2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

The 2008 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the state of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011.

Colorado had seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and three Republicans. After the elections, it consisted of five Democrats and two Republicans. District 4 changed party (from Republican to Democratic), which was the only district CQ Politics had forecasted to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

The Primary election was held August 12, 2008.Candidate List for the August 12, 2008 Primary Election Colorado Secretary of State

Overview Statewide PartyCandidatesVotesSeats %+/– %Democratic71,259,76855.165 171.43Republican7990,87043.382 128.57Libertarian112,1360.6100.0Green110,0310.5000.0Constitution18,8940.4400.0Unity12,1760.1100.0Write-in2560.0000.0Total202,283,931100.07100.0

By district Results of the 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado by district:

DistrictDemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResult Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %District 1 203,755 71.94% 67,345 23.78% 12,146 4.29% 283,246 100.0% Democratic holdDistrict 2 215,571 62.60% 116,591 33.86% 12,202 3.54% 344,364 100.0% Democratic holdDistrict 3 203,455 61.61% 126,762 38.39% 0 0.00% 330,217 100.0% Democratic holdDistrict 4 187,347 56.20% 146,028 43.80% 0 0.00% 333,375 100.0% Democratic GainDistrict 5 113,025 37.04% 183,178 60.03% 8,939 2.93% 305,142 100.0% Republican holdDistrict 6 162,639 39.33% 250,877 60.67% 0 0.00% 413,516 100.0% Republican holdDistrict 7 173,931 63.48% 100,055 36.52% 0 0.00% 273,986 100.0% Democratic holdTotal 1,259,768 55.16% 990,870 43.38% 33,287 1.46% 2,283,846 100.0%

District 1

Incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette, who had represented this Denver based district since 1997, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 79.8% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+18.

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Diana DeGette, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary Candidates Nominee George Lilly, sales and marketing representative, Constitution nominee for state representative in 2000 and for this seat in 2002 & 2004

Eliminated in primary Charles Crain

Results

General election Endorsements

Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report November 6, 2008 Rothenberg November 2, 2008 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 6, 2008 Real Clear Politics November 7, 2008 CQ Politics November 6, 2008

Results

Finances Campaigns Candidate (party) Raised Spent Cash on hand Diana DeGette (D) $808,491 $925,776 $106,102 George Lilly (R) $13,746 $14,060 $9 Martin Buchanan (L) Unreported

Outside Spending Candidate (party) Supported Opposed Diana DeGette (D) $2,455 $0 George Lilly (R) $0 $0 Martin Buchanan (L) $0 $0

District 2

Incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, who had represented the district, centred around heavily Democratic Boulder, since 1999, ran for the Senate following the retirement of Senator Wayne Allard, leaving this an open seat. He was re-elected with 68.2% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+8.

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Jared Polis, Colorado Board of Education President

Eliminated in primary Joan Fitz-Gerald, former President of the Colorado Senate Will Shafroth, Colorado Conservation Trust Director

Declined Alice Madden, Majority Leader of the state house Ron Tupa, state senator Mark Udall, incumbent U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Results

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Scott Starin, aerospace engineer

Declined Tom Stone, former Eagle County Commissioner

Results

Green primary Candidates Nominee J. A. Calhoun, nominee for this seat in 2006

Declined Mark Ruzzin, Mayor of Boulder

Unity primary Candidates Nominee Bill Hammons, founder and National Chairman of the Unity Party of America

General election Endorsements

Results

Finances Campaigns Candidate (party) Raised Spent Cash on hand Jared Polis (D) $7,353,034 $7,323,502 $29,533 Scott Starin (R) $88,757 $90,426 $24 J. A. Calhoun (G) Unreported William Hammons (U) $22,467 $22,247 $164

Outside Spending Candidate (party) Supported Opposed Jared Polis (D) $0 $42,573 Scott Starin (R) $4,768 $0 J. A. Calhoun (G) $0 $0 William Hammons (U) $0 $0

District 3

Incumbent Democrat John Salazar, who had represented the conservative, west Colorado district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re–elected with 61.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+6.

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee John Salazar, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Wayne Wolf, rancher and Delta County commissioner

Declined Josh Penry, state senator Ellen Roberts, state representative Scott Tipton, businessman and nominee for this seat in 2006 (running for state representative) Al White, state representative

Results

General election Endorsements

Results

Finances Campaigns Candidate (party) Raised Spent Cash on hand John Salazar (D) $1,335,166 $901,272 $464,754 Wayne Wolf (R) $21,704 $21,669 $33

Outside Spending Candidate (party) Supported Opposed John Salazar (D) $1,051 $0 Wayne Wolf (R) $0 $0

District 4

Incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, who had represented this conservative east Colorado-based district since 2003, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 45.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+9. Musgrave, a conservative known for her staunch opposition to gay marriage, won in 2006 by winning a plurality (46%) of the vote against Angie Paccione and a strong Reform Party challenge from Eric Eidsness, who managed to garner 11% of the vote. That, along with her 51% showing in 2004 despite George W. Bush winning 58% of the vote in this eastern Colorado district that includes the Fort Collins area, made her seem vulnerable in 2008.

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Marilyn Musgrave, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Shaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field. The Coloradoan Eidsness switched parties again, having switched from Republican to Reform Party the year prior, and became a Democrat, which could have fuelled a potential rematch with Musgrave in 2008. 2006 nominee Angie Paccione briefly launched a campaign as well, but left the race in September 2007.

Candidates Nominee Betsy Markey, businesswoman and regional director for Senator Ken Salazar

Withdrawn Eric Eidsness, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Water and Reform nominee for this seat in 2006 Angie Paccione, former state representative and nominee for this seat in 2006 Brandon Shaffer, state senator

Declined Bill Long, Bent County Commissioner Jim Riesberg, state representative

Results

General election Campaign Musgrave launched a negative advertisement, attacking Markey over the business of Syscom Systems, the data-processing equipment company run by Markey and her husband. The Musgrave ad was called "highly misleading" by a Denver television station that investigated the facts. On October 24, the National Republican Congressional Committee abandoned Marilyn Musgrave's 2008 re-election campaign, believing the race was lost. This decision was based solely on Musgrave's poor poll numbers.

Endorsements

Polling Poll sourceDate(s)administeredSamplesizeMargin of errorMarilynMusgrave (R)BetsyMarkey (D)Undecided SurveyUSA (Roll Call)SurveyUSA 4th August 22–24, 2008 618 (LV) ±4.0% 43% 50% 7%

Results After her defeat, Musgrave would not comment on the election results with the media, nor would she concede the race or contact Markey to congratulate her. She also did not thank her campaign staff for their efforts. She later recorded a robocall for Republican Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, saying that she was defeated by "leftist special interests" who "suppressed the truth with vicious attacks and lies."

Finances Campaigns Candidate (party) Raised Spent Cash on hand Marilyn Musgrave (R) $2,862,907 $2,869,703 $62,132Betsy Markey (D) $2,893,744 $2,872,153 $21,591

Outside Spending Candidate (party) Supported Opposed Marilyn Musgrave (R) $170,281 $1,505,831 Betsy Markey (D) $580,289 $897,027

District 5

Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn, who had represented this conservative district based in Colorado Springs and its suburbs district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 59.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+16.

Republican primary Campaign Lamborn had received bad press when two constituents accused him of making a threatening phone call in response to a critical letter they wrote.Colo Springs couple says got threatening call from congressman KJCT 8 News, September 2, 2007 He won against Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn, more moderate Republicans who had also run in 2006, in the Republican primary. In 2006, Lamborn had narrowly won a nasty multi-candidate primary with 27% of the vote, despite previous representative Joel Hefley's endorsement of Crank, citing Lamborn's "sleazy" campaign. Crank and Rayburn thus came to a gentleman's agreement - they would jointly conduct a poll of the primary, and whoever of the two of them was in third place would drop out and endorse the other, so as to have a better chance of defeating Lamborn. Rayburn came third in the poll, but he refused to drop out.

Candidates Nominee Doug Lamborn, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary Jeff Crank, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce vice president and candidate for this seat in 2006 Bentley Rayburn, United States Air Force Major General and candidate for this seat in 2006

Endorsements

Results

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Hal Bidlack, retired United States Air Force Lieutenant colonel and National Security Council aide

Declined John Morse, state senator

Results

General election Endorsements

Results Amid worries of vulnerability, Lamborn won the general election by a 59%-41% margin, becoming the highest vote getter for a GOP Congressional candidate in the state in the 2008 cycle.

Finances Campaigns Candidate (party) Raised Spent Cash on hand Doug Lamborn (R) $611,755 $593,491 $46,469 Hal Bidlack (D) $241,725 $240,738 $986 Brian Scott (C) Unreported

Outside Spending Candidate (party) Supported Opposed Doug Lamborn (R) $13,573 $0 Hal Bidlack (D) $0 $0 Brian Scott (C) $0 $0

District 6

Incumbent Republican Tom Tancredo, who had represented this solidly conservative district based in the Denver suburbs since 1999, retired in order to run for President. He was re-elected with 58.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+10.

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

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