Barack Obama Wins Colorado
Obama ended the Republican Party's decade-and-a-half hold on the American West
Breaking the Republican Party's decade-and-a-half hold on the American West, Sen. Barack Obama has handily won Colorado.
In capturing the state's nine electoral votes, Obama was buoyed by the support of the state's growing Hispanic population, as well as a significant political realignment rippling through the state.
In recent years, Colorado has trended Democratic—it has a popular Democratic governor and seems poised tonight to elect a second Democratic senator—and polls leading up to the election had given Obama a small but stable edge in the state.
Obama appears to have done slightly better than Sen. John Kerry in the rugged counties of western Colorado—traditional Republican strongholds. But his biggest sources of support, returns show, are voters in Denver and its northern suburbs (Boulder), whose ranks have swelled in recent years.
(Colorado's population jumped by more than 13 percent since 2000, with most of the growth clustering near Denver.)
Larimer County, which is north of Denver, went for Bush in 2004 by a 5-point margin. Tonight, with most of the county's results already in, Obama seems poised to capture the county by about 10 points.
Obama's strategic interest in Colorado has been evident in his frequent campaign trips to—and heavy investment in—the state this summer and fall. In September, he even made a campaign stop in the city of Grand Junction, on the far western side of the state near the Utah border. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate campaigned there, his name was Harry Truman.
Click here for complete election results.
Reader Comments
Change Is Here
I knocked on doors, made phone calls, knocked on more doors, and made more phone calls in North Carolina and we delivered just like many of the other states. Obama is a transformational character that many of us have never seen. People volunteered their time, cell phones, brought us food, and contributed in any way they could. I feel like this is OUR victory, not just his. His campaign headquarters here in Charlotte looks like a bag of skittles - a rainbow of people from every culture, young and old, and it was amazing to be a part of it. It's out with the old and in with the new. This nation and politics will never be the same!
GObama
I think attributing Obama's victory in CO to hispanic voters is inadequate, from what I've seen there has been a huge shift across all demographics. I'm from Colorado and I only know like 3 or 4 people who voted for McCain.
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