GREELEY, Colo.—The chief sponsor of a Republican attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, lost her bid for a fourth term despite her attempts to distance herself from her increasingly unpopular party.
For voters in Colorado’s sprawling 4th District, Musgrave’s makeover wasn’t enough. They chose a Democrat for the first time in 30 years.
“It was too little, too late. She wasn’t representing this district,” said John Scarlett, 70, a retired schoolteacher from Johnstown who voted for Democratic challenger Betsy Markey.
Musgrave was among the most conservative members of the U.S. House when she replaced retired Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer in 2002, becoming the first Republican woman sent to Congress from Colorado.
Musgrave arrived in Washington in heady days for a surging GOP, and she quickly grabbed the national spotlight, sponsoring President Bush’s marriage amendment.
But the amendment failed, and Musgrave’s social conservatism made her a target in two narrow re-election campaigns. In 2006, she won by less than 6,000 votes, despite campaign appearances by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
This season, Musgrave eschewed marriage, abortion and other social questions, talking instead about the need for more domestic oil production and protecting agricultural jobs in the mostly rural district.
Musgrave also noted the unpopularity of Bush. Instead of holding a fundraiser with the president, Musgrave talked up examples of her disagreeing with him, especially the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan the White house backed but she opposed.
Markey, a first-time candidate and technology businesswoman, reminded voters of Musgrave’s socially centered past. Musgrave responded by jabbing Markey with the edgiest criticisms of the year in Colorado. Musgrave accused Markey of cheating when her company applied for federal contracts, and when Markey said she’d divested herself of company ownership, Musgrave called her a liar.
In the contest’s closing days, Musgrave even rolled out an ad showing a Markey lookalike failing a polygraph exam. Musgrave defended the ads, saying she needed to counter out-of-district money from national progressive groups and the Democratic Party.
“No one has had to face the millions of dollars of garbage that has been thrown at me,” Musgrave said Tuesday.
Layered on top of the deflating popularity of President Bush was a district trending more Democratic. It added almost 19,000 new voters over the last two years, while Republican registrations fell by 2,600.
Musgrave’s loss—along with the Democrats’ pickup of an open Senate seat—gave Democrats a 7-2 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation. Just a decade ago it included only two Democrats.
Internet businessman and Democrat Jared Polis led in the race for the 2nd District seat being vacated by Mark Udall. He would become the first openly gay non-incumbent elected to Congress, though the online greeting card millionaire has said his orientation played no role in the contest.
In the only other open House seat, Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman will replace retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo in the 6th District. The district includes the conservative southern suburbs of Denver and has been in GOP hands since it was created in 1972.
Elsewhere, incumbents held on: Democratic Rep. DeGette, in the 1st District; Democrat John Salazar, in the 3rd District; Republican Doug Lamborn, in the 5th District; and Democrat Ed Perlmutter, in the 7th District.
