Colorado's 4th congressional district

Colorado's 4th congressional district
Representative	Cory Gardner R–Yuma
Cook PVI	R+12

Colorado's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the eastern part of the state, the district encompasses most of the rural Eastern Plains as well as the larger cities of Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Longmont along Colorado's Front Range in north-central Colorado.

The district is currently represented by Republican Cory Gardner, who defeated Democratic incumbent Betsy Markey in 2010.

The district from 2003 to 2013

History

1990s

Following the 1990 U.S. Census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 4th Congressional district consisted of Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Larimer, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties, as well as portions of Adams, and Arapahoe counties.

2000s

Following the 2000 U.S. Census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 4th Congressional district consisted of Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Larimer, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties, as well as portions of Boulder, and Otero counties.

Characteristics

This district consists mainly of the area of Colorado that is part of the Great Plains region of the United States. It is largely rural, but 85% of the district's vote is cast in only two counties: Larimer (home to Fort Collins) and Weld (home to Greeley).

Historically, the district has been friendly territory for congressional Republicans, though Marilyn Musgrave only narrowly won in 2004 and 2006 due to her Democratic opponents' strength in Fort Collins. Musgrave had to rely on strong performances in more conservative Greeley to hold onto her seat. In 2008, Musgrave lost reelection to Betsy Markey, the first Democrat to be elected by the 4th District since the early 1970s.

George W. Bush received 58% of the vote in this district in 2004. John McCain narrowly carried the district in 2008 with 50% of the vote.

Voting

Election results from presidential races

Election results from presidential races
Year	Office	Results
2000	President	Bush 57 - 37%
2004	President	Bush 58 - 41%
2008	President	McCain 50 - 49%
2012	President	Romney 59 - 40%

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Term Duration	Congress	District Home	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1915					Districts 3 and 4 were created from the former at-large district
Edward T. Taylor	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – September 3, 1941	64th	Glenwood Springs	First elected in 1908 (At-large district) Died
			65th
			66th
			67th
			68th
			69th
			70th
			71st
			72nd
			73rd
			74th
			75th
			76th
			77th
Vacant		September 3, 1941 – December 9, 1941	77th
Robert F. Rockwell	Republican	December 9, 1941 – January 3, 1949	77th	Paonia	Won special election to finish remaining term Won in the 1942 general election Lost re-election
			78th
			79th
			80th
Wayne Aspinall	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1973	81st	Palisade	First elected in 1948 Lost party re-nomination
			82nd
			83rd
			84th
			85th
			86th
			87th
			88th
			89th
			90th
			91st
			92nd
Jim Johnson	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981	93rd	Fort Collins	First elected in 1972 Retired
			94th
			95th
			96th
Hank Brown	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1991	97th	Greeley	First elected in 1980 Retired to run for U.S. Senate
			98th
			99th
			100th
			101st
Wayne Allard	Republican	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997	102nd	Loveland	First elected in 1990 Retired to run for U.S. Senate
			103rd
			104th
Bob Schaffer	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	105th	Fort Collins	First elected in 1996 Retired
			106th
			107th
Marilyn Musgrave	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009	108th	Fort Morgan	First elected in 2002 Lost re-election
			109th
			110th
Betsy Markey	Democratic	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011	111th	Fort Collins	Elected in 2008 Lost re-election
Cory Gardner	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present	112th	Yuma	First elected in 2010
			113th

Election results

1914

United States House of Representatives elections, 1914

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	26,562	57.83
	Republican	H.J. Baird	15,015	32.69
	Socialist	George Kunkle	4,353	9.48
Total votes			45,930	100.0
	Democratic win (new seat)

1916

United States House of Representatives elections, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	30,926	65.78
	Republican	H.J. Baird	13,397	28.49
	Socialist	Emery D. Cox	2,695	5.73
Total votes			47,018	100.0
	Democratic hold

1918

United States House of Representatives elections, 1918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	22,423	65.72
	Republican	Straud M. Logan	11,695	34.28
Total votes			34,118	100.0
	Democratic hold

1920

United States House of Representatives elections, 1920

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	25,994	55.32
	Republican	Merle D. Vincent	20,991	44.68
Total votes			46,985	100.0
	Democratic hold

1922

United States House of Representatives elections, 1922

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	30,331	64.26
	Republican	Merle D. Vincent	16,870	35.74
Total votes			47,201	100.0
	Democratic hold

1924

United States House of Representatives elections, 1924

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	33,262	65.54
	Republican	Webster S. Whinnery	17,486	34.46
Total votes			50,748	100.0
	Democratic hold

1926

United States House of Representatives elections, 1926

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	32,093	66.75
	Republican	Webster S. Whinnery	15,990	33.25
Total votes			48,083	100.0
	Democratic hold

1928

United States House of Representatives elections, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	30,142	58.84
	Republican	William P. Dale	21,089	41.16
Total votes			51,231	100.0
	Democratic hold

1930

United States House of Representatives elections, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	34,536	66.95
	Republican	Webster S. Whinnery	17,051	33.05
Total votes			51,587	100.0
	Democratic hold

1932

United States House of Representatives elections, 1932

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	40,736	65.99
	Republican	Richard C. Callen	20,993	34.01
Total votes			61,729	100.0
	Democratic hold

1934

United States House of Representatives elections, 1934

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	39,747	67.30
	Republican	Harry McDevitt	17,234	29.18
	Veterans' Party	Gustavis A. Billstrom	1,625	2.75
	Independent	O.W. Daggett	457	0.77
Total votes			59,063	100.0
	Democratic hold

1936

United States House of Representatives elections, 1936

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	42,010	65.45
	Republican	John S. Woody	22,175	34.55
Total votes			64,185	100.0
	Democratic hold

1938

United States House of Representatives elections, 1938

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	43,596	63.74
	Republican	John S. Woody	24,805	36.26
Total votes			68,401	100.0
	Democratic hold

1940

United States House of Representatives elections, 1940

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward T. Taylor (incumbent)	44,095	59.41
	Republican	Paul W. Crawford	30,126	40.59
Total votes			74,221	100.0
	Democratic hold

1941 (Special)

Colorado's 4th congressional district special election, 1941

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert F. Rockwell	19,918	54.04
	Democratic	Frank Delaney	16,941	45.96
Total votes			36,859	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

1942

United States House of Representatives elections, 1942

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert F. Rockwell (incumbent)	28,460	58.75
	Democratic	Elizabeth E. Pellet	19,979	41.25
Total votes			48,439	100.0
	Republican hold

1944

United States House of Representatives elections, 1944

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert F. Rockwell (incumbent)	38,671	61.67
	Democratic	John L. Heuschkel	24,039	38.33
Total votes			62,710	100.0
	Republican hold

1946

United States House of Representatives elections, 1946

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert F. Rockwell (incumbent)	28,894	58.75
	Democratic	Thomas Matthews	20,290	41.25
Total votes			49,184	100.0
	Republican hold

1948

United States House of Representatives elections, 1948

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall	34,695	51.86
	Republican	Robert F. Rockwell (incumbent)	32,206	48.14
Total votes			66,901	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

1950

United States House of Representatives elections, 1950

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	35,797	57.30
	Republican	Jack Evans	26,674	42.70
Total votes			62,471	100.0
	Democratic hold

1952

United States House of Representatives elections, 1952

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	39,676	50.02
	Republican	Howard M. Shults	39,647	49.98
Total votes			79,323	100.0
	Democratic hold

1954

United States House of Representatives elections, 1954

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	34,294	53.49
	Republican	Charles E. Wilson	29,818	46.51
Total votes			64,112	100.0
	Democratic hold

1956

United States House of Representatives elections, 1956

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	48,489	61.76
	Republican	Hugh Caldwell	30,026	38.24
Total votes			78,515	100.0
	Democratic hold

1958

United States House of Representatives elections, 1958

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	43,785	63.61
	Republican	J.R. "Dick" Wells	25,048	36.39
Total votes			68,833	100.0
	Democratic hold

1960

United States House of Representatives elections, 1960

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	58,731	68.54
	Republican	Charles P. Casteel	26,960	31.46
Total votes			85,691	100.0
	Democratic hold

1962

United States House of Representatives elections, 1962

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	42,462	58.65
	Republican	Leo L. Sommerville	29,943	41.36
Total votes			72,405	100.0
	Democratic hold

1964

United States House of Representatives elections, 1964

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	106,685	63.02
	Republican	Edwin S. Lamm	62,617	36.98
Total votes			169,302	100.0
	Democratic hold

1966

United States House of Representatives elections, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	84,107	58.61
	Republican	James Paul Johnson	59,404	41.39
Total votes			143,511	100.0
	Democratic hold

1968

United States House of Representatives elections, 1968

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	92,680	54.69
	Republican	Fred E. Anderson	76,776	45.31
Total votes			169,456	100.0
	Democratic hold

1970

United States House of Representatives elections, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne Aspinall (incumbent)	76,244	55.08
	Republican	Bill Gossard	62,169	44.92
Total votes			138,413	100.0
	Democratic hold

1972

United States House of Representatives elections, 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Paul Johnson	94,994	51.03
	Democratic	Alan Merson	91,151	48.97
Total votes			186,145	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

1974

United States House of Representatives elections, 1974

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	82,982	52.05
	Democratic	John Carroll	76,452	47.95
Total votes			159,434	100.0
	Republican hold

1976

United States House of Representatives elections, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	119,458	54.05
	Democratic	Daniel Ogden	76,995	34.84
	Independent	Dick Davis	20,398	9.23
	Independent	Henry Thiel	4,167	1.89
Total votes			221,018	100.0
	Republican hold

1978

United States House of Representatives elections, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Paul Johnson (incumbent)	103,121	61.18
	Democratic	Morgan Smith	65,421	38.82
Total votes			168,542	100.0
	Republican hold

1980

United States House of Representatives elections, 1980

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Brown	178,221	68.42
	Democratic	Polly Baca	76,849	29.50
	Libertarian	Cynthia Molson-Smith	5,421	2.08
Total votes			260,491	100.0
	Republican hold

1982

United States House of Representatives elections, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Brown (incumbent)	105,550	69.76
	Democratic	Charles "Bud" Bishopp	45,750	30.24
Total votes			151,300	100.0
	Republican hold

1984

United States House of Representatives elections, 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Brown (incumbent)	146,469	71.13
	Democratic	Mary Fagan Bates	56,462	27.42
	Libertarian	Randy Fitzgerald	2,999	1.45
Total votes			205,930	100.0
	Republican hold

1986

United States House of Representatives elections, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Brown (incumbent)	117,089	69.80
	Democratic	David Sprague	50,672	30.20
Total votes			167,761	100.0
	Republican hold

1988

United States House of Representatives elections, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hank Brown (incumbent)	156,202	73.08
	Democratic	Charles S. Vigil	57,552	26.92
Total votes			213,754	100.0
	Republican hold

1990

United States House of Representatives elections, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Allard	89,285	54.05
	Democratic	Richard R. "Dick" Bond	75,901	45.95
Total votes			165,186	100.0
	Republican hold

1992

United States House of Representatives elections, 1992

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Allard (incumbent)	139,884	57.84
	Democratic	Tom Redder	101,957	42.16
Total votes			241,841	100.0
	Republican hold

1994

United States House of Representatives elections, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Allard (incumbent)	136,251	72.30
	Democratic	Cathy Kipp	52,202	27.70
Total votes			188,453	100.0
	Republican hold

1996

United States House of Representatives elections, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Schaffer	137,012	56.14
	Democratic	Guy Kelley	92,837	38.04
	American	Wesley Paul "Wes" McKinley	7,428	3.04
	Natural Law	Cynthia Parker	6,790	2.78
Total votes			244,067	100.0
	Republican hold

1998

United States House of Representatives elections, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Schaffer (incumbent)	131,318	59.34
	Democratic	Susan Kirkpatrick	89,973	40.66
Total votes			221,291	100.0
	Republican hold

2000

United States House of Representatives elections, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Schaffer (incumbent)	209,078	79.50
	Natural Law	Dan Sewell Ward	19,721	7.50
	Libertarian	Kordon L. Baker	19,713	7.50
	Constitution	Leslie J. Hanks	9,955	3.77
	Write-in		4,539	1.73
Total votes			263,006	100.0
	Republican hold

2002

United States House of Representatives elections, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave	115,359	54.95
	Democratic	Stan Matsunaka	87,499	41.68
	Libertarian	John Volz	7,097	3.37
Total votes			209,955	100.0
	Republican hold

2004

United States House of Representatives elections, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	155,958	51.05
	Democratic	Stan Matsunaka	136,812	44.78
	Green	Bob Kinsey	12,739	4.17
Total votes			305,509	100.0
	Republican hold

2006

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	109,732	45.61
	Democratic	Angie Paccione	103,748	43.11
	Reform	Eric Eidsness	27,133	11.28
Total votes			240,613	100.0
	Republican hold

2008

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Betsy Markey	187,348	56.20
	Republican	Marilyn Musgrave (incumbent)	146,030	43.80
Total votes			333,378	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

2010

United States House of Representatives elections, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cory Gardner	138,634	52.48
	Democratic	Betsy Markey (incumbent)	109,249	41.35
	Constitution	Doug Aden	12,312	4.66
	No party	Ken "Wasko" Waszkiewicz	3,986	1.51
Total votes			264,181	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present