KUSA — Colorado's 7th District, once believed to be a true toss-up district, has been leaning more and more Democratic in recent years, and 2018 is no exception. Incumbent Ed Perlmutter has beaten GOP challenger Mark Barrington to win his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Barrington was always a longshot candidate, and his sluggish fundraising totals certainly didn't help. According to campaign finance tracking website OpenSecrets, Perlmutter had outspent his opponent by $1.2 million. Barrington only raised $51,000 just a few weeks out from election day.
Perlmutter almost did not run for reelection. He briefly pondered a run for governor before backing out prior to Democratic primary vote in June. A longtime politician, Perlmutter has been a mainstay in Colorado politics for over 20 years.
He was first elected to the Colorado State Senate in 1995 and served until 2003. By 2006, he was ready to take the 7th District from GOP hands after incumbent Bob Beauprez stepped down to run for governor. He would go on to lose to Democrat Bill Ritter.
The district, first created after the 2000 census, covers most of the northern and western parts of the Denver suburbs. While it was originally more divided, the demographics have become more diverse, damaging GOP hopes in the 7th.
