Why AP called Colorado Senate race for Michael Bennet

WASHINGTON (AP) — WHY AP CALLED COLORADO FOR MICHAEL BENNET

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet was drawing in higher numbers of votes in many areas than he did during his 2016 campaign — by a margin of as many as 10 percentage points.

That’s what led AP to call the race for the Democratic incumbent on Tuesday over Republican challenger Joe O’Dea.

O’Dea, a first-time candidate, focused his campaign on crime and inflation.

But his position as the rare Republican who backs some abortion rights carved out for O’Dea a unique position. Republicans saw O’Dea as one of their best recruits, although GOP-aligned PACs were slow to spend money on his behalf.

Colorado has been shifting toward Democrats in recent elections, thanks in part to an influx of college-educated voters in the expanding Denver metropolitan area.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

___

Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections. Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections