DENVER Demarcus Lawrence Jersey , United States, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Colorado incumbent Governor John Hickenlooper's razor-thin victory, declared by the bleary-eyed governor the morning after Election Day Tuesday, became the sole Democratic bright spot in America's West in the pivotal 2014 American mid-term elections.
As Republicans took control of Congress in Washington, political contests in America's West reflected the national electorate's discontent with Washington, a voting trend historically common against the sitting president's party two years after the presidential election.
Republican national candidates won Governor and Senate races in nine of 11 states west of America's Mississippi River, including Kansas Dak Prescott Jersey , Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Iowa and Arkansas.
Republicans in the U.S. West capitalized on President Barack Obama's low popularity Ezekiel Elliott Jersey , and traditional, conservative roots in America's vast, mineral-rich and farming-centered western states.
As the U.S. Senate shifted to a 52-43 Republican majority, in the west of the country, only Democrats Jeff Merkley from Oregon and New Mexico's Tom Udall won as expected.
Udall's older cousin Senator Mark Udall saw his 16-year Congressional career end abruptly as Republican challenger Cory Gardner, 40, a U.S. House representative from the conservative farm-filled eastern half the state Cheap Dallas Cowboys Jerseys , scored a come-from-behind 49- 45 percent victory.
Udall's early advantage over Gardner in the polls fell dramatically after an Oct. 10 endorsement from The Denver Post, the state's biggest newspaper, which said Udall's campaign was disorganized and too negative.
Udall's defeat was blamed on advertising attacks and President Obama's unpopularity in the state. His attempts to paint Gardner as "anti-abortion", despite Gardner's call for over-the-counter contraceptives, failed to convince voters.
Colorado's hotly-contested governor's race barely went to incumbent Hickenlooper who got 908,846 votes (48.4 percent) as against Republican challenger Bob Beauprez's 883,457 votes (47.05 percent).
Hickenlooper waited up all night before declaring victory Damien Wilson Cowboys Jersey , and Beauprez refused to concede defeat until "all the votes are counted".
It is expected that Hickenlooper's victory will hold because many outstanding votes are from heavily democratic areas like Boulder where the governor runs strongly.
Hickenlooper, once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, lost popularity after supporting two modest gun control measures passed by the Colorado legislature following the 2012 mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater.
The last time an incumbent governor lost in Colorado was 1962, but Hickenlooper's gun