
First-time candidate Joe O’Dea is testing whether a Republican can win a U.S. Senate race in blue-trending Colorado by supporting some abortion rights and feuding with former President Donald Trump.
It’s a bet that highlights the difficult position the GOP finds itself in these midterms in Colorado, a former competitive state that has swung sharply left since 2016. Only two Republicans have won two statewide races since 2004 — Cory Gardner’s 2014 victory for a U.S. Senate seat that he lost six years later, and Heidi Ganahl winning a spot on the University of Colorado Board of Regents before launching her underdog challenge to Democratic Gov. Jared Polis this year.