Rep. Cory Gardner defeated Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall to win the Colorado Senate race Tuesday evening.
The race was called for Gardner, a two-term congressman from Yuma, with the Republican up 51 percent to 44 percent with 62 percent reporting. The Republican pick up is key to their party regaining control in the senate.
Udall had received criticism for running an "obnoxious" single-issue campaign on women’s issues, accusing Gardner of trying to ban birth control. He was even heckled by a mega Democratic millionaire donor during a campaign speech for running an ineffective campaign based almost entirely on abortion.
Gardner ran a broader campaign focused on health care, energy, and the economy.
He repeatedly hit Udall on Obamacare, citing his broken promise that "if you like your health care plan you can keep it" to 340,000 Coloradans who had their insurance plans cancelled.
Gardner also pressed Udall for telling a constituent that fracking "keeps us locked into the old system." Gardner told the Free Beacon that Udall is a "fanatic" for the policies of Tom Steyer, the leftist environmentalist billionaire.
Support from Steyer’s Super PAC NextGen, which opened five offices with a team of 68 staffers in Colorado, was not enough to save Udall.