2012 elections preview: Colorado voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries

June 25, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams

The fast-moving primary season of May and June continues today with elections in Colorado.

Here's what to watch for in Colorado, where polling places will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Contested Primaries in Colorado -- June 26, 2012
	U.S. House (7 seats)	State Legislature (85 seats)
Total Democratic Contested Primaries	0 (0%)	3 (3.53%)
Total Republican Contested Primaries	3 (42.86%)	16 (18.82%)

U.S. House

See: United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2012

Colorado has a total of 7 seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 25 candidates have filed to run, made up of 3 Democratic challengers, 6 Republican challengers, 9 third party challengers, and 7 incumbents. Including states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 294 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 57.31% of possible primaries have been contested nationally. Colorado's contested figure of 21.43% (3 of 14 possible party primaries) is well below the national average.

In the 7 congressional districts, there are 3 Republican races contested, with two or more candidates running, and 0 Democratic contested races.

All seven incumbents are seeking re-election in 2012, meaning there are no open seats.

One incumbent is facing a primary challenge, incumbent Doug Lamborn in District 5 faces challenger Robert Blaha in the Republican primary.

Members of the U.S. House from Colorado -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	3	3
	Republican Party	4	4
Total		7	7

State legislature

See: Colorado State Senate elections, 2012 and Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2012

In 2012, there are 85 seats up for election -- 20 Senate seats and 65 House seats.

There are four incumbents -- one in the Senate and three in the House -- facing primary opposition. Thirty-three seats are open.

There are 4 contested Democratic primaries and 16 contested Republican primaries. Thus, there will be 20 races tomorrow with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 20 major party primaries represents 11.8% of possible primaries tomorrow. This figure is lower than the current national contested average of 20.2% for states that have had filing deadlines.

Senate

In the Senate, there is one incumbent -- a Republican -- facing primary opposition. Eight candidates are current members of the House.

District 8: Incumbent Jean White faces Randy Baumgardner.

House

In the House there are three incumbents -- one Democrat, two Republicans -- facing primary opposition.

District 1: Incumbent Jeanne Labuda faces Corrie Houck.

District 19: Two incumbents -- Marsha Looper of District 19 and Amy Stephens of District 20 square off.

Colorado State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	20	19
	Republican Party	15	16
Total		35	35

Colorado House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	32	37
	Republican Party	33	28
Total		65	65

See also

Propositions •	Recall	• Law

• United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2012
• Colorado State Senate elections, 2012
• Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2012