WASHINGTON (CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM) – Embattled establishment candidates — the latest but not the last in an election year defined by an anti-Washington mood — await the verdict of US voters in Colorado’s party primaries Tuesday.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, backed by President Barack Obama and the party’s leaders in Washington, faces a stiffer-than-expected challenge from former state legislator Andrew Romanoff.
Romanoff in June won the endorsement of former president Bill Clinton, who reportedly said Bennet’s challenger had “the best chance to hold this seat in November.”
The winner will face off against Republican former lieutenant governor Jane Norton, the party establishment’s pick, or Ken Buck, a prosecutor and long-ago aide to Dick Cheney who casts himself as an outsider and holds a lead in a handful of polls.
Voters will also narrow the field in Connecticut, where both parties are vying for the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, one of the key architects of Obama’s landmark overhaul of finance industry rules.
The likely Democratic nominee, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, remains the front-runner but has run into trouble after evidence surfaced that he at times exaggerated his military service record.
His lead Republican challenger, millionaire professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon, is expected to mount a vigorous bid if she fulfills expectations and overcomes a primary challenge from former representative Rob Simmons.
All 435 House of Representatives seats, 37 Senate slots, key governorships and state legislatures are up for grabs in the November mid-term elections, when Democrats fear a rout fueled by the poor US economy.
