GOP's O'Dea slams Michael Bennet for 'war on energy' and 'record inflation' during Colorado debate

Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O'Dea took on incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in Friday evening's debate.

Early on, O'Dea highlighted a "war on energy" and "record inflation" before tying his opponent to President Joe Biden, upon whom he placed the blame for the nation's economic state. Bennet retorted that he sought to move the country away from the "trickle-down economics" to benefit every Coloradan.

Moderators then asked Bennet about the Inflation Reduction Act, highlighting an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office that concluded it would not impact inflation in a meaningful way. Bennet asserted that the bill's title was not misleading, before highlighting efforts to cut the price of drugs in the bill. One moderator pointed out that those reforms applied to Medicare recipients and asked about relief for those covered by private plans. Bennet, in turn, touted his support for letting people choose between private plans and a public option.

On guns, both O'Dea and Bennet declined to back a 10-day waiting period to purchase a firearm. Bennet backed a federal assault weapons ban while O'Dea declined to do so. The Republican went on to assert that Colorado needed to enforce existing laws before passing additional restrictions.

On abortion, Bennet backed the state's existing law that allows abortion up until birth. The Democrat insisted that late term abortions were 1% of the abortions performed. Moderators questioned O'Dea on his own position. He insisted that he was not able to vote for late-term abortions but supported allowing it at earlier stages of pregnancy. O'Dea then highlighted Bennet's support for taxpayer funding for abortion, which he opposed.

Moderators later asked O'Dea about his support for border security and opposition to additional funding for the IRS, positing that the additional revenue the IRS might rake in could fund border security. The Republican insisted that the IRS would not target the wealthiest Americans but instead go after middle-income earners.

O'Dea, who has mounted an unexpectedly strong campaign in the Senate, has largely distanced himself from former President Donald Trump while earning the endorsements of other conservative superstars such as Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

RealClearPolitics currently rates the race as "leans Democrat" and assigns Bennet an overall 7.5% lead.