Why AP called Colorado Senate race for Michael Bennet

By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet was drawing in higher numbers of votes in many areas than 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 focused his campaign against Bennet 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.