2016 United States Senate election in Colorado

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The 2016 United States Senate election in Colorado was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Colorado, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.

Quick facts Nominee, Party ...
2016 United States Senate election in Colorado

 2010
November 8, 2016
2022 
 
Nominee Michael Bennet Darryl Glenn
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,370,710 1,215,318
Percentage 49.97% 44.31%

Bennet:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Glenn:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%      No votes

U.S. senator before election

Michael Bennet
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Michael Bennet
Democratic

Close

Major party candidates can qualify for the ballot through party assemblies or by petition.[1] To qualify by assembly, a candidate must receive at least 30 percent of the vote from the party's state assembly.[1] To qualify by petition, the candidate must have filed at least 1,500 signatures from each congressional district by April 4, 2016.[1]

Incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet won re-election to a second full term in office. Bennet's main challenger was Republican nominee Darryl Glenn, an El Paso County commissioner. Glenn won a crowded, five-way Republican primary in June. Three other candidates were on the ballot: former Eagle County Commissioner Arn Menconi was the Green Party nominee; Lily Tang Williams was the Libertarian Party nominee; and Unity Party of America chairman Bill Hammons was the Unity Party nominee.[2][3]

Background

Democratic U.S. Senator Ken Salazar resigned in January 2009 to become United States Secretary of the Interior, and Governor Bill Ritter appointed Bennet, the Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, to replace him. Bennet was elected to a full term in 2010, defeating Republican Ken Buck by 48.1% to 46.4%.

Democratic primary

Incumbent senator Michael Bennet was unopposed for renomination.

Candidates

Nominee

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
Democratic primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael Bennet (incumbent) 262,344 100.0%
Total votes 262,344 100.0%
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Republican primary

The Colorado Republican Party State Assembly was held on April 9, 2016.[6] Darryl Glenn won the convention with 70% of the vote.[7] Robert Blaha, Jack Graham, Jon Keyser, and Ryan Frazier sought to qualify for the ballot by petition instead of through the State Assembly.[8]

Glenn won the June primary with about 37.5% of the vote in the crowded, five-candidate Republican primary field.[9]

Candidate controversies

In early May, the Denver ABC affiliate uncovered over 10 forged voter signatures on the petition which placed Republican candidate Jon Keyser on the June Republican primary ballot. The circulator who forged the signatures was arrested for 34 felonies. A late May lawsuit claiming at least 60 forged signatures based on the analysis of a handwriting expert and challenging Keyser's placement on the primary ballot was dismissed because it did not fall within the five-day window to challenge a ballot placement.[10][11]

When asked on-camera about the forgeries, Keyser did not address the issue, and proceeded to inform the interviewer that Keyser's dog was larger than the interviewer.[12]

In early June, when asked by a fellow Republican candidate and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel whether Keyser received his Bronze Star for work on a software program or for "kicking in doors" in combat as "represented to the community", Keyser refused to answer the question, and claimed he had "no idea" what software program his rival was talking about. Yet, according to the article announcing Keyser's citation, Keyser "developed and implemented a unique and effective technique to provide critical force protection and situational-awareness data to ground counter-terrorism operations."[13][14]

In August 2014, Republican candidate Jack Graham was fired as Colorado State University athletic director for unspecified reasons, though he would continue to be paid through the November 2016 election.[15][16]

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Rejected at convention

Declined

Endorsements

Robert Blaha
Darryl Glenn

Governors

U.S. senators

Statewide officials

Mayors

Individuals

Organizations

Jon Keyser

Individuals

Tim Neville

Individuals

Organizations

Results

Results by county:
  Glenn
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Graham
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
More information Party, Candidate ...
Republican primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Darryl Glenn 131,125 37.74%
Republican Jack Graham 85,400 24.58%
Republican Robert Blaha 57,196 16.46%
Republican Jon Keyser 43,509 12.52%
Republican Ryan Frazier 30,241 8.70%
Total votes 347,471 100.0%
Close

Darryl Glenn won the general primary on June 28 and went on to face the other candidates in the November election.[85]

Third party and independent candidates

Declared

Endorsements

Lily Tang Williams

General election

Debates

More information Dates, Location ...
Dates Location Bennet Glenn Williams Link
September 10, 2016 Grand Junction, Colorado Participant Participant Participant [92]
October 11, 2016 Denver, Colorado Participant Participant Not invited [93]
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Predictions

More information Source, Ranking ...
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[94] Likely D November 2, 2016
Sabato's Crystal Ball[95] Safe D November 7, 2016
Inside Elections[96] Safe D November 3, 2016
Daily Kos[97] Safe D November 8, 2016
Real Clear Politics[98] Lean D November 7, 2016
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Polling

%support01020304050607/06/169/18/169/28/1610/31/1611/04/16BennetGlennOther/UndecidedOpinion polling for the 2016 United States S...
More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Michael
Bennet (D)
Darryl
Glenn (R)
Other Undecided
SurveyMonkey[99] November 1–7, 2016 2,777 ± 4.6% 52% 45% 3%
SurveyMonkey[100] October 31–November 6, 2016 2,412 ± 4.6% 51% 45% 4%
Public Policy Polling[101] November 3–4, 2016 704 ± 3.7% 50% 40% 5%[102] 6%
Keating Research[103] November 2–3, 2016 605 ± 4.0% 49% 38% 5%[104] 5%
SurveyMonkey[105] October 28–November 3, 2016 1,927 ± 4.6% 51% 45% 4%
Breitbart/Gravis Marketing[106] November 1–2, 2016 1,125 ± 2.9% 47% 44% 9%
SurveyMonkey[107] October 27–November 2, 2016 1,631 ± 4.6% 50% 46% 4%
The Times-Picayune/Lucid[108] October 28–November 1, 2016 972 ± 3.0% 49% 41% 10%
SurveyMonkey[109] October 26–November 1, 2016 1,402 ± 4.6% 49% 47% 4%
University of Denver[110] October 29–31, 2016 550 ± 4.2% 48% 40% 3% 9%
Emerson College[111] October 28–31, 2016 750 ± 3.5% 47% 42% 6% 5%
SurveyMonkey[112] October 25–31, 2016 1,532 ± 4.6% 48% 46% 6%
CBS News/YouGov[113] October 26–28, 2016 997 ± 4.1% 46% 41% 3% 10%
University of Colorado Boulder[114] October 17–24, 2016 1,037 ± 3.6% 54% 40% 6% 0%
Quinnipiac University[115] October 10–16, 2016 685 ± 3.7% 56% 38% 6%
Magellan Strategies (R)[116] October 12–13, 2016 500 ± 4.4% 47% 32% 9%[117] 12%
Washington Post/SurveyMonkey[118] October 8–16, 2016 956 ± 0.5% 52% 42% 6%
Breitbart/Gravis Marketing[119] October 12–13, 2016 1,226 ± 2.8% 48% 38% 13%
Breitbart/Gravis Marketing[120] October 3–4, 2016 1,246 ± 2.8% 47% 39% 15%
Monmouth University[121] September 29–October 2, 2016 400 ± 4.9% 53% 35% 7%[122] 5%
Public Policy Polling[123] September 27–28, 2016 694 ± 3.7% 44% 34% 7%[124] 15%
50% 40% 10%
CNN/ORC[125] September 20–25, 2016 784 LV ± 3.5% 53% 43% 1% 2%
896 RV 53% 41% 1% 2%
Breitbart/Gravis Marketing[126] September 22–23, 2016 799 ± 3.5% 43% 45% 12%
Quinnipiac University[127] September 13–21, 2016 644 ± 3.9% 52% 43% 1% 4%
Colorado Mesa University/Rocky Mountain PBS[128] September 14–18, 2016 350 LV ± 6.3% 42% 31% 4%[129] 22%
45% 32% 2% 20%
540 RV ± 5.1% 38% 26% 5%[130] 31%
44% 28% 3% 26%
Emerson College[131] September 9–13, 2016 600 ± 3.6% 46% 39% 7% 8%
Magellan Strategies (R)[132] August 29–31, 2016 500 ± 4.4% 48% 38% 7%[122] 7%
Quinnipiac University[133] August 9–16, 2016 830 ± 3.4% 54% 38% 8%
NBC/WSJ/Marist[134] August 4–10, 2016 899 ± 3.3% 53% 38% 2% 7%
FOX News[135] July 9–12, 2016 600 ± 4.0% 51% 36% 1% 9%
Monmouth University[136] July 9–12, 2016 404 ± 4.9% 48% 35% 5%[104] 12%
Harper Polling[137] July 7–9, 2016 500 ± 4.4% 46% 40% 14%
NBC/WSJ/Marist[138] July 5–11, 2016 794 ± 3.5% 53% 38% 2% 7%
Senate Conservatives Fund[139] July 1–6, 2016 500 47% 42% 11%
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Hypothetical polling

with Scott Tipton

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Michael
Bennet (D)
Scott
Tipton (R)
Other Undecided
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner - Democracy Corps[140] October 24–28, 2015 1,600 ± 3.2% 50% 44% 16%
Close

with Mike Coffman

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Michael
Bennet (D)
Mike
Coffman (R)
Other Undecided
Quinnipiac University[141] March 29–April 7, 2015 894 ± 3.3% 40% 43% 4% 14%
Close

with Cynthia Coffman

More information Poll source, Date(s) administered ...
Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Michael
Bennet (D)
Cynthia
Coffman (R)
Other Undecided
Quinnipiac University[141] March 29–April 7, 2015 894 ± 3.3% 44% 36% 5% 15%
Close

Results

More information Party, Candidate ...
United States Senate election in Colorado, 2016[142]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Michael Bennet (incumbent) 1,370,710 49.97% +1.89%
Republican Darryl Glenn 1,215,318 44.31% −2.09%
Libertarian Lily Tang Williams 99,277 3.62% +2.35%
Green Arn Menconi 36,805 1.34% −0.85%
Unity Bill Hammons 9,336 0.34% N/A
Independent Dan Chapin 8,361 0.30% N/A
Independent Paul Fiorino 3,216 0.12% N/A
Total votes 2,743,023 100.0%
Democratic hold
Close

By county

More information County, Michael Bennet Democratic ...
County[142] Michael Bennet
Democratic
Darryl Glenn
Republican
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # %
Adams 97,402 52.7% 76,285 41.2% 11,309 6.1% 21,117 11.5% 184,996
Alamosa 3,695 53.0% 2,894 41.5% 383 5.5% 801 11.5% 6,972
Arapahoe 162,747 54.0% 123,509 41.0% 15,105 5.0% 39,238 13.0% 301,361
Archuleta 2,750 37.9% 4,072 56.2% 430 5.9% -1,322 -18.3% 7,252
Baca 577 27.0% 1,469 68.7% 92 4.6% -892 -41.7% 2,138
Bent 810 42.2% 1,034 53.9% 74 3.9% -224 -11.7% 1,918
Boulder 126,334 68.0% 45,755 24.6% 13,731 7.4% 80,579 43.4% 185,820
Broomfield 19,431 53.1% 15,077 41.2% 2,109 5.8% 4,354 11.9% 36,617
Chaffee 5,259 46.7% 5,384 47.8% 618 5.5% -125 -1.1% 11,261
Cheyenne 220 20.2% 828 76.0% 42 3.9% -608 -55.8% 1,090
Clear Creek 2,883 49.1% 2,541 43.3% 451 7.7% 342 5.8% 5,875
Conejos 2,073 51.1% 1,878 46.3% 105 2.5% 195 4.8% 4,056
Costilla 1,186 65.1% 547 30.0% 90 5.0% 639 35.1% 1,823
Crowley 504 33.2% 936 61.7% 78 5.1% -432 -28.5% 1,518
Custer 944 30.8% 1,984 64.8% 132 4.4% -1,040 -34.0% 3,060
Delta 4,916 29.3% 10,970 65.4% 875 5.2% -6,054 -36.1% 16,761
Denver 238,774 73.0% 71,078 21.7% 17,441 5.4% 167,696 51.3% 327,293
Dolores 338 28.0% 808 67.1% 59 4.9% -470 -39.1% 1,205
Douglas 70,005 37.6% 107,920 57.9% 8,459 4.6% -37,915 -20.3% 186,384
Eagle 13,707 55.2% 8,772 35.3% 2,340 9.5% 4,935 19.9% 24,819
El Paso 113,726 35.9% 183,709 58.0% 19,284 6.1% -69,983 -22.1% 316,719
Elbert 3,684 23.2% 11,558 72.6% 671 4.3% -7,874 -49.4% 15,913
Fremont 6,671 30.4% 14,154 64.5% 1,129 5.2% -7,483 -34.1% 21,954
Garfield 12,039 45.9% 12,596 48.1% 1,566 6.0% -557 -2.2% 26,201
Gilpin 1,729 48.3% 1,502 42.0% 349 9.7% 226 6.3% 3,581
Grand 3,623 42.3% 4,402 51.4% 541 6.3% -779 -9.1% 8,566
Gunnison 5,517 58.7% 3,216 34.2% 659 6.9% 2,301 24.5% 9,392
Hinsdale 246 42.0% 316 53.9% 24 4.1% -70 -11.9% 586
Huerfano 1,942 51.3% 1,694 44.7% 153 4.0% 248 6.6% 3,789
Jackson 235 27.5% 583 68.3% 36 4.2% -348 -40.8% 854
Jefferson 163,172 50.8% 139,237 43.3% 18,962 5.9% 23,935 7.5% 321,371
Kiowa 196 23.4% 621 74.1% 21 2.5% -425 -50.7% 838
Kit Carson 894 24.6% 2,607 71.8% 120 3.6% -1,713 -47.2% 3,631
La Plata 15,903 51.9% 12,678 41.4% 2,057 6.7% 3,225 10.5% 30,638
Lake 1,704 54.2% 1,174 37.3% 267 8.5% 530 16.9% 3,145
Larimer 95,789 49.4% 86,101 44.4% 11,976 6.1% 9,688 5.0% 193,866
Las Animas 3,305 48.8% 3,174 46.9% 295 4.3% 131 1.9% 6,774
Lincoln 588 24.4% 1,742 72.2% 83 3.4% -1,154 -47.8% 2,413
Logan 2,768 28.6% 6,534 67.6% 364 3.8% -3,766 -39.0% 9,666
Mesa 24,109 31.2% 48,559 62.8% 4,600 6.0% -24,450 -31.6% 77,268
Mineral 301 45.7% 326 49.5% 31 4.7% -25 -3.8% 658
Moffat 1,338 20.9% 4,786 74.8% 271 4.2% -3,448 -53.9% 6,395
Montezuma 4,305 34.2% 7,484 59.4% 810 6.4% -3,179 -25.2% 12,599
Montrose 6,055 28.9% 13,946 66.5% 995 4.7% -7,891 -37.6% 20,986
Morgan 3,910 32.9% 7,516 63.3% 448 3.8% -3,606 -30.4% 11,874
Otero 3,651 42.8% 4,561 53.5% 321 3.7% -910 -10.7% 8,533
Ouray 1,735 52.4% 1,397 42.2% 177 5.4% 338 10.2% 3,309
Park 3,722 35.9% 5,937 57.2% 718 6.8% -2,215 -21.3% 10,377
Phillips 695 30.0% 1,570 67.8% 51 2.2% -875 -37.8% 2,316
Pitkin 6,847 68.3% 2,656 26.5% 517 5.1% 4,191 41.8% 10,020
Prowers 1,648 33.3% 3,110 62.9% 187 3.8% -1,462 -29.6% 4,945
Pueblo 40,475 52.0% 33,051 42.5% 4,293 5.6% 7,424 9.5% 77,819
Rio Blanco 600 17.8% 2,641 78.3% 144 4.1% -2,041 -60.5% 3,375
Rio Grande 2,372 42.6% 2,974 53.4% 227 4.1% -602 -10.8% 5,573
Routt 7,793 56.6% 5,265 38.2% 722 5.2% 2,528 18.4% 13,780
Saguache 1,570 55.1% 1,042 36.6% 237 8.4% 528 16.5% 2,849
San Juan 279 56.0% 193 38.8% 26 5.2% 86 17.2% 498
San Miguel 2,951 68.5% 1,055 24.5% 302 7.0% 1,896 44.0% 4,308
Sedgwick 426 31.8% 863 64.4% 51 3.8% -437 -32.6% 1,340
Summit 9,536 59.9% 5,178 32.5% 1,200 7.5% 4,358 27.4% 15,914
Teller 4,064 28.4% 9,547 66.6% 719 5.0% -5,483 -38.2% 14,330
Washington 527 19.5% 2,092 77.4% 83 3.1% -1,565 -57.9% 2,702
Weld 52,263 38.9% 74,843 55.7% 7,277 5.5% -22,580 -16.8% 134,383
Yuma 1,252 26.3% 3,386 71.1% 124 2.6% -2,134 -44.8% 4,762
Totals1,370,71050.0%1,215,31844.3%156,9955.7%155,3925.7%2,743,023
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Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Bennet won four of seven congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican.[143]

More information District, Bennet ...
District Bennet Glenn Representative
1st 69% 26% Diana DeGette
2nd 56% 37% Jared Polis
3rd 44% 50% Scott Tipton
4th 38% 57% Ken Buck
5th 36% 58% Doug Lamborn
6th 51% 44% Mike Coffman
7th 54% 40% Ed Perlmutter
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References

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