FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet faces a challenge from Republican challenger and business owner Joe O'Dea for one of Colorado's two U.S. Senate seats.
The two debated Friday night at Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the sixth and final 9NEWS debate for the 2022 elections.
Bennet, the senior U.S. senator from Colorado, has held the seat since 2009. In his reelection run in 2016, Bennet received more votes than any other Democrat in a statewide race in Colorado history.
O'Dea is a self-proclaimed "political outsider" and CEO of a Colorado construction company that he founded 30 years ago. He previously worked as a union carpenter.
The full debate is in the video above.
Below: Here are the questions and answers from the debate.
Inflation effects on the poorest parts of Colorado
Question: The 10 counties in Colorado experiencing persistent poverty are in the southern part of our state. That’s where the median household income is less than $38,000. Food pantries are reporting unprecedented demand. How do we reverse inflation for those who cannot make ends meet?
O’Dea: “It starts with the reckless spending that we've seen by Bennet, Biden. Over the course of the last two years, $1.9 trillion dumped into the market in a rescue plan. Michael Bennet. He doesn't get any results. He dumped $1.9 trillion into our economy that’s caused record inflation. Compound that with a war on energy, fully backed by Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, that's caused record inflation on gas and diesel prices, directly reflected in the fertilizer price that's caused this record inflation.”
Bennet: “The families that we're talking about in the San Luis Valley and on the Eastern Plains of Colorado, and the counties that you listed, are among the poorest counties in our state. And I've been fighting very hard since the time I got to Washington to try to move away from the trickle-down economics that Joe O’Dea supports so strongly and instead try to do something for working people. My child tax, for example, last year would have meant that every one of those receiving $450 a month right now to pay for groceries, to pay the rent, to be able to buy school clothes for their kids.”
Inflation Reduction Act
Question: Mr. Bennet, you voted for President Biden’s so-called inflation reduction. That plan is aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, expanding the clean energy economy and lowering health care costs. The Inflation Reduction Act will not, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, reduce inflation in any meaningful way. Did Democrats mislead Americans by calling it that, and do you have any concerns that the plan is spending will actually make inflation worse?
Bennet: “I don't think we misled the American people, and I don’t think the spending will make it worse. Unlike the Trump tax cut, this bill was actually paid for. It would cap drug prices for seniors at $2,000 in Colorado. It would require Medicare for the first time in American history to negotiate drug prices on behalf of the American people. And it caps insulin at $35 a month. Joe O’Dea says there's nothing like in that bill. I think there are a lot of Coloradans, especially seniors, that are going to find a lot to like in this bill.”
Prescription drug prices
Question: Mr. Bennet, you focus a lot on that answer of the Inflation Reduction Act on prescription drug prices covered by Medicare. That's about one in 10 Coloradans. More than half of Coloradans are covered by private insurance, not Medicare. So perhaps this is a selfish question. But where's the help for people not on Medicare?
Bennet: “Well, I think that we should pass my Medicare X bill with President Biden that would give every American and ever Coloradan the chance to choose whether they want to stay on their private insurance or go on a public option administered by Medicare. In rural parts of our state, especially where there is no competition among the private health care providers and rates continue to rise, I think it's very important for us to have that public option. It gives people choice.”
Government spending
Question: Mr. O’Dea, you said on talk radio that there's going to be a reduction in benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare. You said that Sen. Bennet’s spending on government programs has created dependency. Yet you’ve said that the construction spending, the government spending that you benefited from, like those construction contracts that helped you build your personal wealth or opportunity. Why is government spending the benefits you opportunity, and government spending that benefits other Coloradans dependency?
O’Dea: “That's not what I said. What I said was I will not touch Social Security for Medicare, Medicaid. What I said is that Michael Bennet's reckless spending with Joe Biden has put those types of programs at risk. Michael Bennet doesn't get it done. He gets no results. One bill, 13 years that he's been present. The only thing he's been consistent on is voting with his president 98% of the time.”
Question: Why is government spending that benefits you and your personal fortune opportunity, but government spending that helps other people, you call that dependency?
O’Dea: “When we pay people to sit on the couch at home? That's dependency. When we pay people to invest in our transportation system, in our water storage systems, in our economy, in our energy. Those are assets that we’re growing. I don't want to leave my house with a leaky roof to the kids. We need to invest in America. You put people to work, and they benefit from that.”
Bennet: “I think it’s so insulting, Coloradans need to get off the couch. People in this economy, with this inflation, are killing themselves. The problem is not that people need to get off the couch in Colorado. I can't think of a more egregious deficit spending than the Trump tax cuts, 50% of which went to the top 5%, at a time when our income inequality is as bad as it’s been since the 1920s. And that's what he wants to go back to Washington to make permanent. That's not going to make working people's lives better.”
O’Dea: “You just voted for the Inflation Reduction Act that even Bernie Sanders says doesn't reduce inflation whatsoever. In addition to that, it grows a bureaucracy by 87,000, 40,000 people, whatever you want to call it. $80 billion. That's going to shake down working Americans. That's a tax.”
Bennet: “He said I've only passed one bill since I’ve been there. That's completely untrue. This has been fact-checked. I've written 101 bills that have passed, 82 of those with a Republican co-sponsor, and that's just the ones that I've written, not the one that I've co-sponsored or the ones that I've worked on.”
Fentanyl crisis
Question: The fentanyl crisis is spiraling out of control. This pernicious poison is killing our children. One of the children who died was only 15 years old. His mother Christina said if she could exchange her life for his she would do it in a heartbeat. If Christina were here tonight to ask you, what concrete steps would you take if returned to Congress, so that no other mother would have to lose her son?
Bennet: “We all know people who have suffered because of this poison. I think we have to push back much harder, to prevent China from sending its precursor chemicals to Mexico. We have to push much harder on Mexico to make sure that they will actually do something about gangs in northeastern Mexico that are producing this poison. We need to make sure that we strengthen our border and support law enforcement. For people that are afflicted by opioid addictions in this state, we need to make sure that they have the chances they're going through the criminal justice system to get better, to get well.”
O’Dea: “Michael Bennet has been in the Senate for 13 years and had every opportunity to secure this border. It’s still not secure. When I talk to the cops up here, they're doing all they can for fentanyl overdose here in town. They need help with securing the border. When I went down there this last week, they're asking for a wall. You know why? Because they're exhausted. They want us to close and secure this border. That's where the fentanyl is coming from. It's coming straight up I-25. This has got to get solved. My first bill that I will run will be directed at securing this border, given the DACA kids there just so they have citizenship and reinvigorating our immigration system.”
Abortion rights
Question: Mr. Bennet, you support Colorado's abortion on-demand law, which allows abortion up to birth and goes far beyond what polls show the majority of Americans believe should be legal. Would you like to see a national standard like Colorado's, or should individual states be able to restrict abortion to certain points and why?
Bennet: “Colorado has rejected abortion bans over and over again. Only 1% of the abortions in our state, in this country, are late-term abortions, and they’re the worst circumstances a mother could have, where she's carrying the baby term. She's expecting the child to be there, and for medically horrific reasons, she's having to have an abortion. That's 1%, and I don't think Joe O’Dea should be in that hospital room. I don’t think any politician should. I trust Colorado’s mothers and women. I trust America's mothers and women.”
Question: Mr. O’Dea, you signed a petition to get a 22-week abortion ban on the ballot in Colorado and voted for it. The only exception would have been the life of the mother. You now say you would support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks with exceptions for rape and incest, in addition to the health of the mother. You said you wanted to go to the Senate to “bring balance to women's rights.” What exactly did you mean by that statement?
O’Dea: “I’ve been consistent. I can't vote for late term abortion. I believe women's health rights are paramount. I would support a woman's right to choose up to including five months. That decision should be between her and her doctor. After that, for the exceptions of rape, incest, life of the mother. That too should be between a woman and her doctor. Michael Bennet, on the other hand, he has voted for abortion up to and including the moment of birth. He wants to use taxpayer funding to pay for it.”
Gun rights and gun control
Question: We’ve partnered in this debate with CLLARO, the Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy and Research Organization, to spotlight issues of particular concern to Colorado’s Latino communities. Recent polling by the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda found 83% of the Latinos surveyed are concerned their child could be the victim of a mass shooting. The survey found strong support for a series of gun control measures – I'm going to ask you about each as a yes or no question – then you’ll have a minute at the end to discuss your overall philosophy on the gun rights and gun control. 85% of Colorado Latinos surveyed would support universal background checks for all firearm sales, as Colorado already has. Do you support that at the federal level?
Bennet: "I would, yes."
O’Dea: "I do."
Question: 75% of Colorado Latinos surveyed would support increasing the legal age to purchase a so-called assault weapon from 18 to 21. Eighteen is currently the law in Colorado. Would you support a federal law requiring purchasers of so-called assault rifles be 21?
O’Dea: "I would not, no more laws."
Bennet: "Yes."
Question: 75% of Colorado Latinos surveyed would support a 10-day waiting period to purchase a firearm. Colorado does not have a waiting period. Would you support a federal 10 day waiting period to buy a gun?
Bennet: "No."
O’Dea: "No."
Question: 66% of Colorado Latinos surveyed would support a ban on the sale of so-called assault rifles. Eight states and the District of Columbia have some form of assault weapon bans, but not Colorado. Would you support a federal ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons?
O’Dea: "I do not."
Bennet: "I think we’ve made enough of these weapons of war in this country."
Bennet on Biden
Question: Mr. Bennet, your opponent has described you as a rubber stamp for President Biden. You’ve said that’s not true. Could you provide voters with an example of when you believe President Biden has made a serious mistake and how you’ve gone about opposing that decision?
Bennet: "I think he made a serious mistake going to Saudi Arabia, and I said before he went there that he shouldn’t go to Saudi Arabia. I also think he made a serious mistake lifting Title 42, and I said before he did that he shouldn't do it. I think he made a mistake when he almost killed Colorado's solar industry, and I led the fight to save Colorado’s solar industry. So those are just some examples of where we've disagreed, and I'm sure we'll continue to have our disagreements."
Question: Mr. Bennet, you’ve said you have no concerns about President Biden’s mental and physical ability to do the job for another six years if he decides he wants to run again in 2024. He’ll be 80 in November, and there are Democrats openly sharing their concerns. If you did develop concerns about Biden's mental or physical fitness, would you say so publicly?
Bennet: "Absolutely, yes."
Bucking party
Question: Mr. O’Dea, you have said that you will buck party, and you've said that you will be the Republican Joe Manchin in the Senate. You certainly disagree with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on some issues. There are also issues that McConnell has not showing real appetite on bringing up for votes like abortion and gay marriage. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, he's become this powerful centrist in the Senate because he blocks his party on bigtime priorities. Which of Mitch McConnell's bigtime priorities, are you ready to block?
O’Dea: “I've said all along that I believe Obamacare, the pieces that are left, should be left in place right now. My employees want preexisting conditions as part of any insurance program going forward. I don't know what's going to come up in the U.S. Senate, but I do know is that I'm going to be Colorado’s senator. I'm not going to be a rubber stamp for Joe Biden 98% of the time. I’m going to make sure that whatever we put through the U.S. Senate is going to be good for Colorado.”
Question: Do you stand by what you've said previously, that you'll still vote for Trump if he's the 2024 Republican nominee?
O’Dea: “I said what I said. I’m a contractor, not a politician.”
Bennet's question to O'Dea
Bennet to O’Dea: You voted for Donald Trump twice. After the children were separated from their parents at the border. After he said, Trump said, that there were good people both sides in Charlottesville. When he covered up for the Saudis when Khashoggi was killed, a journalist living America. Blew massive holes in the deficit to give rich people taxes cuts...Three weeks before the general election in Colorado, Joe you changed your mind and said you’re gonna work against him. What changed during this general election?
O’Dea: "I started thinking about Joe Biden serving another four years and you serving in another six years. And I gotta tell you, it's terrifying. Our economy can't take another six years of a rubberstamp for a spender that just blesses everything that comes across his desk, spends money hand over fist. That's terrifying to me, our economy can't take that. Working Americans here need a voice. I'll be the voice of reason that says, you know what, we need to be disciplined. We need to do what's right for Colorado instead of just hanging with my party 98% of the time, that's the problem. We can't take any more of these Democratic policies that have led to record inflation, record crime, record price on gas, record price on diesel, that's what we're faced with. We can't have that happen again."
O'Dea's question to Bennet
O’Dea to Bennet: We've seen $5 trillion go into the market here in the last two years. And some Democrats have said they regret all of the spending. Do you regret this spending?
Bennet: "I regret the fact that we're facing the inflation that we’re facing because the economy recovered at once globally. And we're having to deal with the effects of that because of the broken supply chain is all over world. And because of the cost of energy that we're having to deal with … and my answer to your question is I regret the inflation that people are facing."
Claims of Google interference
Question: Mr. O’Dea, you have made a serious allegation that the world's second-largest tech company is interfering in this election to defeat you and to elect your opponent. You said that Google has pulled your ads to support Sen. Bennet. You've provided zero evidence that that's true. Our investigation of your publicly available Google ads library also found zero evidence that's true. Yet you continue to claim it in ads running today. You've made this allegation about a company that you would be in a position to regulate if you go to Congress. So tonight, what is your specific evidence that Google has pulled your ads to interfere in this election?
O’Dea: “They stopped my ads on abortion and how it was Googled for two weeks during our campaign. I stand by my decision. That's exactly what took place. You can go do your investigation. I find it kind of interesting that Senator Bennet can spend $30 million, he and the PACs, trashing Joe O’Dea, trashing my business, all lies.”
Question: You have run Google ads without a single day of interruption since April 14.
O’Dea: “That's not true.”
Canceling student loan debt
Question: Mr. Bennet, in 2019 you said that canceling student loan debt was a bad mistake. You said it was unfair to people who just paid off their debt. When President Biden went ahead and did that, you said that he should have further targeted the relief, but you didn't come out and oppose the decision to cancel that student loan debt. Was the President right to forgive that student loan debt?
Bennet: “I don't think he should have done it the way he did it. I said that before, I said after. I think that they did make it more targeted than originally, but it wasn't nearly what I thought they should do, which was do it for the people that needed it the most. The poorest people who have that debt, and not go above median income.”
O’Dea: “You’ve been on both directions on student loan debt, retirement transfer. I gotta tell you, the guys that worked for me, working Americans, they don't want to pay somebody else's tuition. They don't.”
IRS and border security
Question: You’ve called for the defunding of tax law enforcement agents. You’ve said rather than hire new IRS agents to close the $381 billion a year gap between what the wealthiest Americans owe in taxes and what they pay – that the money should go to border security instead. Why not do both? Have the wealthiest Americans pay what they owe in taxes – and use that money to fund border security? That way you’d have a lot more money for border security.
O’Dea: "It just seems interesting to me that that's not directed at the wealthiest Americans. If you're directing that at the wealthiest Americans it's the upper 1%. You don't need 87,000 IRS agents to go after the upper 1%. What they're really doing is going after working Americans. These are nurses, these are doctors these are lawyers. These are people that work in the restaurant business that have tips, that have to report it. These are small businesses, these are painters. These are people that are trying to make a living, and the Democratic Party had every right to make sure that like Mike Crapo’s bill that would have prevented anybody from getting audited under 400,000, But Michael Bennet voted against that. He's ineffective. One bill, 13 years, no results. That's where we're at. We need somebody, we can do better here in Colorado."
Pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients
Question: Mr. O’Dea, would you vote yes or no on a narrow legislation that provides a path to citizenship to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients but which does not include any other immigration provision, such as beefing up the border again?
O’Dea: “No, we need a comprehensive bill. We need one that secures the border, which includes putting up a barrier to give working sheriffs, Border Patrol, a break down there. In that same bill, I would support legislation that would include DACA recipients getting their citizenship. In addition to that, we need to streamline our immigration system. It needs to be predictable.”
Question: Mr. Bennet, some in your party insist any legislation that this question must include a broader population than DACA recipients. If a narrow proposal is before you that provides a path to citizenship to only DACA recipients, would you vote yes or no?
Bennet: “Yes. There's bipartisan support for that, I will be able to get it done. With the immigration bill in 2013, we had a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people. We had the most aggressive Dream Act that had ever been written. We dealt with the visa issues that I know have been a huge pain point for Joe O’Dea’s business and for agriculture all over Colorado. And we had $40 billion for border security in it. But you know what? We weren't taxing people to pay for that border security. That was paid for by immigration fees. I think that'd be a lot better way of doing it.”
Space Command
Question: The decision to move U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, AL, could cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars from the local economy. A final decision is due to be released this fall -- just as rogue nations are posing real threats to our national security. What new tactics could you bring to the table to ensure Space Command stays in Colorado?
Bennet: "I think that we don't need new tactics, I think we need to make the case that our national security depend on Space Command staying here. That division in Ukraine makes that even more clearly true, and we need to show the current administration how corrupt the Trump administration was when they made that horrible political decision to punish Colorado for the benefit of Alabama. And I believe in the end our argument is so compelling on national security grounds that we're going to be able to get this over finish line."
Question: And what are those arguments?
Bennet: "Those arguments are that it's going to cost a gazillion dollars to move it to Alabama. Those arguments are that it’s going to be stood up much more quickly here than in Alabama. Those arguments are that the people that work at Space Command half of whom are civilians, don't want to move from Colorado to Alabama, and I can assure you, they don't want to move to Alabama when Alabama has banned abortion and Colorado has codified a woman’s right to choose. … I'm making that argument to every level of the White House, every level of the Department of Defense. I have led the congressional delegation in making this argument and I think we will succeed."
O’Dea: "Well, this is the difference between the contractor and the politician. When I'm in the U.S. Senate, I’m going to use my seat. I want to use my seat like Joe Manchin has used his seat to get good things for West Virginia. He may not have gotten his permits approved, but he got pipeline into West Virginia. All Michael Bennet had to do was say, you know what? I'm gonna hold up this appointment. I'm gonna hold up this bill. I'm gonna hold up that bill because 50 is what the count is and they needed every vote. And I would use my seat to make sure that we keep Space Command here in Colorado. It's that important. And instead of doing a photo shoot over a Camp Hale, what I would have done is I would have drug the president through Colorado Springs and I would have showed him how important that is to Colorado Springs’s economy, how important it is to save over a billion dollars by leaving it here, how important it is for our residents of Colorado to stay here in Colorado. … I know what’s not effective, and that’s talking about it."
Blind trust funds in Congress
O’Dea: Mr. Bennet, you have championed a law that would make all Congress senators put their funds into a blind trust. And yet your funds are not in a blind trust. In fact, your investment portfolio made an investment that happened to make money on the collapse of the Puerto Rican economy. Can you explain that?
Bennet: “Sure. And you might want to listen or take some notes on this because you're worth $80 million, and you may want to know that if you get to the Senate. The reason it's not a blind trust is that every year we are required to publicly disclose our investment status. That is the law of the Senate, and so I publicly disclose my investments as a result of that. I am one of the very few members of Congress that has my investments in a trust that is not administered by me. I don't make the investment decisions. I don't know what's in there until that public report comes out once a year, and I have absolutely no visibility into the investments that the funds themselves are making. The reason why I support the Stock Act is because I don't think I should be one of the only people in Congress who does that.”
Bennet asks O'Dea about the bills he's passed
Bennet: “Joe, your assertion that I’ve only passed one bill in the time that I’ve been in the Senate. You said it over and over again. It’s been fact-checked that it’s false over and over again. Tell me what that means to you.”
O’Dea: “Well, it just goes to your effectiveness. You’re ineffective. I gave you the answer. You’re ineffective.”
Bennet: “You’re a liar, Joe.”
O’Dea: “I'm telling the truth. You didn’t get Space Command. You get BLM leave Grand Junction. You helped your president with a war on energy.”
Bennet: “That’s not true, Joe.”
O’Dea: “Yes, it is. You stood right by him 98% of the time.”
Colorado River crisis
Question: When the federal government said the states that rely on water from the Colorado River must come up with a plan to cut between 2 and 4 million acre feet of water, Colorado’s response was, in effect, “it’s not our problem – the Lower Basin states need to do all of that cutting.” Do you agree with this position, and how exactly will you compel the states to come to the negotiating table?
O’Dea: "I think the part that’s really disingenuous is the compact is based on a fictitious amount of water. And so far, Colorado has done a phenomenal job working between both agriculture and the Metro over here, where a lot of the water is pushed from the western slope here to Fort Collins and on down Pueblo all the way. We've done a great job of working hard to make sure that we conserve as much water as we can. And…the reason that we've said hey, we can't do anymore. It's because we can't do anything. There's a few things that might tweak that by a few acre feet, but not in an area that can actually make a difference. California needs to step up and do more. They're doing absolutely nothing. What I have advocated for, they've got the Pacific Ocean right there that they can draw from and desalinization could help to solve a lot of issues for all of us here, in Colorado and the other states."
Bennet: "I literally agree with almost every word that Joe O’Dea just said…but I will use my time…because in the inflation Reduction Act, which he opposed, we were able to lead negotiator, I was able to lead a negotiation, to get $4 billion put in in that bill to begin to invest to find real, durable water saving hopefully most of the Joe, like you said from the Lower Basin."
Analysis on the debate
Fact checking the debate
9NEWS political debates
9NEWS has hosted six candidate debates ahead of the 2022 general election on Nov. 8. The full slate included four statewide races and the two most competitive congressional races.
All of the debates were livestreamed on 9NEWS.com, 9NEWS+ and the 9NEWS YouTube channel and are available to watch afterward on those platforms.
The full lineup of debates is below:
- Thursday, Oct. 13, live at 6:30 p.m. – 8th Congressional District – state Sen. Yadira Caraveo (D) and state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer (R) .
- Tuesday, Oct. 18, during Next with Kyle Clark at 6 p.m., full debate online – attorney general – John Kellner (R), district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, and incumbent Phil Weiser (D).
- Wednesday, Oct. 19, during Next with Kyle Clark at 6 p.m., full debate online – state treasurer – former state Rep. Lang Sias (R) and incumbent Dave Young (D).
- Friday, Oct. 21, during Next with Kyle Clark at 6 p.m., full debate online – 7th Congressional District – state Sen. Brittany Pettersen (D) and Erik Aadland (R).
- Monday, Oct. 24, during Next with Kyle Clark at 6 p.m., full debate online – secretary of state – Pam Anderson (R), former two-term Jefferson County clerk, and incumbent Jena Griswold (D).
- Friday, Oct. 28, live at 7 p.m. – U.S. Senate – Sen. Michael Bennet (D) and business owner Joe O’Dea (R).
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