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Mark Udall Loses Senate Seat, Hickenlooper Hanging On

By Jeralyn, Section Elections
Posted on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 01:31:06 AM EST
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Senator Mark Udall has lost the U.S. Senate race to Cory Gardner. The media called the race for Gardner early, but Udall waited a few hours before giving his concession speech, which you can view here. The Post says he "held back tears" but he didn't look very upset to me. He smiled a lot and made some jokes. Gardner reminds me of a throwback to his lookalike predecessor, Gov. Bill Owens. I muted the TV for his speech. In Denver, Gardner only got 26% of the vote to Udall's 69%.

Both Udall and Gardner ran relentless negative ads on local TV for what seems like months. They were both like one trick ponies. Udall harped on Gardner's stand on abortion while Gardner attacked Udall as a clone of Obama. It's a shame Udall didn't focus more on his record of accomplishments, particularly since Gardner has none.

Gov. Hickenlooper and Republican challenger Bob "Wrong Way" Beauprez are still battling it out. With 89% of the vote counted, Beauprez has 5,000 more votes, but it's too close to call. [More...]

Interestingly, Gardner has 40,000 more votes than Beauprez. So a lot of people voted for Gardner but not Beauprez. Beauprez didn't even win conservative Jefferson county.

On the House side, Democrats Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter won by comfortable margins.

A Republican won the state Attorney General's race, and the "Personhood" amendment failed for the third time, 65% to 35% (current numbers.)

The national and local media reporting of results for Colorado has been spotty all night. None of the networks and websites have the same numbers at the same time. They all claim to be live and up to the minute, but clearly they are not.

All in all, a disappointing, but not unpredictable election night, both in Colorado and across the country.

< 2014 Election Results | Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper Re-Elected >

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    Mark Udall Loses Senate Seat, Hickenlooper Hanging On | 45 comments (45 topical)

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    Charlie Pierce on the GOP and the (5.00 / 2) (#11)
    by Anne on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 08:14:20 AM EST
    Tea Party:

    Last, and I hate to break this to Tom Brokaw, and to Kasie Hunt, who talked about how the Republicans know they have to "govern," but this election couldn't have been less of a repudiation of the Tea Party. As the cable shows signed off last night, it was dawning even on the most conventional pundits that the Republicans had not elected an escadrille of Republican archangels to descend upon Capitol Hill. It was more like a murder of angry crows. Joni Ernst is not a moderate. David Perdue is not a moderate. Thom Tillis is not a moderate. Cory Gardner -- who spiced up his victory by calling himself "the tip of the spear" -- is not a moderate. Tom Cotton is not a moderate. And these were the people who flipped the Senate to the Republicans. In the reliably Republican states, Ben Sasse in Nebraska is not a moderate. Several of these people -- most notably, Sasse and Ernst -- won Republican primaries specifically as Tea Partiers, defeating establishment candidates. The Republicans did not defeat the Tea Party. The Tea Party's ideas animated what happened on Tuesday night. What the Republicans managed to do was to teach the Tea Party to wear shoes, mind its language, and use the proper knife while amputating the social safety net. They did nothing except send the Tea Party to finishing school.

    Link

    Yep (none / 0) (#12)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 08:20:43 AM EST
    the tea party sees this as a huge win for them. David Perdue's speech was pure 100% tea party.

    Parent
    Man (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 05:03:25 AM EST
    these Republicans really elected some psychopaths. These people are clones of Ted Cruz.

    I just don't get it. I don't - and will never - (none / 0) (#2)
    by Anne on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 06:32:22 AM EST
    get why the ideas and vision of some of these new members of Congress would make people do anything but run screaming into the night.

    Joni Ernst?  Tom Cotton?  How do they appeal to anyone?

    I really do despair.

    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 06:34:35 AM EST
    look at it this way: they are going to damage the GOP even more. With an approval rating of 16% the GOP brand is in the gutter and these crazies are probably going to drive it into single digits.

    Parent
    But they're getting elected. (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Anne on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 06:50:32 AM EST
    People actually think these nutcases are the better alternative to the Dems running against them.  

    Better.  

    This makes no sense to me.  

    Honestly, some days I feel like a stranger in a strange land.

    Parent

    I tend to view it much more as... (5.00 / 2) (#13)
    by Dadler on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 08:46:09 AM EST
    ...a complete indictment of the essentially equal corporate corruption of the Democratic Party. It says something very powerfully depressing about the Dems that they lack ENTIRELY anything even approaching the minimal political imagination and actual concern for working people that it would take to bury these clowns in EVERY election.

    And the Dems habit of telling voters how much better off those voters are because of Dem policy and power, when people obviously know when they aren't really better off, come on, that's just a pitiful loser's non-strategy. It is the sound of an imagination vacuum.

    Depressing results, but they don't surprise me. Hell, Obama doesn't even want the Prez job anymore, seems like he's just going through the motions and counting the days until we'll have to endure his memoir which will, no doubt, blame everyone else for his problems. Oy. Time for some blood of Mary in a large tumbler.

    Peace out.

    Parent

    Yep (5.00 / 5) (#15)
    by TeresaInSnow2 on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 09:29:51 AM EST
    The election was about public exasperation with "Democratic" policy.  It was an "anything is better than this" election.  

    People are fed up.  And variations of the explanation that people are "stoopid" are not helpful.  The Republicans didn't win.  The Democrats LOST because of their policies.  That's why we're seeing Republicans taking huge Democratic strongholds.

    Parent

    Yep (5.00 / 3) (#16)
    by jbindc on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 09:33:31 AM EST
    Because if you look at all the ballot initiatives out there, it was a good night for liberals.

    Parent
    It really was (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by CST on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 09:46:48 AM EST
    And I think if I could get past all the Republican governors, the Republicans having the senate might almost be a good thing - it could force them to be held responsible for their positions.

    Governors are more dangerous though - they actually manage to "accomplish" things.

    Parent

    And governors (none / 0) (#18)
    by jbindc on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 09:49:17 AM EST
    Make better presidential candidates.

    Parent
    And let's be honest (none / 0) (#19)
    by jbindc on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 09:50:07 AM EST
    It was a good night for Chris Christie as head of the Republican Governors Association.

    Parent
    The governors (none / 0) (#21)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 10:03:29 AM EST
    was really where the disappointment is. The senate is going to be led by freaks and every