2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

The 2008 congressional elections in Colorado were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the state of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011.

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado

← 2006 November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04) 2010 →
All 7 Colorado seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 4 seats, 54.12% 3 seats, 40.53% Seats before 4 3 Seats won 5 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,2599,768 990,870 Percentage 55.16% 43.38% Swing 1.04% 2.85%
District results County results Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

Colorado had seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and three Republicans. After the elections, it consisted of five Democrats and two Republicans. District 4 changed party (from Republican to Democratic), which was the only district CQ Politics had forecasted to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

The Primary election was held August 12, 2008.^[1]

Overview

Statewide

Party		Candidates	Votes[2][3]		Seats
			No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Democratic	7	1,259,768	55.16	5	1	71.43
	Republican	7	990,870	43.38	2	1	28.57
	Libertarian	1	12,136	0.61	0		0.0
	Green	1	10,031	0.50	0		0.0
	Constitution	1	8,894	0.44	0		0.0
	Unity	1	2,176	0.11	0		0.0
	Write-in	2	56	0.00	0		0.0
Total		20	2,283,931	100.0	7		100.0

Popular vote

Democratic			55.16%
Republican			43.38%
Libertarian			0.61%
Other			0.85%

House seats

Democratic			71.43%
Republican			28.57%

By district

Results of the 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado by district:

District	Democratic		Republican		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	203,755	71.94%	67,345	23.78%	12,146	4.29%	283,246	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 2	215,571	62.60%	116,591	33.86%	12,202	3.54%	344,364	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 3	203,455	61.61%	126,762	38.39%	0	0.00%	330,217	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 4	187,347	56.20%	146,028	43.80%	0	0.00%	333,375	100.0%	Democratic Gain
District 5	113,025	37.04%	183,178	60.03%	8,939	2.93%	305,142	100.0%	Republican hold
District 6	162,639	39.33%	250,877	60.67%	0	0.00%	413,516	100.0%	Republican hold
District 7	173,931	63.48%	100,055	36.52%	0	0.00%	273,986	100.0%	Democratic hold
Total	1,259,768	55.16%	990,870	43.38%	33,287	1.46%	2,283,846	100.0%

District 1

2008 Colorado's 1st congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Diana DeGette George Lilly Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 203,756 67,346 Percentage 71.9% 23.7%

County Results DeGette:      50-60%      70-80% Lilly:      60-70%

U.S. Representative before election Diana DeGette Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Diana DeGette Democratic

See also: Colorado's 1st congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette, who had represented this Denver based district since 1997, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 79.8% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+18.^[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Diana DeGette, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana DeGette (incumbent)	35,804	100.0
Total votes			35,804	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• George Lilly, sales and marketing representative, Constitution nominee for state representative in 2000 and for this seat in 2002 & 2004

Eliminated in primary

• Charles Crain

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Lilly	6,300	58.2
	Republican	Charles Crain	4,533	41.8
Total votes			10,833	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Diana DeGette (D)

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO^[5]

Organizations

• Citizens for Global Solutions^[6]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund^[7]

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

George Lilly (R)

Organizations

• Republican Liberty Caucus^[9]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe D	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe D	November 6, 2008

Results

Colorado's 1st congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana DeGette (incumbent)	203,756	71.9
	Republican	George Lilly	67,346	23.8
	Libertarian	Martin Buchanan	12,136	4.3
	Write-In	Gary Swing	11	0.0
Majority			136,410	48.2
Valid ballots			283,249	92.8
Invalid or blank votes			21,844	7.2
Turnout			305,093	88.7
Registered electors			343,812
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Diana DeGette (D)	$808,491	$925,776	$106,102
George Lilly (R)	$13,746	$14,060	$9
Martin Buchanan (L)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Diana DeGette (D)	$2,455	$0
George Lilly (R)	$0	$0
Martin Buchanan (L)	$0	$0

District 2

2008 Colorado's 2nd congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Jared Polis Scott Starin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 215,602 116,619 Percentage 62.6% 33.9%

County Results Polis:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Starin:      40-50%

U.S. Representative before election Mark Udall Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Jared Polis Democratic

See also: Colorado's 2nd congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Mark Udall, who had represented the district, centred around heavily Democratic Boulder, since 1999, ran for the Senate following the retirement of Senator Wayne Allard, leaving this an open seat. He was re-elected with 68.2% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+8.^[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jared Polis, Colorado Board of Education President

Eliminated in primary

• Joan Fitz-Gerald, former President of the Colorado Senate^[15][16]
• Will Shafroth, Colorado Conservation Trust Director

Declined

• Alice Madden, Majority Leader of the state house^[17]
• Ron Tupa, state senator
• Mark Udall, incumbent U.S. Representative

Endorsements

Joan Fitz-Gerald

Organizations

• EMILYs List

Will Shafroth

Newspapers

• Rocky Mountain News^[18]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Polis	20,493	41.7
	Democratic	Joan Fitz-Gerald	18,599	37.8
	Democratic	Will Shafroth	10,075	20.5
Total votes			49,167	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott Starin, aerospace engineer

Declined

• Tom Stone, former Eagle County Commissioner

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Starin	19,293	100.0
Total votes			19,293	100.0

Green primary

Candidates

Nominee

• J. A. Calhoun, nominee for this seat in 2006

Declined

• Mark Ruzzin, Mayor of Boulder

Unity primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Bill Hammons, founder and National Chairman of the Unity Party of America

General election

Endorsements

Jared Polis (D)

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO^[5]

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe D	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe D	November 6, 2008

Results

Colorado's 2nd congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Polis	215,602	62.6
	Republican	Scott Starin	116,619	33.9
	Green	J. A. Calhoun	10,031	2.9
	Unity	Bill Hammons	2,176	0.6
Majority			98,983	28.7
Valid ballots			344,428	93.5
Invalid or blank votes			23,805	6.5
Turnout			368,233	92.5
Registered electors			398,114
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Jared Polis (D)	$7,353,034	$7,323,502	$29,533
Scott Starin (R)	$88,757	$90,426	$24
J. A. Calhoun (G)	Unreported
William Hammons (U)	$22,467	$22,247	$164

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Jared Polis (D)	$0	$42,573
Scott Starin (R)	$4,768	$0
J. A. Calhoun (G)	$0	$0
William Hammons (U)	$0	$0

District 3

2008 Colorado's 3rd congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee John Salazar Wayne Wolf Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 203,457 126,762 Percentage 61.6% 38.4%

County results Precinct results Salazar:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%     80-90%      >90% Wolf:      50-60%     60-70%      70-80% Tie:      50-60%      No Votes

U.S. Representative before election John Salazar Democratic Elected U.S. Representative John Salazar Democratic

See also: Colorado's 3rd congressional district

Incumbent Democrat John Salazar, who had represented the conservative, west Colorado district since 2005, ran for re-election. He was re–elected with 61.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+6.^[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Salazar, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Salazar (incumbent)	22,192	100.0
Total votes			22,192	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Wayne Wolf, rancher and Delta County commissioner^[19]

Declined

• Josh Penry, state senator^[17]
• Ellen Roberts, state representative^[17]
• Scott Tipton, businessman and nominee for this seat in 2006 (running for state representative)^[17]
• Al White, state representative^[17]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Wolf	24,263	100.0
Total votes			24,263	100.0

General election

Endorsements

John Salazar (D)

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO^[5]

Organizations

• Blue Dog Coalition^[20]

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe D	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe D	November 6, 2008

Results

Colorado's 3rd congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Salazar (incumbent)	203,457	61.6
	Republican	Wayne Wolf	126,762	38.4
Majority			76,695	23.2
Valid ballots			330,219	96.4
Invalid or blank votes			12,248	3.6
Turnout			342,467	89.5
Registered electors			382,649
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
John Salazar (D)	$1,335,166	$901,272	$464,754
Wayne Wolf (R)	$21,704	$21,669	$33

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
John Salazar (D)	$1,051	$0
Wayne Wolf (R)	$0	$0

District 4

2008 Colorado's 4th congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Betsy Markey Marilyn Musgrave Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 187,348 146,030 Percentage 56.2% 43.8%

County results Precinct results Markey:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%     80-90% Musgrave:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      >90% Tie:      50-60%      No Votes

U.S. Representative before election Marilyn Musgrave Republican Elected U.S. Representative Betsy Markey Democratic

See also: Colorado's 4th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, who had represented this conservative east Colorado-based district since 2003, ran for re-election. She was re-elected with 45.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+9.^[4] Musgrave, a conservative known for her staunch opposition to gay marriage, won in 2006 by winning a plurality (46%) of the vote against Angie Paccione and a strong Reform Party challenge from Eric Eidsness, who managed to garner 11% of the vote. That, along with her 51% showing in 2004 despite George W. Bush winning 58% of the vote in this eastern Colorado district that includes the Fort Collins area, made her seem vulnerable in 2008.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Marilyn Musgrave, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	31,822	100.0
Total votes			31,822	100.0

Democratic primary

Democrats suffered a setback earlier when State Senator Brandon Shaffer suddenly dropped out, citing his party's failure to clear the field.^[21] Eidsness switched parties again, having switched from Republican to Reform Party the year prior, and became a Democrat, which could have fuelled a potential rematch with Musgrave in 2008. 2006 nominee Angie Paccione briefly launched a campaign as well, but left the race in September 2007.

Candidates

Nominee

• Betsy Markey, businesswoman and regional director for Senator Ken Salazar

Withdrawn

• Eric Eidsness, former EPA Assistant Administrator for Water and Reform nominee for this seat in 2006
• Angie Paccione, former state representative and nominee for this seat in 2006^[22]
• Brandon Shaffer, state senator^[23]

Declined

• Bill Long, Bent County Commissioner^[24][17]
• Jim Riesberg, state representative^[17]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betsy Markey	19,010	100.0
Total votes			19,010	100.0

General election

Campaign

Musgrave launched a negative advertisement, attacking Markey over the business of Syscom Systems, the data-processing equipment company run by Markey and her husband. The Musgrave ad was called "highly misleading" by a Denver television station that investigated the facts.^[25] On October 24, the National Republican Congressional Committee abandoned Marilyn Musgrave's 2008 re-election campaign, believing the race was lost. This decision was based solely on Musgrave's poor poll numbers.

Endorsements

Marilyn Musgrave (R)

Organizations

• Eagle Forum^[26]

Betsy Markey (D)

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO^[5]

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Red to Blue" Program^[27]
• EMILYs List^[28]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund^[7]

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Marilyn Musgrave (R)	Betsy Markey (D)	Undecided
SurveyUSA (Roll Call)[29]	August 22–24, 2008	618 (LV)	±4.0%	43%	50%	7%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Tossup	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Lean D (flip)	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Tossup	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2008

Results

After her defeat, Musgrave would not comment on the election results with the media, nor would she concede the race or contact Markey to congratulate her. She also did not thank her campaign staff for their efforts. She later recorded a robocall for Republican Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, saying that she was defeated by "leftist special interests" who "suppressed the truth with vicious attacks and lies."

Colorado's 4th congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betsy Markey	187,348	56.2
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	146,030	43.8
Majority			41,318	12.4
Valid ballots			333,378	95.3
Invalid or blank votes			16,565	4.7
Turnout			349,943	91.3
Registered electors			383,292
	Democratic gain from Republican

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Marilyn Musgrave (R)	$2,862,907	$2,869,703	$62,132
Betsy Markey (D)	$2,893,744	$2,872,153	$21,591

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Marilyn Musgrave (R)	$170,281	$1,505,831
Betsy Markey (D)	$580,289	$897,027

District 5

2008 Colorado's 5th congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Doug Lamborn Hal Bidlack Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 183,179 113,027 Percentage 60.0% 37.0%

County Results Lamborn:      50-60%      60-70% Bidlack:      50-60%

U.S. Representative before election Doug Lamborn Republican Elected U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn Republican

See also: Colorado's 5th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn, who had represented this conservative district based in Colorado Springs and its suburbs district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 59.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+16.^[4]

Republican primary

Campaign

Lamborn had received bad press when two constituents accused him of making a threatening phone call in response to a critical letter they wrote.^[30] He won against Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn, more moderate Republicans who had also run in 2006, in the Republican primary. In 2006, Lamborn had narrowly won a nasty multi-candidate primary with 27% of the vote, despite previous representative Joel Hefley's endorsement of Crank, citing Lamborn's "sleazy" campaign. Crank and Rayburn thus came to a gentleman's agreement - they would jointly conduct a poll of the primary, and whoever of the two of them was in third place would drop out and endorse the other, so as to have a better chance of defeating Lamborn. Rayburn came third in the poll, but he refused to drop out.^[31]

Candidates

Nominee

• Doug Lamborn, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Jeff Crank, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce vice president and candidate for this seat in 2006
• Bentley Rayburn, United States Air Force Major General and candidate for this seat in 2006

Endorsements

Jeff Crank

U.S. representatives

• Joel Hefley, U.S. representative from Colorado's 5th congressional district (1987–2007)

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Lamborn (incumbent)	24,995	44.0
	Republican	Jeff Crank	16,794	29.6
	Republican	Bentley Rayburn	14,986	26.4
Total votes			56,775	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Hal Bidlack, retired United States Air Force Lieutenant colonel and National Security Council aide

Declined

• John Morse, state senator^[17]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hal Bidlack	13,146	100.0
Total votes			13,146	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Doug Lamborn (R)

Organizations

• Eagle Forum^[26]

Hal Bidlack (D)

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe R	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe R	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe R	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe R	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe R	November 6, 2008

Results

Amid worries of vulnerability, Lamborn won the general election by a 59%-41% margin, becoming the highest vote getter for a GOP Congressional candidate in the state in the 2008 cycle.

Colorado's 5th congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Doug Lamborn (incumbent)	183,179	60.0
	Democratic	Hal Bidlack	113,027	37.0
	American Constitution	Brian Scott	8,894	2.9
	Write-In	Richard Hand	45	0.0
Majority			70,152	23.0
Valid ballots			305,145	93.7
Invalid or blank votes			20,371	6.3
Turnout			325,516	90.5
Registered electors			359,874
	Republican hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Doug Lamborn (R)	$611,755	$593,491	$46,469
Hal Bidlack (D)	$241,725	$240,738	$986
Brian Scott (C)	Unreported

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Doug Lamborn (R)	$13,573	$0
Hal Bidlack (D)	$0	$0
Brian Scott (C)	$0	$0

District 6

2008 Colorado's 6th congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Mike Coffman Hank Eng Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 250,877 162,641 Percentage 60.7% 39.3%

County results Precinct results Coffman:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Eng:      50-60%      60-70% Tie:      50-60%     No Votes

U.S. Representative before election Tom Tancredo Republican Elected U.S. Representative Mike Coffman Republican

See also: Colorado's 6th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Tom Tancredo, who had represented this solidly conservative district based in the Denver suburbs since 1999, retired in order to run for President. He was re-elected with 58.6% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of R+10.^[4]

His seat was considered to be the most Republican-dominated district of the Denver-area seats and was also one of the wealthiest in the nation. Tancredo was the second highest vote getter for a Republican congressional candidate statewide in 2006, just behind Doug Lamborn in the 5th district. The district includes Columbine High School, which was devastated in a tragic 1999 school massacre.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Coffman, Secretary of State of Colorado

Eliminated in primary

• Wil Armstrong, businessman and son of former senator William L. Armstrong (endorsed by the State GOP)
• Ted Harvey, state senator
• Steve Ward, state senator

Declined

• Frank McNulty, state representative^[17]
• Tom Tancredo, incumbent U.S. Representative
• Tom Wiens, state senator, nominee for Colorado State Treasurer in 1978 and candidate for the 3rd District in 1982^[17]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Coffman	28,509	40.1
	Republican	Wil Armstrong	23,213	32.7
	Republican	Ted Harvey	10,886	15.3
	Republican	Steve Ward	8,452	11.9
Total votes			71,060	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Hank Eng, aerospace engineer^[32][33]

Withdrawn

• Mike Collins, Vietnam veteran^[17]

Declined

• Dave Hnida, physician^[17]
• Joe Rice, state representative^[17]
• David Wasserman, physician^[17]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hank Eng	27,661	100.0
Total votes			27,661	100.0

General election

Campaign

Despite some minor controversies surrounding Mike Coffman and Colorado Ethics Watch, CQ Politics, The Cook Political Report and The Rothenberg Political Report all forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.^[34]

Endorsements

Mike Coffman (R)

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe R	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe R	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe R	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe R	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe R	November 6, 2008

Results

Colorado's 6th congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Coffman	250,877	60.7
	Democratic	Hank Eng	162,641	39.3
Majority			88,236	21.3
Valid ballots			413,518	94.0
Invalid or blank votes			26,527	6.0
Turnout			440,045	95.7
Registered electors			459,807
	Republican hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Mike Coffman (R)	$1,467,713	$1,304,685	$163,029
Hank Eng (D)	$273,696	$270,609	$3,084

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Mike Coffman (R)	$11,651	$0
Hank Eng (D)	$0	$0

District 7

2008 Colorado's 7th congressional district election

← 2006 2010 →

Nominee Ed Perlmutter John Lerew Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 173,937 100,057 Percentage 63.5% 36.5%

County results Precinct results Perlmutter:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Lerew:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Tie:      50-60%     No Votes

U.S. Representative before election Ed Perlmutter Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter Democratic

See also: Colorado's 7th congressional district

Incumbent Democratic Ed Perlmutter, who had represented this suburban Denver district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was elected with 54.9% of the vote in 2006 and the district had a PVI of D+2.^[4] The district's voter registration was split, with independents constituting a slim plurality of 35% compared to Democrats (34%) and Republicans (31%).

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ed Perlmutter, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	29,704	100.0
Total votes			29,704	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Lerew, founder of a financial planning center

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Lerew	25,155	100.0
Total votes			25,155	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Ed Perlmutter (D)

Labor unions

• AFL-CIO^[5]

Organizations

• Citizens for Global Solutions^[6]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund^[7]

Newspapers

• The Denver Post^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[10]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[11]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe D	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[13]	Safe D	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[14]	Safe D	November 6, 2008

Results

Colorado's 7th congressional district election, 2008^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	173,937	63.5
	Republican	John Lerew	100,057	36.5
Majority			73,880	27.0
Valid ballots			273,994	94.2
Invalid or blank votes			16,945	5.8
Turnout			290,939	92.5
Registered electors			314,642
	Democratic hold

Finances

Campaigns

Candidate (party)	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Ed Perlmutter (D)	$1,770,087	$1,228,238	$544,853
John Lerew (R)	$34,048	$34,048	$0

Outside Spending

Candidate (party)	Supported	Opposed
Ed Perlmutter (D)	$7,736	$0
John Lerew (R)	$10,861	$0

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear