2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Shaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field. 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.
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.
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."
Colorado's 4th congressional district election, 2008
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. 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.
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.
Colorado's 5th congressional district election, 2008
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.
His seat was considered to be the most Republican-dominated district of the Denver-area seats and was also one of the wealthiest in the nation. Tancredo was the second highest vote getter for a Republican congressional candidate statewide in 2006, just behind Doug Lamborn in the 5th district. The district includes Columbine High School, which was devastated in a tragic 1999 school massacre.
Despite some minor controversies surrounding Mike Coffman and Colorado Ethics Watch, CQ Politics, The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report all forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.
Incumbent Democratic Ed Perlmutter, who had represented this suburban Denver district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 54.9% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+2. The district's voter registration was split, with independents constituting a slim plurality of 35% compared to Democrats (34%) and Republicans (31%).