COLORADO 9 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Colorado Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est.
 5,187,582
Total Registration, Nov. 1, 2012
 2,749,246 (active) >
Rep. 925,785 (33.67%)   Dem. 887,470 (32.28%)   Unaff. 900,490 (32.75%)    Lib. 19,585 (0.71%)   Grn. 7,197    ACN 5,702    other 3,017
Colorado has: 64 counties.
Counties over 500,000: El Paso, Denver, Arapahoe, Jefferson. >
Cities over 250,000: Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora. >

Government
Governor: John Hickenlooper (D) elected in 2010.
State Legislature: Colorado General Assembly   House: 65 seats  Senate: 35 seats
Local: Communities   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4R, 3D - 1. D.DeGette (D) | 2. J.Polis (D) | 3. S.Tipton (R) | 4. C.Gardner (R) | 5. D.Lamborn (R) | 6. M.Coffman (R) | 7. E.Perlmutter (D).
U.S. Senate: Mark Udall (D) elected in 2008, Michael Bennet (D) appointed Jan. 2009; elected in 2010.
2012
 U.S. House: Redistricting changed the lines and there were three competitive races, but voters returned the entire delegation.  The closest contest occured in the 6th CD (Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Cos.), where Rep. Mike Coffman (R) defeated state Rep. Joe Miklosi (D) by 47.8% to 45.8% and 5.4% to two other candidates (margin was 7,001 votes out of 342,914 cast).  In the 7th CD (Adams and Jefferson Cos.), Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D) defeated Joe Coors (R) by 53.5% to 40.8% and 5.6% to two other candidates.  In the 3rd CD (Western Colorado) freshman Rep. Scott Tipton (R) defeated state Rep. Sal Pace (D) by 53.4% to 41.1% and 5.6% to two other candidates.
State Legislature: Control was split going into the Nov. 6 elections; Democrats held the Senate (20D, 15R) while Republicans held the House by a one-seat margin (33R, 32D).  All 65 House seats and 18 of the 35 Senate seats were up.  Much attention and resources focused on Colorado House races.  Democrats gained control in the House to 37D, 28R and kept control in the Senate, 19D, 16R.
Ballot Measures: Voters approved Amendment 64, Use and Regulation of Marijuana, by 54.8% to 45.2%. By a wide margin they also approved Amendment 65, a non-binding measure on campaign finance.

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Secretary of State

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CO Democratic Party
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Denver Post
Media (Newsp.)
TV, Radio

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The Centennial State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 3,654,045.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 70.3%.

Voter Registration Deadline: October 9, 2012
Permanent Mail-in: Ballots may be sent to voters starting October 15, 2012 (22 days before the Election)
Early Voting at Early Voting Polling Places: October 22, 2012-November 2, 2012 (22 days before the Election)         full calendar [PDF]

-Mail-in Ballots: 2,158,867 mail in ballots were sent out and 1,868,867 mail-in ballots were received and accepted, including 633,024 Democratic and 656,650 Republican.
-Early Vote: 250,803 early vote ballots were cast, including 85,623 Democratic and 86,954 Republican.
Official Results >

 
Goode/Clymer (Const.) 6,234
 (0.24)
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
 1,323,101
(51.49)
Romney/Ryan (Rep.)
 1,185,243
 (46.13)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.) 35,545
 (1.38)
Stein/Honkala (Grn.) 7,508
 (0.29)
Anderson/Rodriguez (Jus.)
 1,262
 (0.05)
Barr/Sheehan (P&F)
 		5,057
 		(0.20)
Reed/Cary (Una.)
 		2,588
 		(0.10)
8 cands. w/ < 1,000 votes ea.
 2,978
 (0.12)
Total........2,569,516

 SOS

Alexander/Mendoza (SPU) 308  -  Harris/Kennedy (SWP) 192  -  Hoefling/Ellis (AMP) 679  -  La Riva/Ramirez (SLB) 317  -  Miller/Bertram (ATP) 267  -  Stevens/Link (Obj.) 235  -  Tittle/Turner (WTP) 791  -  White/Scherrer (SEP) 189.  Also note Randall Terry/Missy Reilly Smith secured 4 votes as write-in candidates, not included in above total.
 Overview: Colorado was very much a battleground state, and according to the United States Election Project at George Mason University, the state had the third highest turnout as a percentage of voting eligible population (after Minnesota and Wisconsin).  Obama's plurality was reduced to 137,858 votes (5.36 percentage points); he carried 27 counties to 37 for Romney-Ryan.
General Election Details
Obama  |  Romney
BALLOT [PDF]
[State Primary Election: June 26, 2012]
Republican Precinct Caucuses -- Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Democratic Precinct Caucuses -- Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Colorado Results Page
Democrats
Delegates


 Republicans
36 Delegates: 3 RNC; 12 at-large; 21 by CD (3 x 7).
1.57% of the 2,286 Delegates.

Official Results 
+Rick Santorum
 26,614
40.31%
Mitt Romney
 23,012
34.85%
Newt Gingrich
 8,445
12.79%
Ron Paul
 7,759
11.75%
Write In
 71
0.11%
Rick Perry
 52
 0.08%
Jon Huntsman
 46
 0.07%
Michele Bachmann
28
0.04%
Total
66,027

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 3,441,907.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 69.8%.

 Early voting: Begins at the early voters' polling place for the general election on Oct. 20, 2008 (15 days before the election) and runs through Oct. 31, 2008.
Mail-In Ballots Sent

   1,633,190

61.9%
Mail-In Ballots Rec'd    

1,339,065

50.8%
Early Voting Ballots Cast

365,215

13.8%
as a percent of 2,638,211 active reg. voters.

   MIB

EV
Dem.

376,716

111,859
Rep.

370,247

 95,622

Total Registration: 2,626,175 (active):  Rep. 892,791 (34.00%)   Dem. 902,444 (34.36%)   Unaff. 814,281 (31.01%)    Lib. 9,489 (0.36%)   Grn. 5,526 (0.21%)   ACN 1,461 (0.05%)  UPA 183
Registration deadline: Oct. 6, 2008 (no later than 29 days before the election).
Official Results >

McCain/Palin (Rep.)
 1,073,589
(44.71)
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
 1,288,576
 (53.66)
Baldwin/Castle (Const.)
 6,233
(0.26)
Barr/Root (Lib.)
 10,897
 		(0.45)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.)
 2,822
 		(0.12)
Allen/Stath (HQK)
 348
Amondson/Pletten (Pro.)
 85
Harris/Kennedy (SWP)
 		154
Jay/Sallis (BTP)
 598
Keyes/Rohrbough (AIP)
 3,051
 (0.13)
La Riva/Moses (SL)
 158
Lyttle/Bassford (USP)
 110
McEnulty/Mangan (Unaff.)
 828
Moore/Alexander (Soc.)
 226
Nader/Gonzalez (Unaff.)
 13,350
 (0.56)
Stevens/Link (Obj.)
 336
Total........2,401,361

16 candidates on the ballot. 		2008 Overview
In the battleground state of Colorado, the Obama-Biden ticket gained a plurality of 214,984 votes (8.95 percentage points), carrying 26 counties to 38 for McCain-Palin.
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader

The 2008 Democratic National Convention was held at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Aug. 25-28, 2008.
The 2008 Libertarian National Convention was held at the Sheraton Hotel (formerly the Adam's Mark) in Denver on May 22-26, 2008.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population: 3,192,647.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.7%.

Early voting at the early voters' polling place: Oct. 18-29, 2004.

According to unofficial statistics reported by county clerks and recorders 51,529 provisional ballots were cast, of which 39,086 were counted and 12,443 rejected.

Registration: Rep. 1,125,374 (36.13%)   Dem. 947,866 (30.43%)    Unaff. 1,028,886 (33.03%)   Others 12,440 (0.40%)  ...Total 3,114,566.
Registration Deadline: Oct. 4, 2004.
Official Results

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
1,101,255
(51.71)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.) 
1,001,732
 (47.04)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 7,664 (0.36)
Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.)  1,591
(0.07)
Nader/Camejo (CRP)
12,718
(0.60)
Peroutka/Baldwin (ACP)
2,562
(0.12)
Amondson/Pletten (COP)
378
(0.02)
Andress/Deasy (Un.)
804
(0.04)
Brown/Hollis (SP)
216
(0.01)
Dodge/Lydick (Prohib.)
140
(0.01)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)
241
(0.01)
Van Auken/Lawrence (SEP)
329
(0.02)
Total........2,129,630


2004 Overview
Democrats made a play for Colorado, and although the brothers Salazar picked up the open U.S. Senate and U.S. House seats, the Kerry-Edwards ticket fell short.  Bush achieved a plurality of 99,523 votes (4.67 percentage points).
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population: 3,026,316.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.5%.

Early voting ran from Oct. 23, 2000 (15 days before the election) to Nov. 3, 2000 (Friday before the election).

Registration: Rep. 1,022,019 (35.44%)   Dem. 863,740 (29.95%)   Lib. 4,378 (0.15%)   Grn. 3,237 (0.11%)   NLP 1,204 (0.04%)  Unaff. 989,370 (34.31)  ...Total 2,883,948.
Official Results

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
883,748
 (50.75)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
738,227
(42.39)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
12,799
(0.73)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
2,240
(0.13)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
91,434
(5.25)
Phillips/Frazier (Am.C.)
1,319
(0.08)
Buchanan/Foster (Un/Fr.)
10,465
 (0.60)
Dodge/Watkins (Prohib.)
208
(0.01)
Harris/Trowe (SWC)
216
(0.01)
McReynolds/Hollis (SP)
712
 (0.04)
Total........1,741,368


2000 Overview
Bush won Colorado with a plurality of 145,521 votes (8.36 percentage points) and carried 50 of the state's 63 counties. In contrast to 1996, when Colorado experienced a dogfight in the presidential race, the Gore camp did not target the state, making for a quiet general election campaign. During the post-convention period Colorado only merited one visit each from the running mates.  Ralph Nader made a couple of visits after the Greens convention in June (Sept. 8-10 and a final stop on Nov. 2), and his 5.25% proved to be one of his better showings.  Down-ticket there were various initiative campaigns, and Colorado Democrats managed to wrest control of the State Senate from the GOP, for their only legislative chamber pick-up in the country.
General Election Activity
1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992
Clinton (Dem.)........629,681
(40.13)
Bush (Rep.)............562,850
(35.87)
Perot (Ind.).............366,010
(23.32)
Others (2+w/ins).......10,639
(0.68)
Total........1,569,180

1996
Dole (Rep.).............691,848
(45.80)
Clinton (Dem.)........671,152
(44.43)
Perot (Ref.)..............99,629
(6.59)
Nader (Grn.).............25,070
(1.66)
Others (9)................23,005
(1.52)
Total........1,510,704
Archive Pages: 2008 | 2004 | 2000