During an interview Tuesday with Marty Lenz on KOA radio, U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea claimed he hasn’t changed his position on abortion since launching his campaign.
“I haven’t evolved,” said O’Dea. “I’ve had the same position since I got in this race back in October. I’ve said for the first five months that’s between a woman and her doctor, and after that with exceptions between a woman and her doctor. I haven’t evolved. I’ve kept the same message. People try to distort that message. [Sen.] Michael Bennet [D-CO] is on the extreme side. He’s voting for a bill that would approve abortion up to and including the day of birth. That’s reckless to me. I haven’t changed my mind at all.”
O’Dea has clarified his stance on abortion multiple times. In April, O’Dea said he opposed Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, which enshrined the right to an abortion into Colorado law. A week later, O’Dea told Steffan Tubbs he opposed overturning Roe v. Wade, but has also said he would support the nominations of Supreme Court justices appointed by Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, who did, in fact, overturn Roe. He’s said supports banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which some say contradicts his support for Roe. He also signed the petition to get 2020’s failed Proposition 115, which would have banned abortion after 22 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest, on the ballot.
O’Dea told Lenz he wouldn’t support Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposed federal 15-week abortion ban. “Lindsey Graham’s bill, that can’t get 60 votes,” said O’Dea. “Neither can Schumer’s. We need something that is in the middle, people can get behind and support. You have to get 60 votes to get it through the Senate.”
Bennet, who has been endorsed by all the major reproductive rights groups in Colorado such as COBALT, the COLOR Action Fund, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, has said he does not support any move to end the Senate filibuster, which would allow for not just the passage of legislation protecting abortion, but also federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections. Bennet has outlined a proposal to reform the filibuster rule without ending it.
O’Dea expressed optimism over a recent Marist poll that shows him within seven points of Bennet. “You can sense it across the state,” said O’Dea. “I’ve been to all 64 counties and people are grumbling about this economy, they’re grumbling about inflation. They’re talking about crime. People are upset. They’re ready for a change.”
O’Dea’s GOP primary opponent, Colorado Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Cañon City), recently announced his endorsement of Libertarian candidate Brian Peotter. “Colorado Conservatives should stand up and defend their belief in conservative principles by voting for conservative principles,” said Hanks. “This cycle, those principles are best upheld by Libertarian Brian Peotter. Such a vote is not an abandonment of our true, honest, beloved Republican Party – it is a statement that we clearly see Colorado’s Republican Party has abandoned us. Colorado’s Grassroots Conservatives want our party back.”
The Marist poll shows “another party’s candidate” pulling in 2% of the vote, while a September Trafalgar poll shows Peotter with 3.6%.
O’Dea’s super PAC, the American Policy Fund, has recently been bolstered by a $1.25 million infusion of cash from the Senate Leadership Fund. The American Policy Fund also received $4 million from racist billionaire Timothy Mellon.
Bennet’s campaign announced on Oct. 4 that it raised $5 million in the last quarter, with $4.5 million on hand going into the general election.
Colorado voters should receive their ballots in the mail by Oct. 31.
