DENVER | All of Colorado’s congressional incumbents retained their seats Tuesday, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, who cruised to easy victories in what were considered competitive seats.
Perlmutter’s victory over Republican Joe Coors, of the famous beer brewing family, in the 7th District cements his reputation as one of the toughest Democrats to beat in Colorado, even though his district surrounding the Denver suburbs once held one of the closets congressional races in the nation.
For Tipton, his defeat of Democratic state lawmaker Sal Pace in the 3rd District makes him a force to be reckoned with in a district that is the state’s largest and historically most competitive.
Republicans hold a 4-3 edge in the state’s House delegation.
Democrats had set their sights on Republican Rep. Mike Coffman in suburban Denver’s 6th District. State lawmaker Joe Miklosi challenged Coffman in a seat that always voted Republican but is now more competitive after redistricting and has a larger block of Hispanic voters in Aurora.
Coffman defeated Miklosi in a race that was called late Tuesday. Coffman won 49.5 percent to 44.4 percent.
The new map was the biggest coup for Democrats in the once-a-decade redistricting battle. The Denver district judge who accepted the map acknowledged the state’s changing demographics — Colorado is now one-fifth Latino. Unaffiliated voters remain the state’s largest voting bloc.
Perlmutter faced a vigorous challenge from Coors, who invested $3.1 million in his campaign. But since Perlmutter took office in 2006, in a seat that includes suburban Jefferson and Adams counties, he’s won re-election by margins of 10 points or more.
It was no different against Coors. Perlmutter won 53.2 percent to 41.6 percent.
Perlmutter’s district is one of three in which party registration is almost evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters. The other two are Coffman’s and Tipton’s, the state’s largest and historically most competitive.
Tipton’s district encompasses Pueblo, southern Colorado and the Western Slope. Tipton won 54.4 percent to 40.4 percent.
In the 4th District covering the Eastern Plains, freshman Republican Rep. Cory Gardner defeated state Senate President Brandon Shaffer. It’s a heavily Republican seat.
In the 2nd District, which includes Boulder and Larimer counties, Democratic Rep. Jared Polis faced Republican state Sen. Kevin Lundberg. The district favors Democrats.
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in Denver and Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn in Colorado Springs cruised to victory in their overwhelmingly Democratic and Republican districts, respectively.