Colorado broke for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night, dashing Donald Trump’s hopes of pulling the state back into the Republican column.
With the win, the former first lady claims nine electoral votes and holds on to a key Western state that the Trump campaign had actively targeted in the final days of the campaign.
With about 65 percent of the vote in, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump in Colorado 48.7 percent to 43.8 percent.
The state has leaned Democratic in recent elections, going to President Obama in both 2008 and 2012 after voting Republican in the prior three presidential elections.
Polls had shown Mrs. Clinton with a steady lead heading into Tuesday. The most recent Real Clear Politics average of all polls gave the former first lady a 3-point advantage; she’d led in virtually all polls throughout the past several months, and Mr. Trump hadn’t been ahead in any survey since late September.
But the billionaire Republican had refused to give up on the state, campaigning there as recently as last weekend. And Mr. Trump’s campaign also had spent more money on TV commercials in Colorado than Mrs. Clinton, underscoring his campaign’s desire to flip the state back into the Republican column and take nine electoral votes away from his Democratic opponent.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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