2020 Colorado Senate election

Not to be confused with 2020 United States Senate election in Colorado.

The 2020 Colorado Senate elections took place on November 3, 2020, with the primary elections held on June 30, 2020.^[1] Voters in 18 out of 35 districts of the state Senate elected their representative for a four-year term.^[2] It coincided with the state House elections and the biennial United States elections. The Democratic Party retained control of the Senate, winning 20 seats, and increased their majority by one, gaining the 27th district from the Republican Party.

2020 Colorado State Senate election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →
18 of the 35 seats in the Colorado Senate 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Leroy Garcia Chris Holbert Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat District 3 District 30 Seats before 19 16 Seats won 20 15 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 920,525 630,299 Percentage 57.81% 39.58% Seats up 10 8 Races won 11 7
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
President of the Senate before election Leroy Garcia Democratic Elected President of the Senate Leroy Garcia Democratic

Background

In the previous state Senate election (2018), the Democrats claimed control of the chamber from the Republicans, gaining two Republican seats and one independent (formerly Democratic senator) seat. That resulted in a 19-seat Democratic majority. Therefore, for Democrats to have lost their absolute majority in the Senate in this election, Republicans and other parties would have needed to gain at least two more seats.

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Term-limited incumbents

One Democratic and three Republican incumbents are term-limited and prohibited from seeking a consecutive third term.^[2]

• Owen Hill (R), District 10
• Vicki Marble (R), District 23
• Nancy Todd (D), District 28
• Larry Crowder (R), District 35

Retiring incumbents

• Mike Foote (D), District 17
• Jack Tate (R), District 27
• Angela Williams (D), District 33

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[3]	Likely D	October 21, 2020

Results

• Districts not shown would not be up for election until 2022.

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected	Party
4	Jim Smallwood		Rep	Jim Smallwood		Rep
8	Bob Rankin		Rep	Bob Rankin		Rep
10	Owen Hill		Rep	Larry Liston		Rep
12	Bob Gardner		Rep	Bob Gardner		Rep
14	Joann Ginal		Dem	Joann Ginal		Dem
17	Mike Foote		Dem	Sonya Jaquez Lewis		Dem
18	Steve Fenberg		Dem	Steve Fenberg		Dem
19	Rachel Zenzinger		Dem	Rachel Zenzinger		Dem
21	Dominick Moreno		Dem	Dominick Moreno		Dem
23	Vicki Marble		Rep	Barbara Kirkmeyer		Rep
25	Kevin Priola		Rep	Kevin Priola		Rep
26	Jeff Bridges		Dem	Jeff Bridges		Dem
27	Jack Tate		Rep	Chris Kolker		Dem
28	Nancy Todd		Dem	Janet Buckner		Dem
29	Rhonda Fields		Dem	Rhonda Fields		Dem
31	Chris Hansen		Dem	Chris Hansen		Dem
33	Angela Williams		Dem	James Coleman		Dem
35	Larry Crowder		Rep	Cleave Simpson Jr.		Rep

Bold - Gain
Italics - Hold, new member

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 8, 1.16%
2. District 25, 1.68%

Detailed results

District 4 • 8 • 10 • 12 • 14 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 21 • 23 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 31 • 33 • 35

District 4

4th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elissa Flaumenhaft	19,997	100.0
Total votes			19,997	100.0

4th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Smallwood (incumbent)	26,061	100.0
Total votes			26,061	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 4th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Smallwood (incumbent)	73,832	62.27
	Democratic	Elissa Flaumenhaft	41,526	35.02
	Libertarian	Wayne Harlos	3,208	2.71
Total votes			118,566	100.0
	Republican hold

District 8

8th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karl Hanlon	10,847	55.82
	Democratic	Arn Menconi	8,584	44.18
Total votes			19,431	100.0

8th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Rankin (incumbent)	11,805	63.20
	Republican	Debra Irvine	6,873	36.80
Total votes			18,678	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 8th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Rankin (incumbent)	42,701	50.58
	Democratic	Karl Hanlon	41,717	49.42
Total votes			84,418	100.0
	Republican hold

District 10

10th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Randi McCallian	14,822	100.0
Total votes			14,822	100.0

10th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Liston	20,258	100.0
Total votes			20,258	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 10th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Liston	47,463	56.37
	Democratic	Randi McCallian	32,114	38.14
	Libertarian	Heather Johnson	4,620	5.49
Total votes			84,197	100.0
	Republican hold

District 12

12th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Electra Johnson	13,355	100.0
Total votes			13,355	100.0

12th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Gardner (incumbent)	17,947	100.0
Total votes			17,947	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 12th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Gardner (incumbent)	45,808	58.35
	Democratic	Electra Johnson	29,656	37.77
	Libertarian	Zechariah L. Harris	3,048	3.88
Total votes			78,512	100.0
	Republican hold

District 14

14th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joann Ginal (incumbent)	29,452	100.0
Total votes			29,452	100.0

14th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hans D. Hochheimer	10,555	100.0
Total votes			10,555	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 14th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joann Ginal (incumbent)	63,409	66.65
	Republican	Hans D. Hochheimer	31,724	33.35
Total votes			95,133	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 17

17th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sonya Jaquez Lewis	36,163	100.0
Total votes			36,163	100.0

17th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matthew D. Menza	10,009	100.0
Total votes			10,009	100.0

17th District general election, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sonya Jaquez Lewis	65,226	67.89
	Republican	Matthew D. Menza	30,848	32.11
Total votes			96,074	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 18

18th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Fenberg (incumbent)	40,036	100.0
Total votes			40,036	100.0

18th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Peg Cage	4,673	100.0
Total votes			4,673	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 18th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Fenberg (incumbent)	75,261	82.90
	Republican	Peg Cage	15,524	17.10
Total votes			90,785	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 19

19th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rachel Zenzinger (incumbent)	27,598	100.0
Total votes			27,598	100.0

19th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lynn Gerber	13,926	100.0
Total votes			13,926	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 19th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rachel Zenzinger (incumbent)	54,694	59.17
	Republican	Lynn Gerber	37,740	40.83
Total votes			92,434	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 21

21st District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dominick Moreno (incumbent)	16,154	100.0
Total votes			16,154	100.0

21st District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Martín Mendez	6,320	100.0
Total votes			6,320	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 21st District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dominick Moreno (incumbent)	41,438	63.55
	Republican	Martín Mendez	23,769	36.45
Total votes			65,207	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 23

23rd District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sally Boccella	16,649	55.60
	Democratic	Galina Nicoll	13,295	44.40
Total votes			29,944	100.0

23rd District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Kirkmeyer	15,209	55.24
	Republican	Rupert Parchment	12,326	44.76
Total votes			27,535	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 23rd District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Kirkmeyer	71,570	55.14
	Democratic	Sally Boccella	58,227	44.86
Total votes			129,797	100.0
	Republican hold

District 25

25th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paula Dickerson	15,477	100.0
Total votes			15,477	100.0

25th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Priola (incumbent)	11,135	100.0
Total votes			11,135	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 25th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Priola (incumbent)	37,195	50.84
	Democratic	Paula Dickerson	35,968	49.16
Total votes			73,163	100.0
	Republican hold

District 26

26th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Bridges (incumbent)	27,578	100.0
Total votes			27,578	100.0

26th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Roth	12,142	100.0
Total votes			12,142	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 26th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Bridges (incumbent)	54,275	60.56
	Republican	Bob Roth	32,984	36.80
	Libertarian	Marc Solomon	2,366	2.64
Total votes			89,625	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 27

27th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Kolker	26,173	100.0
Total votes			26,173	100.0

27th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Suzanne Staiert	14,638	100.0
Total votes			14,638	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 27th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Kolker	51,005	55.30
	Republican	Suzanne Staiert	41,222	44.70
Total votes			92,227	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 28

28th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janet Buckner	24,483	100.0
Total votes			24,483	100.0

28th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Karl Stecher	11,157	100.0
Total votes			11,157	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 28th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janet Buckner	51,028	61.92
	Republican	Karl Stecher	31,387	38.08
Total votes			82,415	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 29

29th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rhonda Fields (incumbent)	20,226	100.0
Total votes			20,226	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 29th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rhonda Fields (incumbent)	45,828	68.66
	Libertarian	Michele Poague	20,914	31.34
Total votes			66,742	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 31

31st District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Hansen (incumbent)	24,439	52.72
	Democratic	Maria E. Orms	21,916	47.28
Total votes			46,355	100.0

31st District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Townsend	6,762	100.0
Total votes			6,762	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 31st District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Hansen (incumbent)	74,288	76.70
	Republican	Doug Townsend	22,562	23.30
Total votes			96,850	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 33

33rd District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Coleman	40,537	100.0
Total votes			40,537	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 33rd District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Coleman	75,702	91.01
	Unity	Jerry Burton	7,482	8.99
Total votes			83,184	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

35th District Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carlos R. Lopez	15,609	100.0
Total votes			15,609	100.0

35th District Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cleave Simpson	17,504	100.0
Total votes			17,504	100.0

2020 Colorado Senate election, 35th District

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cleave Simpson	43,970	60.12
	Democratic	Carlos R. Lopez	29,163	39.88
Total votes			73,133	100.0
	Republican hold