There seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding Colorado Republicans’ poor showing on Tuesday. Donald Trump, who criticized O’Dea before the election, claims that Republican senatorial nominee Joe O’Dea “lost big” because he tried to “distance” himself from the former president. Talk-radio host Mark Levin claims that O’Dea lost because he was a “McConnell-Rove RINO candidate.” Putting aside Levin’s misplaced fixation with Senator McConnell, these inane assertions don’t survive scrutiny.
Colorado is a purple D+4 state. Had Republicans run a more extreme candidate, they would’ve fared even worse. That’s why Democrats tried to boost O’Dea’s MAGA primary opponents and attempted to tie him to Trump when that failed. O’Dea fell short because what was supposed to be a favorable electoral environment for the GOP nationally turned out to be nothing more than a red mist.
If you want a rough counterfactual, look no further than Lauren Boebert’s race in Colorado’s third congressional district, an R+7 jurisdiction encompassing around half the state’s land. Boebert is one of the Trump-friendliest members of Congress, and she’s currently fighting for survival for a seat that’s redder than the rest of the state. She may still win, but her struggles are another telltale sign of what’s holding back the GOP.