone was earlier considered a possible Republican candidate, as was Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin for the Green Party. Democrats held a strong edge in this district, with the most recent Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, having won 59% in 2004, as it was centered around heavily Democratic Boulder.

Colorado's 2nd congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Polis	215,602	62.60
	Republican	Scott Starin	116,619	33.86
	Green	J. A. Calhoun	10,031	2.91
	Unity	William Hammons	2,176	0.63
Valid ballots			344,428	93.54
Invalid or blank votes			23,805	6.46
Total votes			368,233	100.00
Turnout				92.49
	Democratic hold

District 3

2008 Colorado's 3rd congressional district election

←  2006 2010  →

Nominee John Salazar Wayne Wolf Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 203,457 126,762 Percentage 61.6% 38.4%

County Results Salazar:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Wolf:     50-60%     60-70%

U.S. Representative before election John Salazar Democratic Elected U.S. Representative John Salazar Democratic

See also: Colorado's 3rd congressional district

Democratic incumbent John Salazar won against Republican nominee Wayne Wolf. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Colorado's 3rd congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Salazar (incumbent)	203,457	61.61
	Republican	Wayne Wolf	126,762	38.39
Valid ballots			330,219	96.42
Invalid or blank votes			12,248	3.58
Total votes			342,467	100.00
Turnout				89.50
	Democratic hold

District 4

2008 Colorado's 4th congressional district election

←  2006 2010  →

Nominee Betsy Markey Marilyn Musgrave Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 187,348 146,030 Percentage 56.2% 43.8%

County Results Markey:     50-60%     60-70% Musgrave:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

U.S. Representative before election Marilyn Musgrave Republican Elected U.S. Representative Betsy Markey Democratic

See also: Colorado's 4th congressional district

Democratic nominee Betsy Markey, businesswoman and regional director for Senator Ken Salazar won against Republican incumbent Marilyn Musgrave, who had represented this district since 2003. Both ran unopposed in the party primary elections. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Leans Democratic'. The Rothenberg Political Report rated it 'Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic'. The Cook Political Report ranked it 'Republican Toss Up'.

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 (D) 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 vulnerable in 2008.

Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Schaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field. ^[3] Eidsness switched parties again, having switched from Republican to Reform Party the year prior, and became a Democrat, which could have fueled a potential rematch with Musgrave in 2008. 2006 nominee Angie Paccione briefly launched a campaign as well, but left the race in September 2007. On October 24, 2008, the National Republican Congressional Committee abandoned Marilyn Musgrave's 2008 reelection campaign, believing the race was lost. This decision was based solely on Musgrave's poor poll numbers.

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. ^[4] 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."

Colorado's 4th congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betsy Markey	187,348	56.20
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	146,030	43.80
Valid ballots			333,378	95.27
Invalid or blank votes			16,565	4.73
Total votes			349,943	100.00
Turnout				91.30
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 5

See also: Colorado's 5th congressional district

Freshman Republican incumbent Doug Lamborn won against Democratic nominee Hal Bidlack, a Clinton administration National Security Council official, and Independent Rich Hand, running as a write-in candidate. The district is based in heavily Republican Colorado Springs. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Lamborn got bad press when two constituents accused him of making a threatening phone call in response to a critical letter they wrote. ^[5] 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 and Lamborn won the primary with 44% of the vote. ^[6]

Amid worries of vulnerability, Lamborn then won the general election by a 59%-41% margin, becoming the highest vote getter for a GOP Congressional candidate in the state in the 2006 cycle.

Colorado's 5th congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Lamborn (incumbent)	183,179	60.03
	Democratic	Hal Bidlack	113,027	37.04
	Constitution	Brian Scott	8,894	2.91
	Independent	Richard Hand (write-in)	45	0.01
Valid ballots			305,145	93.74
Invalid or blank votes			20,371	6.26
Total votes			325,516	100.00
Turnout				90.45
	Republican hold

District 6

See also: Colorado's 6th congressional district

Republican nominee Mike Coffman won against Democratic nominee Hank Eng. CQ Politics, The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report all forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican', despite some minor controversies surrounding Mike Coffman and Colorado Ethics Watch. ^[7]

Eng ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary. Coffman defeated a crowded field of candidates including Ted Harvey, Steve Ward, and Will Armstrong (who was endorsed by the State GOP). Republican incumbent Tom Tancredo, who held the seat since 1999, decided to retire leaving it an open seat. 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 (59%-40%) 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.

Colorado's 6th congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Coffman	250,877	60.66
	Democratic	Hank Eng	162,641	39.33
Valid ballots			413,518	93.97
Invalid or blank votes			26,527	6.03
Total votes			440,045	100.00
Turnout				95.70
	Republican hold

District 7

See also: Colorado's 7th congressional district

Democratic incumbent Ed Perlmutter, who had represented this district since 2007, won against Republican nominee John W. Lerew. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

In 2006, Perlmutter won 55% of the vote in this suburban Denver district that narrowly went to John Kerry with 52% in 2004. The district's voter registration was split, with independents constituting a slim plurality of 35% compared to Democrats (34%) and Republicans (31%).

Colorado's 7th congressional district election, 2008 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	173,937	63.48
	Republican	John Lerew	100,057	36.51
Valid ballots			273,994	94.18
Invalid or blank votes			16,945	5.82
Total votes			290,939	100.00
Turnout				92.47
	Democratic hold

References

Specific

1. Candidate List for the August 12, 2008 Primary Election Colorado Secretary of State
2. "Official Publication of the Abstract of Votes Cast for the 2008 Primary and 2008 General" (PDF). Secretary of State of Colorado. August 14, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
3. The Coloradoan
4. "Musgrave Attack Ad Hits Markey On Biz Dealings". cbs4denver.com. KCNC-TV. September 19, 2008. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
5. Colo Springs couple says got threatening call from congressman Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine KJCT 8 News, September 2, 2007
6. "Rayburn loses GOP gamble | Colorado Statesman". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
7. Ethics Watch Requests Criminal Investigation of Coffman Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine Colorado Ethics Watch, June 15, 2007

General

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

External links

• Elections Center from the Colorado Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Colorado at Project Vote Smart
• Colorado U.S. House Races from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions for Colorado congressional races from OpenSecrets
• District 1 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 1 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• District 2 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 2 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• District 3 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 3 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• District 4 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 4 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Musgrave (R-i) vs Markey (D) graph of collected poll results from Pollster.com
• District 5 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 5 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• Cherry Creek News: Where's Hank from Cherry Creek News
• District 6 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 6 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
• District 7 race ranking and details from CQ Politics
• District 7 campaign contributions from OpenSecrets