Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2020

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Colorado's 7th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 17, 2020
Primary: June 30, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
Pre-election incumbent:
Ed Perlmutter (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Colorado
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Colorado's 7th Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th
Colorado elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 7th Congressional District of Colorado, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent Ed Perlmutter won election in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 17, 2020
June 30, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Democrat Ed Perlmutter, who was first elected in 2006.

Colorado's 7th Congressional District is one of five located in central Colorado. It includes portions of Adams and Jefferson counties.[4]

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Colorado's 7th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 60 59.1
Republican candidate Republican Party 37.1 37.6
Difference 22.9 21.5

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Colorado did not modify any procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Incumbent Ed Perlmutter defeated Casper Stockham, Ken Biles, David Olszta, and Steve Zorn in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ed Perlmutter
Ed Perlmutter (D)
 
59.1
 
250,525
Image of Casper Stockham
Casper Stockham (R)
 
37.6
 
159,301
Image of Ken Biles
Ken Biles (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.7
 
11,510
Image of David Olszta
David Olszta (Unity Party)
 
0.6
 
2,355
Image of Steve Zorn
Steve Zorn (D) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
0

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 423,691
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Incumbent Ed Perlmutter advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ed Perlmutter
Ed Perlmutter
 
100.0
 
125,880

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 125,880
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Casper Stockham advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Casper Stockham
Casper Stockham
 
100.0
 
52,488

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 52,488
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Ken Biles advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on April 13, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Ken Biles
Ken Biles (L) Candidate Connection

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Unity Party convention

Unity Party convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7

David Olszta advanced from the Unity Party convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on April 4, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of David Olszta
David Olszta (Unity Party)

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Four of 64 Colorado counties—6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Conejos County, Colorado 3.56% 9.22% 12.93%
Huerfano County, Colorado 6.61% 8.27% 11.23%
Las Animas County, Colorado 15.60% 2.65% 7.04%
Pueblo County, Colorado 0.50% 13.99% 14.97%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Colorado with 48.2 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 43.3 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Colorado voted Republican 63.3 percent of the time and Democratic 36.7 percent of the time. Colorado voted Republican in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, but voted Democratic in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Colorado. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[5][6]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 37 out of 65 state House districts in Colorado with an average margin of victory of 27.3 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 40 out of 65 state House districts in Colorado with an average margin of victory of 24.8 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 28 out of 65 state House districts in Colorado with an average margin of victory of 21.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 25 out of 65 state House districts in Colorado with an average margin of victory of 25.8 points. Trump won one district controlled by a Democrat heading into the 2018 elections.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+6, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 6 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Colorado's 7th Congressional District the 164th most Democratic nationally.[7]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.09. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.09 points toward that party.[8]

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[9] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[10] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Ed Perlmutter Democratic Party $1,638,227 $1,345,447 $1,053,696 As of December 31, 2020
Steve Zorn Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Casper Stockham Republican Party $147,959 $147,959 $0 As of December 31, 2020
Ken Biles Libertarian Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
David Olszta Unity Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[11]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[12][13][14]

Race ratings: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 7th Congressional District candidates in Colorado in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Colorado, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Colorado 7th Congressional District Major party 1,500 1,500 or 10% of votes cast in last primary (whichever is less) N/A N/A 3/17/2020 Source
Colorado 7th Congressional District Unaffiliated 1,500 1,500, or 2.5% of votes cast for office in last election (whichever is less) N/A N/A 7/9/2020 Source

District election history

2018

See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Incumbent Ed Perlmutter defeated Mark Barrington and Jennifer Nackerud in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ed Perlmutter
Ed Perlmutter (D)
 
60.4
 
204,260
Image of Mark Barrington
Mark Barrington (R)
 
35.4
 
119,734
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jennifer Nackerud (L)
 
4.1
 
14,012
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
61

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 338,067
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Incumbent Ed Perlmutter advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Ed Perlmutter
Ed Perlmutter
 
100.0
 
81,991

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 81,991
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7

Mark Barrington advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mark Barrington
Mark Barrington
 
100.0
 
46,028

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 46,028
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Ed Perlmutter (D) defeated George Athanasopoulos (R) and Martin Buchanan (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. No candidate faced a primary opponent in June.[15][16][17]

U.S. House, Colorado District 7 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngEd Perlmutter Incumbent 55.2% 199,758
     Republican George Athanasopoulos 39.8% 144,066
     Libertarian Martin Buchanan 5% 18,186
Total Votes 362,010
Source: Colorado Secretary of State

2014

See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 7th Congressional District of Colorado held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Ed Perlmutter (D) defeated Don Ytterberg (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, Colorado District 7 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngEd Perlmutter Incumbent 55.1% 148,225
     Republican Don Ytterberg 44.9% 120,918
Total Votes 269,143
Source: Colorado Secretary of State

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Colorado is a vote-by-mail state. In order to vote by mail, registration must be completed at least eight days prior to the election. If voting in person on Election Day, a voter can register at the polls.
  2. ↑ Colorado is a vote-by-mail state. In order to vote by mail, registration must be completed at least eight days prior to the election. If voting in person on Election Day, a voter can register at the polls.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Colorado is a vote-by-mail state. Early voting dates and polling hours apply to vote centers where individuals can instead vote in person.
  4. ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Counties by Congressional Districts," accessed June 8, 2016
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  6. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  7. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  8. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  9. ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  10. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  11. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  12. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  13. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  14. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  15. ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Candidate List," accessed May 2, 2016
  16. ↑ Politico, "Colorado House Primaries Results," June 28, 2016
  17. ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed September 5, 2016


Colorado's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Michael Bennet (D)
John Hickenlooper (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
Jeff Hurd (R)
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
Democratic Party (6)
Republican Party (4)


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