Senator-Elect Mark Udall

Party: Democrat
State: Colorado
Race results: Colorado voters firmly rejected the conservative policies of former Rep. Bob Schaffer and elected Mark Udall to Senate, 52%-43%.

Democrat - Open seat
Endorsed for U.S. Senate by Council for a Livable World Candidate Fund

In Colorado's race to replace retiring Senator Wayne Allard, a clear-cut progressive is challenging one of the state's most conservative politicians.

Representative Mark Udall has repeatedly taken principled but unpopular stands in this Republican state that has started trending Democratic. Udall voted against the Iraq war resolution in October 2002 in the face of pro-war hysteria generated by the Bush Administration. He says: "I have never wavered in my opposition to the war in Iraq and continue to view it as a strategic blunder of historic proportion - a move in the Middle East that has made our struggle against Islamic extremism harder, not easier."

After General David Petraeus's testimony to Congress in September, Udall criticized the Bush Administration's "stay the course" Iraq war policy. "My deep fear," Udall said, "is that every additional day, every additional month our troops continue to referee the civil war in Iraq, we lose more U.S. lives, risk the maiming of many thousands more brave soldiers, spend further billions of dollars, and divert resources from a more effective war on terror."

In 2007, Udall voted for the strongest measure to bring the troops home five out of six times. After supporting both the Iraq war funding bill and a timetable for an American military exit from Iraq, he responded: "I have never thought that cutting off funding for our soldiers was the right way to bring America's military involvement in this war to an end."

The Republican nominee is former U.S. Representative Bob Schaffer, who served three termsin the House until 2004 when he lost the primary election for U.S. Senate. While in Congress, Schaffer voted a hard-right Republican line and holds firm with that position. In an August 28 radio interview, he accused Sen. Harry Reid and other Senate anti-war leaders of "effectively accomplishing a deliberate loss and surrender in Iraq for the sake of their political advantage at election time in 2008. I think they're hoping America loses."

In 2002, Schaffer voted to authorize the war and was a down-the-line supporter of the Bush agenda on foreign, military and domestic affairs. During his six years in Congress, Schaffer averaged only 6 percent on the Council for a Livable World's PeacePac voting record. Schaffer has been endorsed by the Club for Growth, one of the most rightwing organizations in the nation.

Rep. Udall is currently serving his fifth term in Congress. A member of a well-known and highly respected Western family, he is the son of the late U.S. Representative Morris K. Udall, the nephew of former Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall, and the cousin of New Mexico Representative Tom Udall.

Born in 1950, Rep. Udall graduated from Williams College in 1972, was an educator and executive director of the Outward Bound School, and served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1997 - 1999. He has been in Congress since 1999.

Udall has a strong record on national security issues, scoring an 88 percent on the Council for a Livable World's PeacePAC voting scorecard. He voted for requiring Congressional authorization for military operations in Iran, for an international treaty banning space-based weapons, for increasing funding for nuclear non-proliferation and against development of new nuclear weapons.

This year, he voted against an amendment to add $764 million for missile programs and took the initiative on pressing legislation barring President Bush from attacking Iran without prior Congressional approval. Representative Udall is the lead House sponsor of a measure introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) that would make it more difficult for Bush to strike Iran.

Not long ago, Colorado was regarded as a solidly red state, but it has been steadily shifting toward blue. Democrats now control the state House of Representatives, 39 - 26, and the state Senate, 20 - 15. The Governor is Democrat Bill Ritter. Four of Colorado's seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are occupied by Democrats. The other U.S. Senator is Democrat Ken Salazar, supported by the Council for a Livable World in 2004.

Mark Udall's prospects in this race are excellent, helped because the seat is open after Allard announced his retirement earlier this year. Most of Colorado's Democratic leaders already support Udall.

This Colorado contest is one of the best opportunities in the 2008 election to win a Senate seat for a progressive with a proven political record. Mark Udall will work hard to end the war in Iraq. He is a man of courage who voted against giving President Bush the authorization to attack Iraq. Council for a Livable World has endorsed Mark Udall with great enthusiasm.

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