Senator Bennet Begins His Re-election With Metro Voter Approval Below 50 Percent

The Denver metro area leans Democratic in its partisan preference, and Governor Hickenlooper and President Obama both have positive approval ratings, 61 percent and 57 percent, respectively.

But Senator Michael Bennet, who is facing re-election, has only a 49 percent approval, with 26 percent opposition and 25 percent of voters with no position.

Voters from the ages of 50 to 74 give Bennet his highest approval at 55 percent. Millennials, 34 years old and less, approve his job performance by 4-to-1, but 44 percent aren’t able to rate him

Like most Democrats, Bennet wins women’s approval (55%) more than men (43%) and, of course, he does well with Democrats and the region’s minorities.

No doubt, Bennet’s numbers will improve. Washington politicians today suffer from a generalized mood of distrust. He has already started advertising to address the quarter of voters who can’t judge him today.

Sen. Bennet

The metro area produces more than half (56%) of the state’s vote and about 65 percent of the statewide vote for Democrats, so rolling out of those seven counties with a big margin is a Bennet priority.

Survey conducted with 600 likely voters in the seven-county Denver metro area by Ciruli Associates in May 2016 with a plus or minus of 4 percentage points. One-half the sample of 300 likely voters has a plus or minus of 5.6 percentage points.