Democratic Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino suggested that early returns favoring Republicans across the board in top-line races across the state wouldn’t necessarily tell the whole story.
At 8 p.m. on election night, he rightly predicted incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper would stave off a challenge from GOP challenger Bob Beauprez, and that Democrats would retain both chambers of the state legislature.
But he was less optimistic about the fate of U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, who fought a narrowly contested campaign with Republican Congressman Cory Gardner.
Farrandino posited that the climate nationally — and Udall’s close political allegiance to an unpopular President Barack Obama — may be too much to overcome.
“He’s got the toughest challenge,” Ferrandino said of Udall. “They have equated him with Washington, and there’s a lot of frustration among people about Washington. I think Mark is frustrated, too, and he has fought against Washington.”
Shortly after Ferrandino’s comments, Fox News called race for Gardner, although that was based on early returns and exit polling.
