Tough night for Republicans in Colorado: Candidates at state party event watch as stinging Election Day results come in
It was a tough night for Colorado Republicans who gathered at the Doubletree Hotel in Greenwood Village to await election results.
Hope for a Joe O'Dea victory was dashed early, along with that for gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl.
"We ran one hell of a campaign. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of all the people that helped me," O'Dea told CBS News Colorado. "I thought the red wave would hit Colorado and we just didn't see it tonight."
In his concession speech, O'Dea said the loss was a tough pill to swallow, but he believed he stayed true to core beliefs.
O'Dea was a moderate candidate choice by the party, hoping to gain Colorado's largest voting group, unaffiliated voters who favored incumbent Michael Bennet.
"I got outspent four-to-one and that makes it tough, to get your message out," said O'Dea. But in the end, he was willing to accept what happened. "The voters have spoken and I respect that. I don't exactly agree with it, but they spoke."
Other Republican candidates spoke as well, expressing regret at losing, but honoring the outcome.
"We cannot allow our elections administration to be turned into a political football. It's been weaponized by both sides to use against political opponents," said defeated Secretary of State candidate Pam Anderson. "Our elections serve as a battle of ideas, not with the referees."
Anderson said she planned to continue to partner with voting officials to "support our shared mission as Americans."
"Elections officials and administrators; Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated all across our state and across our nation, are your bi-partisan friends and community members. The vast majority of them check their partisanship at the door and perform their functions with integrity and purpose and duty and obligation," Anderson told the crowd.
O'Dea posed for pictures with supporters and thought about the future.
"I'll go back to work sometime this week and get back with my life," he said. "Tonight I'm thinking about having a nice cold beer."