2022 Colorado gubernatorial election


The 2022 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Democratic governor Jared Polis won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican University of Colorado regent Heidi Ganahl by a decisive margin. Ganahl conceded on election night. The primary election was held on June 28. Polis won two counties he lost in 2018: Grand and Las Animas.
Polis' 2022 victory marked the first time in American history that an openly gay politician was re-elected as the governor of a state. Having won more than 58% of the vote, Polis had the best performance for a re-elected Colorado governor since Bill Owens in 2002, the best for a Democrat since Roy Romer in 1990, and the highest raw vote total ever in a Colorado gubernatorial race.

Democratic assembly

Candidates

Nominated at assembly

Eliminated at assembly

  • None

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Eliminated at convention

Declined

American Constitution convention

Candidates

Nominee

  • Danielle Neuschwanger, realtor
  • *Running mate: Darryl Gibbs, truck driver and U.S. Air Force veteran ''''

General election

Polling

Aggregate polls

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Jared
Polis 		Heidi
Ganahl 		OtherUndecided
co/efficient November 3–7, 2022856 ± 3.3%54%43%2%2%
Data for Progress November 2–5, 20221,983 ± 2.0%55%43%2%–
The Trafalgar Group October 30 – November 1, 20221,084 ± 2.9%50%43%5%3%
Emerson CollegeOctober 26–29, 20221,000 ± 3.0%54%40%4%3%
Emerson CollegeOctober 26–29, 20221,000 ± 3.0%54%41%4%–
The Trafalgar Group October 25–27, 20221,174 ± 2.9%50%42%6%3%
CU Boulder/YouGovOctober 11–19, 2022709 ± 4.4%57%41%2%–
CiviqsOctober 15–18, 2022600 ± 5.0%55%40%2%3%
Global Strategy Group October 6–11, 2022800 ± 3.5%52%34%6%8%
Global Strategy Group October 6–11, 2022800 ± 3.5%54%39%–7%
Marist CollegeOctober 3–6, 20221,127 ± 4.7%54%36%2%7%
Marist CollegeOctober 3–6, 2022983 ± 5.0%54%39%3%5%
Data for Progress October 3–6, 20221,005 ± 3.0%56%39%3%2%
Keating Research/Magellan StrategiesSeptember 18–26, 20221,060 ± 3.0%51%34%2%12%
The Trafalgar Group September 20–24, 20221,078 ± 2.9%49%41%4%6%
Emerson CollegeSeptember 18–19, 20221,000 ± 3.0%53%36%2%9%
Remington Research Group August 21–22, 20221,503 ± 2.5%49%42%–9%
The Trafalgar Group August 15–19, 20221,087 ± 2.9%47%42%6%5%
Global Strategy Group June 2–8, 2022400 ± 4.9%50%32%5%13%
Global Strategy Group June 2–8, 2022400 ± 4.9%54%37%–9%
Global Strategy Group February 11–15, 2022400 ± 4.9%53%37%–10%
Global Strategy Group October 19–24, 2021800 ± 3.5%52%35%–13%
Global Strategy Group June 17–23, 2021800 ± 3.5%54%34%–12%

Jared Polis vs. Greg Lopez

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Jared
Polis 		Greg
Lopez 		Danielle
Undecided
Global Strategy Group June 2–8, 2022400 ± 4.9%52%32%6%10%
Global Strategy Group June 2–8, 2022400 ± 4.9%53%39%–8%

Jared Polis vs. Danielle Neuschwanger

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Jared
Polis 		Danielle
Undecided
Global Strategy Group February 11–15, 2022400 ± 4.9%51%40%9%

Jared Polis vs. generic Republican

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Jared
Polis 		Generic
Republican		Undecided
Global Strategy Group June 2–8, 2022800 ± 3.4%54%38%8%
Global Strategy Group February 11–15, 2022400 ± 4.9%54%38%8%
Cygnal January 12–13, 2022630 ± 3.9%49%44%8%
Global Strategy Group June 17–23, 2021800 ± 3.5%49%39%12%

Results

By county

Despite losing the state, Ganahl won 36 of 64 counties.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Polis won six of eight congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican.
DistrictPolisGanahlRepresentative
82%16%Diana DeGette
72%26%Joe Neguse
50%47%Lauren Boebert
42%55%Ken Buck
47%50%Doug Lamborn
63%35%Jason Crow
60%38%Ed Perlmutter
60%38%Brittany Pettersen
53%44%Yadira Caraveo

Analysis

Incumbent governor Jared Polis easily won re-election by 19.3%, a margin much larger than aggregate polling predicted. Polis piled up massive margins in the heavily populous North Central Colorado Urban Area, which contains the state capital Denver plus its surrounding suburbs Aurora, Thornton, Lakewood, and Broomfield; in addition to other major cities Boulder and Fort Collins, home to the University of Colorado and Colorado State University respectively. Outside the Denver-Boulder-Fort Collins region, Polis also won a long row of counties along the Rocky Mountains from Routt in the north to La Plata in the south, which contains a number of liberal leaning ski resort towns like Telluride, Aspen, and Steamboat Springs. In Southern Colorado, a region historically known for coal mining, and home to a sizable Hispanic population, Polis managed to halt the decline in support for Democrats that had been taking place here since the mid-2010s in both state and federal races. Polis also won the relatively conservative city of Colorado Springs, the first Democrat to do so in recent history, along with greatly increasing his vote share in conservative-leaning urban counties compared to 2018. Polis's definitive victory likely helped other Democrats down the ballot to win their races or win them by comfortable margins, allowing Democrats to keep control of the state government.
Heidi Ganahl did best in the traditionally rural areas of Colorado bordering Kansas in the east, Utah in the west, and several larger counties including Weld, Douglas, and El Paso. In the latter two counties, Ganahl significantly underperformed previous Republican nominees in these traditionally conservative urban counties, winning Douglas by 0.38% and El Paso by 3.97%, the closest either county had come to voting Democratic since 1994 and 1982 respectively. Ganahl failed to appeal to the large unaffiliated bloc of state voters along with political moderates. During her campaign, she highlighted her opposition to abortion, utilized incendiary right-wing rhetoric in regards to several social and cultural issues, and courted figures involved with pushing conspiracy theories about elections.
Prior to the election, an article by Daniel Strain from the University of Colorado reported that 71% of Colorado voters said their state's elections will be conducted "fairly and accurately", while 54% said the same for other elections across the United States. 53% of voters also disapproved of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson [Women's Health Organization] to overturn Roe v. Wade. 63% of voters said Joe Biden won the 2020 election, although Biden had a 52% disapproval among Centennial State voters compared to 39% who approved of him.
Despite Biden's low approval, a Marist poll conducted in October found that amongst 1,221 Colorado adults, Governor Polis had a 50% approval, while Ganahl suffered from low name recognition, with 42% having either never heard of her or were unsure how to rate her. The same poll also found that 34% of voters were most concerned about inflation, followed by preserving democracy at 29%, abortion at 16%, crime at 7%, followed by healthcare and immigration at 6% each.