Republicans have a slightly better chance of winning Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat this fall after construction company owner Joe O’Dea’s win over state Rep. Ron Hanks in this week’s primary, a national election analyst said Wednesday.

Roll Call CQ’s Nathan L. Gonzales moved the race one step from “Solid Democrat” to “Likely Democrat,” calling O’Dea a “credible challenger” to Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is seeking a third full term.

Democrats spent millions of dollars on TV advertising and mailers in a failed attempt to steer GOP primary voters toward Hanks, under the assumption that the Cañon City Republican’s hardline conservative views and belief that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election would disqualify Hanks in the fall election.

The CU regent will face Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in the fall

Heidi Ganahl won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday over former Parker mayor Greg Lopez.

As of 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Ganahl had about 53% of the vote according to results in the Colorado primary election from the secretary of state’s office. The Associated Press called the race at about 8 p.m. in Ganahl’s favor.

“Today is a great day for Colorado. We are one step closer to taking back our Colorado way of life,” Ganahl told supporters at a watch party at the Wide Open Saloon in Sedalia, where she also held a January campaign event. At times, she choked up with emotion.

Ganahl, 55, is the only Republican elected to statewide office. She became an at-large University of Colorado regent in 2016 and used that electoral success as evidence that she can defeat Polis — and the Democratic establishment — in November.

Senate Democrat joins Republicans to vote against legislation

One Senate Democrat joined Republicans on Wednesday to oppose a controversial health care reform bill, which nonetheless moved forward in the Colorado Legislature after hours of debate and plenty of big changes.

House Bill 21-1232 started out as a framework for a public option health insurance plan that would have been established by the state if private insurance carriers failed to lower premium rates for plans on Colorado’s individual market. Now, HB-1232 looks much different — and would do far less to change the health insurance landscape — but it’s still one of the most polarizing bills of the legislative session.

Democratic Reps. Dylan Roberts of Avon and Iman Jodeh of Aurora led the charge on HB-1232, along with Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat, in the Senate. Their goal, they said, was to make health insurance more affordable for people who didn’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and didn’t get insurance from a large employer. Individual Coloradans and small businesses can purchase insurance on the state’s exchange, but premiums are too high for people to afford in some areas of the state.

Misinformation about election laws spreads following relocation of MLB All-Star Game to Denver

Colorado sports fans will get an unexpected treat this summer when Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game comes to Coors Field on July 13, the league officially announced on Tuesday.

“This all moved very quickly,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said in a press conference Tuesday. “What usually takes months or even years to happen, happened in just a matter of days. But we are absolutely honored and thrilled.”

The last-minute relocation comes days after MLB announced that it would pull the event from its scheduled venue, the Atlanta Braves’ home stadium in Cobb County, Georgia, over objections to a wave of new voting restrictions enacted by state lawmakers in the wake of President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia in the 2020 election.

“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box,” league commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement announcing the move. “In 2020 … we proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.”