Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) is maintaining his lead over Republican challenger Joe O’Dea in a fresh poll as he looks to survive a building red electoral wave ahead of the midterm elections.
The Emerson College poll showed Bennet leading O’Dea, a construction company owner, 49% to 42%, with just 5% undecided. Even better for the incumbent Democrat, his lead over O’Dea jumps to 51% to 43% when undecided voters are pushed to pick from the two candidates. The results are not necessarily surprising: Colorado has evolved into a blue state since 2004, the last time Republicans won a presidential election there.
“Men are evenly split between Bennet and O’Dea with 45% apiece. However, women voters drive Bennet’s lead, they break for the Senator over O’Dea 53% to 39%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement, explaining the results of the survey.
Emerson College polled 1,000 “very likely” voters Wednesday through Saturday. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.02 percentage points.
Republican insiders are high on O’Dea. He has staked out centrist positions on some social issues and distanced himself from former President Donald Trump but hewed conservative on fiscal policy, public safety, and illegal immigration, netting an endorsement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
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But it might not be enough.
One reason is that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) appears headed to an easy victory. Polis led Republican challenger Heidi Ganahl 54% to 40% in the Emerson College poll, with 3% undecided.
