The 2018 Colorado State Senate elections took place as part of the

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

voters elected state senators in 17 of the 35 districts in the state senate. State senators serve four-year terms in the

Colorado State Senate The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about ...

. The Colorado Reapportionment Commission provides a statewide map of the state Senat
here
and individual district maps are available from the U.S. Censu

A primary election on June 26, 2018, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained from the

Colorado Secretary of State The secretary of state of Colorado is the secretary of state of the state of Colorado in the United States. The office is one of five elected constitutional offices in the state. The current secretary of state is Democrat Jena Griswold. Str ...

's website. Following the 2016 state Senate elections,

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

maintained effective control of the Senate with 18 members. Democratic state Senator Cheri Jahn switched from Democrat to unaffiliated on December 29, 2017. However, Sen. Jahn decided to still caucus with Democrats. In the 2018 election, Republicans defended 10 seats, while Democrats defended six seats, with Jahn's one Independent seat up for grabs. To claim control of the chamber from

, the Democrats needed to net one Senate seat while electing a Democrat to the Independent seat. The Democratic candidate won the Independent seat, while Democrats netted two additional seats, giving the party majority status in the chamber. The results ultimately led to Democrats gaining a political trifecta for the first time since 2014.

Background

Heading to the 2018 elections, Republicans held a one-seat majority in the Senate and sought to defend their very narrow majority in the election. Democrats had not held the state Senate since 2014, and aimed at flipping it to potentially achieve a political trifecta, as Democrats were expected to retain control of the state House, and gubernatorial nominee

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

was considered the frontrunner heading up to the polls. Five Senate seats were considered vital to determine the political balance of the Senate and even the political outlook of the state. Democratic women dubbed the "Fab Five" were running to defend or win these five competitive districts. Incumbent Republicans Tim Neville and Beth Humenik were seen as the most vulnerable, as both narrowly won their races in 2014, and they represented districts which Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Summary of results

*Districts not shown would not be up for election until 2020. Source:

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Term-limited incumbents

Seven incumbent senators (three Democrats, three Republicans and one independent) were term-limited and unable to seek a third term. *

Kevin Grantham Kevin Grantham (born June 29, 1970) is an American politician who serves on the county commission of Fremont County, Colorado. He served in the Colorado Senate from the 2nd district as a member of the Republican Party from 2011 to 2019. He ser ...

(R), District 2 * Kent Lambert (R), District 9 * Kevin Lundberg (R), District 15 * Cheri Jahn (I), District 20 * Andy Kerr (D), District 22 *

Irene Aguilar Dr. Irene Aguilar (born April 5, 1960) is a former Democratic member of the Colorado Senate. She represented the 32nd district from 2011 to early 2019. Her district encompassed part of the city of Denver, Colorado. Personal life and educatio ...

(D) District 32 *

Lucia Guzman Lucia may refer to: Arts and culture * ''Lucía'', a 1968 Cuban film by Humberto Solás * ''Lucia'' (film), a 2013 Indian Kannada-language film ** ''Enakkul Oruvan'' (2015 film), its 2015 Tamil-language remake, also known as ''Lucia'' * '' L ...

(D), District 34

Retiring incumbents

One incumbent Democrat did not seek re-election despite being able to do so. * Michael Merrifield (D), District 11

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%: # #

Predictions

Detailed results

Sources:

District 1

District 2

District 3

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

Analysis

Democrats handily flipped the state Senate by significantly outperforming their margins compared to 2016 and 2014. Most of the votes that led to the Senate flipping was due to the outsized margins Democratic candidates received throughout the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...

and ski counties. Independent voters (the largest share of the electorate), along with women voters, younger voters, and suburban voters, helped propel Democrats to victory in many races. Races that were considered competitive but eventually won by the so-called "Fab Five" of

Faith Winter Faith Winter (born May 7, 1980) is a Democratic Party legislator in the U.S. State of Colorado. She represents District 25 in the Colorado State Senate. Her district covers portions of Adams County, the City and County of Broomfield and We ...

Jessie Danielson Jessie Danielson is an American politician from the Colorado, State of Colorado. She is an elected member of the Colorado Senate, Colorado State Senate representing Colorado's 22nd Senate district, District 22 after being redistricted from Colorad ...

Tammy Story Tamara Lee Story (born February 24, 1959) is an American politician. She serves as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, representing District 25. Previously, she served as a member of the Colorado Senate, representing the 16th dist ...

, Kerry Donovan, and Brittany Petersen were won by relatively large margins. Due to Democrats flipping the Senate, they were able to gain a political trifecta, as they expanded their majorities in the state House and won all statewide races, including for governor. The results in the Senate and other elections throughout 2018 were called by observers a " blue wave" in which Democrats made historic gains in Colorado.

References

{{2018 United States elections

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...