# 2022 Colorado Senate election

Elections in Colorado :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential caucuses and primaries
Democratic
2000
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1876
1879
1883 sp
1885
1889
1891
1895
1897
1901
1903
1907
1909
1913
1913 sp
1914
1918
1920
1924
1924 sp
1926
1930
1932
1932 sp
1936
1938
1942
1942 sp
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1927
1st sp
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
3rd sp
1941
4th sp
1942
1944
1st sp
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1983
6th sp
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
4th sp :
State government
General elections
2010
2014
2018
2020
2022
Gubernatorial elections
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Secretary of State elections
2022
Attorney General elections
2014
2018
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
Colorado State Board of Regent elections
2016
Senate elections
2013 (recall)
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
List of Colorado ballot measures
1893
2
1972
8
1974
1
1982
1
1992
2
2000
20
2004
36
2006
38
41
42
43
44
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
2008
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
54
58
59
L
2010
62
2012
64
2018
A
2020
B
C
EE
113
114
2022
125
126
FF
2023
HH
II
2024
79
80
I
J
127
128
129
131 :
Colorado Springs
Local elections
2019
Mayoral elections
1995
1997 sp
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Denver
Mayoral elections
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
El Paso County
Local elections
2018 :
Pueblo
Mayoral elections
2023–24 :
vte :
The 2022 Colorado Senate elections took place on November 8, 2022, along with elections in the State House of Representatives, with the primary elections held on June 28, 2022. Voters in 17 out of the 35 districts of the Colorado Senate elected their representative for a four-year term. It coincided with other Colorado elections of the same year and the biennial United States elections.
Democrats gained two seats increasing their majority to 23 out of 35 seats, with one seat shy of an outright supermajority. Despite winning a majority of the votes cast, the Republican Party only won 6 of the 17 seats up for election.

## Background

In the previous state Senate election (2020), the Democrats increased their majority to five seats. In August 2022, Republican Sen. Kevin Priola announced he was changing his party affiliation to Democratic. Therefore, for Democrats to lose their absolute majority in the Senate in this election, Republicans and other parties needed to gain at least four more seats.
This was the first election with the districts drawn based on the 2020 census. Due to this, some districts did not have incumbents, as they chose to run in other districts that were not up for election in 2022.

## Incumbents not seeking re-election

One Democratic and four Republican incumbents were term-limited and prohibited from seeking a consecutive third term. Under the laws for the state Senate, for terms to be considered non-consecutive, there needs to be a gap of at least four years between them.

### Democrats

* District 5: Kerry Donovan was term-limited.
* District 11: Pete Lee retired.
* District 16: Tammy Story retired to run for state representative from District 25.
* District 22: Brittany Pettersen retired to run for U. S. representative from Colorado's 7th congressional district.

### Republicans

* District 1: Jerry Sonnenberg was term-limited.
* District 6: Don Coram retired to run for U. S. representative from Colorado's 3rd congressional district.
* District 7: Ray Scott was term-limited.
* District 13: John Cooke was term-limited.
* District 30: Chris Holbert was term-limited, then resigned on May 31, 2022.

## Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely D | May 19, 2022 |

## Results

Popular vote
Republican
50.27%
Democratic
49.06%
Other
0.67% :
Senate seats
Democratic
65.71%
Republican
34.29% :
| District | Incumbent | Party | Party | Elected | Party |
| 1 | Jerry Sonnenberg$^†$ | | Rep | Byron Pelton | Rep |
| 3 | Nick Hinrichsen | | Dem | Nick Hinrichsen | Dem |
| 4 | Jim Smallwood | | Rep | Mark Baisley | Rep |
| 7 | Ray Scott$^†$ | | Rep | Janice Rich | Rep |
| 8 | Bob Rankin | | Rep | Dylan Roberts | Dem |
| 9 | Paul Lundeen | | Rep | Paul Lundeen | Rep |
| 11 | Pete Lee$^†$ | | Dem | Tony Exum | Dem |
| 11 | Dennis Hisey | | Rep | Tony Exum | Dem |
| 15 | Rob Woodward | | Rep | Janice Marchman | Dem |
| 20 | Rachael Zenzinger | | Dem | Lisa A. Cutter | Dem |
| 22 | Jessie Danielson | | Dem | Jessie Danielson | Dem |
| 22 | Brittany Pettersen$^†$ | | Dem | Jessie Danielson | Dem |
| 24 | No incumbent | No incumbent | No incumbent | Kyle Mullica | Dem |
| 25 | Faith Winter | | Dem | Faith Winter | Dem |
| 27 | Chris Kolker | | Dem | Tom Sullivan | Dem |
| 30 | Kevin Van Winkle | | Rep | Kevin Van Winkle | Rep |
| 32 | Robert Rodriguez | | Dem | Robert Rodriguez | Dem |
| 34 | Julie Gonzales | | Dem | Julie Gonzales | Dem |
| 35 | Cleave Simpson | | Rep | Rod Pelton | Rep |
† - Incumbent not seeking re-election
Italics - Incumbent redistricted to different district
Bold - gain

## Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:
* District 15, 1.2% gain
* District 3, 2.58%
* District 11, 5.46% gain
* District 30, 7.64%
* District 27, 9.78%

## Detailed results
### District 1

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Byron Pelton | 23,142 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 23,142 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 1st District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Byron Pelton | 53,199 | 100% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 53,199 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 3

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Nick Hinrichsen (incumbent) | 15,560 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 15,560 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Stephen Varela | 13,130 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,130 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 3rd District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Nick Hinrichsen (incumbent) | 33,795 | 51.29% |
| | Republican | Stephen Varela | 32,090 | 48.71% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 65,885 | 100% |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### District 4

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Jeff Ravage | 13,811 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,811 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mark Baisley | 26,887 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 26,887 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 4th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mark Baisley | 55,595 | 60.84% |
| | Democratic | Jeff Ravage | 35,789 | 39.16% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 91,384 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 7

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Janice Rich | 28,026 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 28,026 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | David Stahlke | 8,694 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 8,694 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 7th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Janice Rich | 52,696 | 70.06% |
| | Democratic | David Stahlke | 22,520 | 29.94% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 75,216 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### District 8

Republican Primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Matt Solomon | 13,492 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,492 | 100.0 |
Democratic Primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Dylan Roberts | 12,661 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 12,661 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 8th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Dylan Roberts | 40,765 | 55.70 |
| | Republican | Matt Solomon | 32,427 | 44.30 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 73,192 | 100.00% |

### District 9

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Arik Dougherty | 10,968 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 10,968 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Paul Lundeen (incumbent) | 15,385 | 69.7 |
| | Republican | Lynda Zamora Wilson | 6,675 | 30.3 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 22,060 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 9th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Paul Lundeen (incumbent) | 50,266 | 62.31 |
| | Democratic | Arik Dougherty | 28,327 | 35.12 |
| | Libertarian | Stephen Darnell | 2,075 | 2.57 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 80,668 | 100.00% |

### District 11

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Tony Exum | 3,990 | 54.6 |
| | Democratic | Yolanda L. Avila | 3,318 | 45.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 7,308 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dennis Hisey (incumbent) | 8,946 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 8,946 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 11th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Tony Exum | 20,258 | 49.94 |
| | Republican | Dennis Hisey (incumbent) | 18,042 | 44.48 |
| | Libertarian | Daryl Kuiper | 2,264 | 5.58 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 40,564 | 100.00 |

### District 15

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Janice Marchman | 16,593 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 16,593 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Rob Woodward (incumbent) | 19,942 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 19,942 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 15th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Rob Woodward (incumbent) | 42,054 | 49.4 |
| | Democratic | Janice Marchman | 43,068 | 50.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 85,122 | 100 |

### District 20

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Lisa Cutter | 17,450 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 17,450 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tim Walsh | 17,691 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 17,691 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 20th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Lisa Cutter |
| | Republican | Tim Walsh |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

### District 22

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Jessie Danielson (incumbent) | 16,478 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 16,478 | 100.0 |
Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Colby Drechsel | 10,257 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 10,257 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 22nd District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Jessie Danielson (incumbent) |
| | Republican | Colby Drechsel |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

### District 24

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Courtney Potter | 9,642 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 9,642 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Kyle Mullica | 11,499 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 11,499 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 24th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Kyle Mullica |
| | Republican | Courtney Potter |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

### District 25

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Melody Peotter | 12,038 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 12,038 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Faith Winter (incumbent) | 16,842 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 16,842 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 25th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Faith Winter (incumbent) | 43,435 | 61.49 |
| | Republican | Melody Peotter | 23,207 | 38.51 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 66,642 | 100.0 |

### District 27

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Tom Kim | 8,129 | 70.2 |
| | Republican | JulieMarie A. Shepherd Macklin | 3,447 | 29.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 11,576 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Tom Sullivan | 13,209 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,209 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 27th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Tom Sullivan |
| | Republican | Tom Kim |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

### District 30

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Kevin Van Winkle (incumbent) | 19,925 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 19,925 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Braeden Miguel | 13,290 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,290 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 30th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Kevin Van Winkle (incumbent) | 46,751 | 53.82 |
| | Democratic | Braeden Miguel | 40,122 | 46.18 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 86,873 | 100.00 |

### District 32

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Dean Flanders | 5,520 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,520 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Robert Rodriguez (incumbent) | 18,157 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 18,157 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 32nd District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Robert Rodriguez (incumbent) |
| | Republican | Dean Flanders |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

### District 34

Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Julie Gonzales (incumbent) | 17,279 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 17,279 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 34th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Julie Gonzales (incumbent) | | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | | 100.0 |

### District 35

Republican primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Rod Pelton | 29,062 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 29,062 | 100.0 |
Democratic primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Travis Nelson | 8,691 | 100.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 8,691 | 100.0 |
2022 Colorado Senate election, 35th District :
| Party | Party | Candidate |
| | Democratic | Travis Nelson |
| | Republican | Rod Pelton |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes |

## Footnotes

* ↑ State Senator Kevin Priola switched parties in 2021 after the January 6 United States Capitol attack.