COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Republican Ken Buck has solidified his lead in the Colorado Senate race, according to new polls, raising the prospects for the GOP to pick up a seat in one of the four Western states they are targeting as the key to hopes of retaking the majority.
A poll released Sunday by SurveyUSA and sponsored by the Denver Post and 9 News shows Buck, the district attorney in Weld County, leading incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet 48 percent to 43 percent.
Two polls released last week showed Buck ahead by 8 points, signaling a lead that may be tough for Bennet to overcome.
“From what I’ve seen, it looks like Bennet is going to have to work awfully hard to hold the seat, and this poll simply confirms it,” Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer said.
On Sunday, Buck met with voters in the conservative city of Colorado Springs, speaking to a group of residents at a home near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
“This is a really important election because we are either going to go with a bigger federal government or a smaller federal government and we are either going to go with more power in the smaller communities or more power in D.C.,” Buck told the group, made up mostly of independents.
Buck told The Washington Examiner he’s not following the polls and is focusing on getting face time with voters. “I show up in backyards and meet a lot of people, they spread the word and we win,” he said.
But some voters in Colorado remain skeptical of Buck, in part because he has been the subject of relentless attack ads by Bennet and Democratic groups that portray him as a right-wing extremist.
Among the conservative views he embraces is opposition to abortion except in cases where a mother’s life is in danger, but not in cases of rape or incest.
A Bennet campaign ad features an OB-GYN calling Buck “just too extreme for Colorado,” based on his views on reproductive rights.
At Sunday’s event, voters asked Buck about the attack ads, including one that shows him endorsing the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment, which allows senators to be elected, rather than appointed.
Buck told the group he hadn’t meant to call for a repeal and has since clarified his stance on the matter, but the Bennet camp keeps hammering him on it in campaign ads.
Bennet, he said, is using this strategy to avoid talking about his record, which includes votes in favor of health care reform and the bailout of the auto industry, both of which are unpopular with large percentages of Colorado voters.
“He’s tried to, with a lot of money, to shift the debate on other areas,” Buck told the crowd.
Buck’s audience was receptive, but far from convinced. A lot of people left the rally as undecided as when they came in, expressing disappointment in Washington and a reluctance to embrace any politician’s views.
Bennet’s camp pointed to two other polls that show him ahead or tied and said the race is far from over.
Straayer said Bennet’s ability to raise funds and air attack ads keeps him in the game. “I’m not sure it’s a done deal yet,” he said. Political strategists say that in order for the GOP to retake the Senate, it would need to win in two of four Western states that include Nevada, Washington and California along with Colorado.
