Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, viewed as one of the most vulnerable senators at the start of the electoral season, is a safe bet for re-election, says political analyst Larry Sabato, because “the GOP is just not very competitive in Colorado this year.” Similarly, Roll Call newspaper said Bennet, a member of the Agriculture Committee, “is now favored to retain his seat.”
Five other Agriculture members are running for re-election and are strong shape, suggesting no change in the committee line-up. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to be sure of control; four if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency.
In the weekly Sabato’s Crystal Ball newsletter, Sabato rated the Colorado race for Senate as Safe Democratic, compared to the previous Likely Democratic.
“Sen. Michael Bennet (D), a very close winner in 2010, should be able to run ahead of Clinton against an underfunded Republican opponent, El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, who national Republicans appear to have written off,” said Sabato. In an assessment that included the presidential campaign, he said, “Public and private polling, plus our own survey of key Democrats, Republicans, and independent journalists suggests that the GOP is not very competitive in Colorado this year.”
Roll Call said Colorado Republicans nominated “county commissioner Darryl Glenn, whose agenda and rhetoric could squander what Republicans once hoped was a rare opportunity this year to challenge a Democratic incumbent. Sen. Michael Bennet is now favored to retain his seat.” Bennet had months to build “a massive war chest” of campaign funds while Republicans fought over their nomination, said the Capitol Hill newspaper.
Bennet was superintendent of Denver public schools before appointment to the Senate in 2009 as the replacement for Ken Salazar, who was appointed Interior secretary. Bennet won election to a six-year term in 2010 with 48.1 percent of the vote in a seven-way race. Republican nominee Ken Buck was second with 46.5 percent.
The website FiveThirtyEight did not include Colorado in its list of the 10 states with the closest Senate races. All but one of the 10 states is represented by a Republican senator.