DENVER — Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet defeated Republican challenger Joe O’Dea in Tuesday’s election to decide who will represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate, according to The Associated Press and NBC News.
"We won because we've told the truth from the beginning to the end of this election," Bennet said in his victory speech. "We said the same thing in red parts of the state, and blue parts of the state. In our primary and our general election we told the truth."
O'Dea called Bennet and congratulated him for winning reelection, saying Bennet won a hard-fought race. He asked Bennet to embrace some of the themes of O'Dea's campaign, particularly reaching across the aisle and immigration reform.
"He said, 'I hope you do what's right for the state of Colorado,' and I said, 'That's all I ever want to do," Bennet said.
Bennet, the senior U.S. senator from Colorado, has held the seat since 2009. Prior to his appointment, Bennet was the superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He also served as chief of staff to Sen. John Hickenlooper when the latter was Denver's mayor.
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.
O'Dea was in the news recently for firing back against criticism from former President Trump, who called him a Republican in name only (RINO) and said MAGA voters would not vote for him. This came after O'Dea said he would "actively campaign against" Trump in 2024.
The results are below (polls close at 7 p.m.):
Results are called by The Associated Press. Click here for more on how AP calls races.
In a 9NEWS debate last month, Bennet and O’Dea talked about their positions on several key issues in the 2022 Colorado elections including inflation, prescription drug prices, government spending, the fentanyl crisis, abortion rights gun rights and more.
Watch the full debate below:
Find all of our election coverage at 9news.com/elections.
Below are U.S. Senate race results across the country and the balance of power in that chamber:
RELATED: Bennet, O'Dea debate in race for Colorado Senate seat on inflation, border security, fentanyl
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