Congressional Competition

Colorado has one of the highest percentages of competitive congressional races of any state in the country – 3 out of 7, or 43 percent.  That is mostly a reflection of the judiciary having controlled Colorado’s re-districting for two decades and the state being a closely balanced battleground in terms of partisanship.

Judges, in creating the new 7th congressional district after the 2000 census and rearranging the lines in the 6th CD after the latest population count, accepted Democratic maps that promoted competition.

Democrats have a reasonable chance to pick up the 3rd CD, with Sal Pace running close to incumbent Scott Tipton in terms of raising money.

Joe Miklosi in the newly redesigned 6th CD against incumbent Mike Coffman has a district that gave Barack Obama a big win in 2008 and Michael Bennet a slight edge in 2010.  But Coffman remains well ahead in fundraising and current partisan registration leans Republican.

What on paper looks like a horse race, the 7th CD still hasn’t hit the national radar as competitive.  Republican Joe Coors has put a million dollars of his own money into the race and the district is nearly even in party registration.  But, incumbent Ed Perlmutter is a prodigious fundraiser and a fierce candidate who has run and won two contested races in the last four years.