Mark Udall

PolitickerCO.com asked some Colorado political figures and pundits to predict who will win on Election Day. Here's what they said:

John Straayer, political science professor at Colorado State University:

President: Barack Obama (D) 52 percent; John McCain (R) 48 percent

U.S. Senate: Mark Udall (D) 54 percent; Bob Schaffer (R) 46 percent

Fourth Congressional District: Betsy Markey (D) 50.5 percent; Marilyn Musgrave (R) 49.5 percent

Bob Loevy, political science professor at Colorado College:

Obama 54 percent; McCain 46 percent 

Udall 56 percent; Schaffer 44 percent

Former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Grand Junction) told the Colorado Independent on Tuesday that he would have beat Democrat Mark Udall in this year's U.S. Senate race.

"I would have beat Udall, that wasn't the issue," McInnis said to the liberal news Web site. "Frankly I have more difficulties with the right wing of my party then I do with taking on a Democrat. Udall was not the biggest threat I faced in the election. My biggest threat was getting through the primary. Both parties have a pretty radical element to them."

Mark Udall

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall raised more than double what Republican opponent Bob Schaffer did during the first two weeks of October, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Udall took in $819,914.31 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15, according to his FEC report. Schaffer's report shows that his campaign brought in $372,839.71.

Schaffer still has a 3-1 cash-on-hand advantage over Udall: the Fort Collins Republican has $1,518,119.11 in the bank. Udall's campaign reported $470,463.54 cash on hand.

UPDATED 1:30 P.M. 10/24/2008 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling out of Colorado, the Washington Post is reporting -- just a few days after NRSC officials insisted they would stay in the state through Election Day.

The NRSC, which has spent more than $2 million this election cycle on ads attacking Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall, had just released a new anti-Udall TV ad Thursday in most Colorado markets.

The Atlantic reported last Friday that the NRSC would be leaving Colorado, but NRSC officials insisted they wouldn't be leaving.

UPDATED 8:00 P.M. 10/23/2008 

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Arvada) is targeting Catholic voters in Colorado with robocalls aimed at Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall and 4th Congressional District Democratic nominee Betsy Markey.

In the calls, Beauprez talks in a prerecorded message about the "five non-negotiables" of Catholic doctrine -- opposition to abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning.

Beauprez then lauds the Republican candidate -- U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer or U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), depending on the call -- and says their opponent is on the wrong side of each of those issues.

The calls are being paid for by a new group led by Beauprez called Informed Catholic Citizens.

In a sign national Democrats are confident about Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall's chances on Nov. 4, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will stop its television advertising in Colorado by Tuesday, the Denver Post reported Wednesday.

The DSCC, which has spent nearly $4.6 million on advertising in support of Udall against Republican opponent Bob Schaffer, will focus instead on U.S. Senate races in other states, according to the Post.