Editor’s Note: With so much heat rather than light in the media world today, Liberty Nation presents the following series on the crucial midterm elections that will be taking place. These elections will likely determine the course of the Trump presidency and as such should be looked at with in-depth analysis. Thus, each week LN author Graham Noble will be giving our readers a state-by-state look at the upcoming elections. This week, he covers Colorado, Connecticut, and Delaware.
In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton carried the state of Colorado with 48.2% of the votes to Donald Trump’s 43.3%. Clinton also won in Connecticut with over 56% and Delaware with 53.4%. Connecticut and Delaware have voted Democrat by large margins in the last five presidential elections. The last time either of these two states voted for a Republican president was 1988. President George W. Bush carried Colorado twice but the state moved into the Democrat column when it twice voted for President Barack Obama.
In terms of congressional districts, both Connecticut and Delaware are solidly blue but Colorado continues to be something of a battleground. Of the six U.S. Senators representing these three states, collectively, two will end their current terms in January 2019 and will run for re-election in the November midterms elections. Both are Democrats.
Colorado
Colorado’s two Senators, Republican Cory Gardner and Democrat Michael Bennett, will be up for re-election in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Democrats represent three of the state’s seven congressional districts, with the remaining four represented by Republicans. It is unlikely that the midterms will produce any surprises in Colorado, although the 6th congressional district, currently represented by Republican Mike Coffman, is generally considered a ‘battleground’ seat; viewed by most forecasts as a toss-up.
Connecticut
Connecticut’s senior Senator, Richard Blumenthal, finishes his current term in January 2023. He has represented the state in the U.S. Senate since 2011. The state’s junior Senator, Christopher Murphy, will run for re-election in November. Before winning his seat in 2013, Murphy represented the state’s 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2012. In October, the first-term Senator quashed speculation that he would run for president in 2020, during an interview with CNN. His Senate seat was previously held by Independent Joseph Lieberman. Murphy is not expected to face a serious challenge.
The small northeastern state has five congressional districts, all currently represented by Democrats and none of the five incumbents are expected to face tough re-election races this November.
Delaware
Senator Chris Coons
Senator Chris Coons will finish his current term in January 2021 but his Democratic colleague and fellow Senator, Thomas Carper, faces re-election in November. Carper, who is seen as a moderate, has been in the Senate since 2001 and his seat is considered safe for the Democrats.Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat, was elected to represent Delaware’s at-large congressional district in 2016. She holds a safe seat for Democrats.
None of the three states featured this week are likely to throw up any big surprises in November. Four Colorado counties that voted twice for Barack Obama swung to Donald Trump in 2016. Connecticut and Delaware each have one county that voted for Obama twice and then for Trump. These counties may not have an effect on the 2018 results; the four Colorado counties all lie within congressional districts currently represented by Republicans. As is the case with many of this year’s congressional races, the historical trend of the party winning the White House and then losing big in the midterms stacks up against an improving economy and the unpredictability of politics in the Trump era. Perhaps the Democrats pick up one House seat in Colorado, but Midterm Election Watch is not taking that bet.
Join us next week as our series focuses on House and Senate Races in Florida
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