2022 Colorado Senate election

2022 Colorado State Senate election
17 of the 35 seats in the Colorado Senate; 18 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic gain; Democratic hold Republican hold; No election
President of the Senate before election; Steve Fenberg; Democratic	Elected President of the Senate ; Steve Fenberg; Democratic

The 2022 Colorado Senate elections took place on November 8, 2022, along with elections in the State House of Representatives, with the primary elections held on June 28, 2022.^[1] Voters in 17 out of the 35 districts of the Colorado Senate elected their representative for a four-year term.^[2] It coincided with other Colorado elections of the same year and the biennial United States elections.

Democrats gained two seats increasing their majority to 23 out of 35 seats, with one seat shy of an outright supermajority.^[3] Despite winning a majority of the votes cast, the Republican Party only won 6 of the 17 seats up for election.

Background

In the previous state Senate election (2020), the Democrats increased their majority to five seats. In August 2022, Republican Sen. Kevin Priola announced he was changing his party affiliation to Democratic.^[4] Therefore, for Democrats to lose their absolute majority in the Senate in this election, Republicans and other parties needed to gain at least four more seats.

This was the first election with the districts drawn based on the 2020 census.^[5] Due to this, some districts did not have incumbents, as they chose to run in other districts that were not up for election in 2022.

Incumbents not seeking re-election

One Democratic and four Republican incumbents were term-limited and prohibited from seeking a consecutive third term. Under the laws for the state Senate, for terms to be considered non-consecutive, there needs to be a gap of at least four years between them.^[2]

Democrats

District 5: Kerry Donovan was term-limited.
District 11: Pete Lee retired.
District 16: Tammy Story retired to run for state representative from District 25.
District 22: Brittany Pettersen retired to run for U. S. representative from Colorado's 7th congressional district.

Republicans

District 1: Jerry Sonnenberg was term-limited.
District 6: Don Coram retired to run for U. S. representative from Colorado's 3rd congressional district.
District 7: Ray Scott was term-limited.
District 13: John Cooke was term-limited.
District 30: Chris Holbert was term-limited, then resigned on May 31, 2022.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[6]	Likely D	May 19, 2022

Results

Popular vote

Republican			50.27%
Democratic			49.06%
Other			0.67%

Senate seats

Democratic			65.71%
Republican			34.29%

District	Incumbent		Elected
1	Jerry Sonnenberg^†	Rep	Byron Pelton	Rep
3	Nick Hinrichsen	Dem	Nick Hinrichsen	Dem
4	Jim Smallwood	Rep	Mark Baisley	Rep
7	Ray Scott^†	Rep	Janice Rich	Rep
8	Bob Rankin	Rep	Dylan Roberts	Dem
9	Paul Lundeen	Rep	Paul Lundeen	Rep
11	Pete Lee^†	Dem	Tony Exum	Dem
11	Dennis Hisey	Rep	Tony Exum	Dem
15	Rob Woodward	Rep	Janice Marchman	Dem
20	Rachael Zenzinger	Dem	Lisa A. Cutter	Dem
22	Jessie Danielson	Dem	Jessie Danielson	Dem
22	Brittany Pettersen^†	Dem	Jessie Danielson	Dem
24	No incumbent		Kyle Mullica	Dem
25	Faith Winter	Dem	Faith Winter	Dem
27	Chris Kolker	Dem	Tom Sullivan	Dem
30	Kevin Van Winkle	Rep	Kevin Van Winkle	Rep
32	Robert Rodriguez	Dem	Robert Rodriguez	Dem
34	Julie Gonzales	Dem	Julie Gonzales	Dem
35	Cleave Simpson	Rep	Rod Pelton	Rep

† - Incumbent not seeking re-election

Italics - Incumbent redistricted to different district

Bold - gain

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

District 15, 1.2% gain
District 3, 2.58%
District 11, 5.46% gain
District 30, 7.64%
District 27, 9.78%

Detailed results

District 1 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 16 • District 20 • District 22 • District 24 • District 30 • District 32 • District 34

District 1

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Byron Pelton	23,142	100.0
Total votes			23,142	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 1st District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Byron Pelton	53,199	100%
Total votes			53,199	100%
	Republican hold

District 3

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nick Hinrichsen (incumbent)	15,560	100.0
Total votes			15,560	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephen Varela	13,130	100.0
Total votes			13,130	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 3rd District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nick Hinrichsen (incumbent)	33,795	51.29%
	Republican	Stephen Varela	32,090	48.71%
Total votes			65,885	100%
	Democratic hold

District 4

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Ravage	13,811	100.0
Total votes			13,811	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Baisley	26,887	100.0
Total votes			26,887	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 4th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Baisley	55,595	60.84%
	Democratic	Jeff Ravage	35,789	39.16%
Total votes			91,384	100%
	Republican hold

District 7

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Janice Rich	28,026	100.0
Total votes			28,026	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Stahlke	8,694	100.0
Total votes			8,694	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 7th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Janice Rich	52,696	70.06%
	Democratic	David Stahlke	22,520	29.94%
Total votes			75,216	100%
	Republican hold

District 8

Republican Primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Solomon	13,492	100.0
Total votes			13,492	100.0

Democratic Primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dylan Roberts	12,661	100.0
Total votes			12,661	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 8th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dylan Roberts	40,765	55.70
	Republican	Matt Solomon	32,427	44.30
Total votes			73,192	100.00%

District 9

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Arik Dougherty	10,968	100.0
Total votes			10,968	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Lundeen (incumbent)	15,385	69.7
	Republican	Lynda Zamora Wilson	6,675	30.3
Total votes			22,060	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 9th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Lundeen (incumbent)	50,266	62.31
	Democratic	Arik Dougherty	28,327	35.12
	Libertarian	Stephen Darnell	2,075	2.57
Total votes			80,668	100.00%

District 11

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony Exum	3,990	54.6
	Democratic	Yolanda L. Avila	3,318	45.4
Total votes			7,308	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Hisey (incumbent)	8,946	100.0
Total votes			8,946	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 11th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony Exum	20,258	49.94
	Republican	Dennis Hisey (incumbent)	18,042	44.48
	Libertarian	Daryl Kuiper	2,264	5.58
Total votes			40,564	100.00

District 15

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janice Marchman	16,593	100.0
Total votes			16,593	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodward (incumbent)	19,942	100.0
Total votes			19,942	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 15th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodward (incumbent)	42,054	49.4
	Democratic	Janice Marchman	43,068	50.6
Total votes			85,122	100

District 20

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lisa Cutter	17,450	100.0
Total votes			17,450	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Walsh	17,691	100.0
Total votes			17,691	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 20th District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Lisa Cutter
	Republican	Tim Walsh
Total votes

District 22

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jessie Danielson (incumbent)	16,478	100.0
Total votes			16,478	100.0

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Colby Drechsel	10,257	100.0
Total votes			10,257	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 22nd District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Jessie Danielson (incumbent)
	Republican	Colby Drechsel
Total votes

District 24

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Courtney Potter	9,642	100.0
Total votes			9,642	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kyle Mullica	11,499	100.0
Total votes			11,499	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 24th District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Kyle Mullica
	Republican	Courtney Potter
Total votes

District 25

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Melody Peotter	12,038	100.0
Total votes			12,038	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Faith Winter (incumbent)	16,842	100.0
Total votes			16,842	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 25th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Faith Winter (incumbent)	43,435	61.49
	Republican	Melody Peotter	23,207	38.51
Total votes			66,642	100.0

District 27

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Kim	8,129	70.2
	Republican	JulieMarie A. Shepherd Macklin	3,447	29.8
Total votes			11,576	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Sullivan	13,209	100.0
Total votes			13,209	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 27th District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Tom Sullivan
	Republican	Tom Kim
Total votes

District 30

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Van Winkle (incumbent)	19,925	100.0
Total votes			19,925	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Braeden Miguel	13,290	100.0
Total votes			13,290	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 30th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Van Winkle (incumbent)	46,751	53.82
	Democratic	Braeden Miguel	40,122	46.18
Total votes			86,873	100.00

District 32

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dean Flanders	5,520	100.0
Total votes			5,520	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Rodriguez (incumbent)	18,157	100.0
Total votes			18,157	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 32nd District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Robert Rodriguez (incumbent)
	Republican	Dean Flanders
Total votes

District 34

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julie Gonzales (incumbent)	17,279	100.0
Total votes			17,279	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 34th District
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julie Gonzales (incumbent)		100.0
Total votes				100.0

District 35

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rod Pelton	29,062	100.0
Total votes			29,062	100.0

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Travis Nelson	8,691	100.0
Total votes			8,691	100.0

2022 Colorado Senate election, 35th District
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Travis Nelson
	Republican	Rod Pelton
Total votes

Footnotes

^ State Senator Kevin Priola switched parties in 2021 after the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

References

^ "2022 Election Calendar" (PDF). Colorado Secretary of State.
^ ^a ^b "Senate Term Limits". Colorado General Assembly.
^ "Colorado's Democratic supermajority talks spending before session starts". KUSA.com. January 4, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
^ Edwards, Jonathan (August 23, 2022). "After decades in GOP, Colo. senator says: 'We need Democrats in charge'". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
^ Verlee, Megan (November 15, 2021). "Colorado officially has new state legislative maps". CPR News. Colorado Public Radio.
^ Jacobson, Louis (May 19, 2022). "The Battle for State Legislatures". Retrieved May 19, 2022.

[1] State Senator Kevin Priola switched parties in 2021 after the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

[CoElecCal2022-2] "2022 Election Calendar" (PDF). Colorado Secretary of State.

[senatetermlimits-3] "Senate Term Limits". Colorado General Assembly.

[4] "Colorado's Democratic supermajority talks spending before session starts". KUSA.com. January 4, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.

[5] Edwards, Jonathan (August 23, 2022). "After decades in GOP, Colo. senator says: 'We need Democrats in charge'". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 28, 2022.

[redistricting-6] Verlee, Megan (November 15, 2021). "Colorado officially has new state legislative maps". CPR News. Colorado Public Radio.

[Sabato's_Crystal_Ball-7] Jacobson, Louis (May 19, 2022). "The Battle for State Legislatures". Retrieved May 19, 2022.

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