Abortion

Pro-Choice Governor Narrowly Wins Re-Election in Colorado

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper narrowly defeated anti-choice Republican Bob Beauprez, who stated during the gubernatorial race that he has a “big problem” with IUDs.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper narrowly defeated anti-choice Republican Bob Beauprez, who stated during the gubernatorial race that he has a “big problem” with IUDs. John Hickenlooper/Youtube

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper stood inside the state capitol Wednesday morning and declared victory in his campaign against Republican Bob Beauprez, who opposed some common forms of contraception.

The race remained too close to call Tuesday, as votes were counted throughout the night, and even now tens of thousands of ballots remain to be tallied, mostly from the Democratic-leaning districts of Denver and Boulder.

Analysts do not believe Beauprez, who lost a gubernatorial bid in 2006, can pick up enough votes to overtake Hickenlooper, who leads by about 20,000 votes with 94 percent of precincts reporting.

But Beauprez has refused to accept defeat, saying through a spokesperson to the Denver Post that he wants “to be sure every Coloradan has their voice heard” before he concedes.

Republican Rep. Cory Gardner, who defeated Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado Tuesday night, called Hickenlooper Wednesday morning and told the governor he was looking forward to working with him, according to Hickenlooper.

Asked why voters elected a Democratic governor and Republican senator, Robert Leovy, retired professor of political science at Colorado College, told Rewire, “Gardner ran a much better campaign. He focused on Obama. Beauprez didn’t link Hickenlooper to the president. If he’d have done that, he’d have gotten elected.”

Loevy doesn’t believe Udall over-emphasized Gardner’s stance on reproductive health issues, turning voters against Udall while voting for Hickenlooper.

“My view was, it was the only issue [Udall] had,” Loevy said. “I thought the play for the women’s vote, which the Democrats have used effectively in Colorado and elsewhere, was the only thing he could run on. He couldn’t run on foreign policy disasters. I noticed that he made one or two ads after that criticism [of Udall’s over-emphasis on contraception and abortion issues] began to grow, but I found those ads uncompelling.”

During one of the final debates with Hickenlooper, Beauprez stated that he has a “big problem” with public funding for intrauterine devices (IUDs), which he called “abortifacients.” In fact, IUDs act prior to pregnancy, defined by scientists as beginning when a zygote implants in the uterine wall.

Beauprez has a record of staunch anti-choice positions, including his backing of federal “personhood” legislation as well as his promise to sign legislation banning abortion if such a bill crossed his desk as governor.

Beauprez during the campaign tried to downplay the significance of his anti-choice stands, telling the Denver Post’s John Frank, “The governor has very limited impact on what is really the federal law. Democrats always bring it up because they don’t want to talk about the economy or education or about transportation.”

Hickenlooper has spoken in favor of abortion rights and signed bills backed by women’s health organizations into law, including the Crimes Against Pregnant Women Act.