Three candidates are running in the Republican Party primary for U.S. Senate in Colorado on June 28, 2022. Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea have led in media attention and fundraising. Daniel Hendricks is running as a write-in candidate.
At the time of the election, Hanks was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives representing District 60 since his election in 2020. Hanks is a U.S. Air Force veteran and also worked as a linguist, a counterdrug officer, and a counterintelligence agent. Hanks said he “is the only proven conservative state legislator running” and “is adamantly pro-life and an ardent and active supporter of our second amendment.”
O’Dea was the CEO of a Denver-based heavy civil contracting company at the time of the election and owned the Mile High Station and Ironworks event centers. O’Dea said he is running “[t]o break the cycle of partisanship. To rebuild this country. To get it moving forward again. Colorado deserves a Senator who represents our voice.”
Key issues in the race include abortion and the 2020 election. Hanks said all abortions should be banned. “I believe life starts at conception. There should not be any exceptions,” Hanks said. O’Dea said he didn’t support overturning Roe v. Wade or total bans on abortions: “I don’t support a total ban. The country is not 100% pro-life. The country is not 100% pro-choice.” On the 2020 election, Hanks said he believed former Pres. Donald Trump (R) won, saying “Trump won this.” O’Dea said, “I don’t believe the election was stolen.”
Incumbent Michael Bennet (D) was first elected in 2008. In the 2016 election, Bennet won re-election with 50% of the vote. In its June 14 ratings, The Cook Political Report rated the general election as Likely Democratic.
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