Senate Race in Colorado Has GOP Observers Pointing Fingers

News Analysis

As Republican Joe O’Dea hopes to unseat Democrat incumbent Sen. Michael Bennett in Colorado’s race in November, some GOP observers are pointing the finger at Washington and others at the O’Dea campaign for the GOP’s election struggles in the Rocky Mountain state.

Earlier this month, The Denver Post highlighted dueling election polls which showed O’Dea either losing to Bennett by 11 points with over 10 percent undecided, or trailing only narrowly by a point, depending on the methodology used by pollsters.

But in interviews with The Epoch Times, GOP insiders have complained about either the lack of financial support coming from Washington for the O’Dea campaign, or have claimed that the campaign lacks the requisite grassroots support to win.

“I think there’s a golden opportunity for Republicans to flip the Senate seat, but [Joe’s] going to need help,” Ryan Lynch, general consultant at Polstar Strategies in Denver who is close to the O’Dea campaign, told The Epoch Times.

“Either it comes from DC, Omaha, Denver, wherever it is, he needs more third-party support,” said Lynch.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 3, 2020. (Alex Edelman/Getty Images) NRSC and Campaign at Fault: Observer

Lynch specifically blamed both the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) and the Republican National Committee (NRC) for the funding shortfall.

“I don’t think he’s getting enough support from national interests, whether we’re talking about the NRSC, the RNC or whatever national group that normally supports Republicans,” he said.

But the man who lost to O’Dea in Colorado’s GOP Senate primary says that the campaign’s real problem is with the candidate himself.

O’Dea, says his former GOP Senate opponent, is trying to rely on a third party to rescue him when the candidate’s own party doesn’t like his political

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