DENVER—Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet spent his bitter primary campaign distancing himself from Washington as the nation’s anti-establishment mood put incumbents on the defensive.
The embattled freshman spent Election Day with Colorado’s other senator—Democrat Mark Udall—as he waited to hear whether he’d keep his job in the contest with former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.
Bennet faced the possibility of becoming the third senator this year to fail to win his party’s nomination, after Sens. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, and Arlen Specter, D-Pa. A Romanoff victory would leave the Senate with at least 15 lame duck members this fall, either because of retirements or primary losses.
Bennet spent Tuesday shaking hands and working the phones with Udall before heading to Denver to watch returns.
Romanoff, a former state lawmaker from Denver, pounded Bennet as a Washington insider chosen by elites, not Coloradans. The former Denver Public Schools superintendent was appointed to the seat last year when former Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar became Interior secretary.
The race even split two presidents: Barack Obama campaigned for Bennet, while Bill Clinton endorsed Romanoff, who spurned overtures of an Obama administration job in order to mount his primary challenge.
Bennet never ran for office before, and he countered that Romanoff’s years in office made him more of a traditional politician.
Both GOP Senate candidates did their best to show an anti-establishment streak, too.
Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck blasted former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton as “the chosen candidate” and criticized her for having the backing of most Republican senators. Norton countered that Buck’s no outsider, having spent his entire career in government service, including as a former assistant U.S. attorney.
The Republican contest became personal at times, with Norton questioning in campaign ads whether Buck was “man enough” to take her on. A few weeks later, Buck backpedaled after telling a voter to choose him “because I do not wear high heels.”
Buck ran into trouble for referring to so-called “birthers” questioning Obama’s citizenship as “dumb—es.” But the frank comment also endeared him to many of his tea party supporters.
Election officials signaled that this year’s mostly mail-in primary could break turnout records.
Bennet had a wide fundraising lead over Romanoff, who mortgaged his house in the campaign’s final days. But Romanoff turned his disadvantage into a selling point, making a virtue of his refusal to take money from political action committees.
Romanoff blasted ruling Democrats as being too timid on the environment, health care and financial regulation. But he also was attacked for a vicious campaign ad titled “Greed” in which he accused Bennet of costing thousands of jobs in a corporate turnaround. The deal, Bennet insisted, actually created jobs.
