Bennet Speaks of Victorious Campaign

By Chadwick Bowman

After an exhausting night of slow precinct numbers trickling in, and polls going back and forth, Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) was finally able to accept victory and speak to his supporters, with words he was hoping to deliver the night before.

After a back-and-forth contest that was the U.S. Senate race in Colorado, Bennet was thankful he was able to delivers his acceptance speech at all, outlasting the Republican candidate and tea party hopeful, Ken Buck.

Late Wednesday morning, Bennet stood out front of the Nature and Science Building in City Park, with Denver’s gorgeous backdrop behind him and spoke to around a hundred of his supporters who he thanked for the privilege to return to Washington.

“I am humbled by your support, and I’m inspired by it.” Bennet told supporters.

Bennet was joined on stage with Democrats Gov.- elect John Hickenlooper, current Gov. Bill Ritter and Sen. Mark Udall. Also by his side was his wife and his three daughters. Bennet throughout the speech was humorously jostling to contain his reckless children.

“This election and our campaign was never about sending some sort of political message,” Bennet said. “It was about rolling up our sleeves and getting back to work to rebuild our state and our country.”

The race was finally called on Wednesday morning when votes were still being tallied through the night. The earliest reports that projected a Bennet victory came from the Denver Post and later, other news outlets. It would not be until late Wednesday night that Ken Buck would concede the race in a phone call to the Bennet camp.

The former Denver Public School’s superintendent, and Gov. Ritter’s appointee to the senate held on to his seat by just a 15,000 votes, one of the closest races in the country. He not only thanked his supporters in his speech, but also his family, his democratic partners and Gov. Ritter.

“Gov. Ritter 22 months ago made a very surprising choice,” Bennet said. “Let’s face it, most people thought he’d lost his mind. I want to thank Bill for believing in me then, and believing in me know.”

It was not the Senator elect who would finish off the speech, instead, he let his youngest daughter Caroline. She would proclaim that today, the end of the campaign, marked the families’ search for the promised new puppy.