GOP Senate Primary Left Joe O’Dea Badly Bruised Heading into General Election

After a nasty and costly GOP Senate primary, Republican nominee Joe O’Dea is entering the general election in debt and with less than $1 million cash on hand even after he self-funded close to $1.7 million to defeat insurrectionist Ron Hanks. 

Not only does O’Dea have a significant cash disadvantage, he also proved his loyalty to Trump and owned far-right positions that are out of step with a majority of Coloradans in efforts to win the primary. His lack of campaign cash and far-right views are a toxic combination that make him a weak candidate in the general election. 

Read excerpts below from the Colorado Sun:  

Colorado Sun: Colorado congressional candidates who faced tough primaries head into general election low on cash

Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign reported having more than $8 million in cash at the end of June. His Republican opponent, Denver construction company owner and first-time candidate Joe O’Dea, had a fraction of that at only $841,000. And O’Dea’s campaign reported owing five vendors nearly $205,000, meaning the campaign actually has only $636,000 to work with.

Bennet, competing in his third election to a six-year Senate term, raised nearly $3.4 million from April 1 through June 30. He’s raised nearly $14.6 million since his last reelection campaign in 2016.

That compares with about $2 million raised by O’Dea during the same time frame, bringing his fundraising total to about $3.5 million since he entered the contest in October. But close to $1.7 million of that cash came directly from O’Dea, who has millions of dollars in assets.

O’Dea, meanwhile, spent nearly $600,000 on TV and radio advertising to defeat state Rep. Ron Hanks, who raised only about $137,000 for his campaign, in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. 

O’Dea also got plenty of primary help from American Policy Fund, a federal super PAC that spent more than $1 million on TV and digital advertising supporting O’Dea and opposing Hanks.


Read more in the Colorado Sun and Colorado Newsline.

Previous
Previous

Mitch McConnell Calls Joe O’Dea the “Perfect Candidate” to be a Rubber Stamp for His MAGA agenda

Next
Next

Ganahl LG Pick Hosted John Eastman After Jan 6th