O’Dea Victory Speech

It’s a great night to be an American.  

And it’s a terrible night to run a Democratic Super PAC here in Colorado. It’s been a wild ride these last 3 weeks, hasn’t it?

All of these shady SUPER PACs controlled by Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Michael Bennet have spent millions upon millions of dollars trying to take me out…trying to make sure this moment never happened.

Me. Joe O’Dea. A carpenter and a contractor who has never run for any office in my life.

All of that money spent coming after me. It’s just UNREAL.

There’s an old football expression that feels really appropriate tonight. “You are what the scoreboard says you are.” And you know what the scoreboard says tonight?

Joe O’Dea – ONE

Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden and Michael Bennet – ZERO.

How sweet it is!

To all of you and everyone across the state who did so much to make this victory possible, thank you.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We have such an incredible team. It’s more like a family. To all of you who rallied in the face of such adversity. Celeste, Tayler, David and I are eternally grateful.

I also want to thank Representative Hanks for running a tough race. He worked hard and had an incredible grassroots following. Beating Biden and Bennet is going to take a united effort, and after a tough primary, I’ll work especially hard to win the support of Ron’s many voters. Ron deserves a round of applause for his willingness to run and to serve.

I gotta tell you, this multi-million-dollar campaign by Democrats in the Republican Primary is everything that the American people hate about politics. It is pure cynicism and deceit.

All of the millions of dollars, all of the scheming, all of it, to shield a single politician – Michael Bennet – from the accountability of the voters. It is the worst in our politics.

But that is the great thing about our political system.

The politicians can scheme, but in the end, it’s the voters that get final say.

Our victory tonight is proof “we the people” can still call the shots here in Colorado.

We took their punch.  

We shocked the world.

We beat ‘em once.  

We’ll beat ‘em again in November.

Are you with me?

And so now we have it, the election Michael Bennet did not want.

Let there be no doubt… the Colorado Senate race is a referendum on Joe Biden’s policies and Michael Bennet’s rubber stamp.

America is struggling and moving in the wrong direction, and Joe Biden is to blame.

Michael Bennet has been Biden’s wingman at every turn. Bennet votes with Biden 100% of the time.

Look, I love my wife Celeste more than life itself. But I don’t even agree with her 100% of the time.

Let’s just look at the record:

On inflation, spending, and the debt… on energy policy and gas prices … on rampant crime and a broken border … on all of it … every single time… when the chips are down … Michael Bennet does whatever Joe Biden wants him to do.

Michael Bennet is Joe Biden’s Senator, he’s not Colorado’s Senator. Colorado wants its leaders to be independent. Michael Bennet is not independent. I am.

That’s why so many independents showed up to vote for me in this primary. And we are going to work hard to keep them in our coalition this Fall. Our coalition is what made this victory possible.

It’s Trump Republicans, GOP Republicans, Log Cabin Republicans, pro-life Republicans, pro-choice Republicans, Independents, parents, police, seniors, veterans, unions, farmers, rural, urban, and suburban voters and, yes, even disenchanted Democrats.  

Our campaign has a big tent and there’s room for more.

It’s a coalition of people who don’t agree on every issue every time, but we ARE united in a deep and abiding love of our country, and a profound belief that America is so much better than what we’ve become.

These are the voices I will fight for in the Senate. Trust me, I’ll be a different kind of senator. That’s probably an understatement.

The first time I went back to Washington, DC, I had a well-known official tell me I probably shouldn’t wear blue jeans and cowboy boots when meeting with United States Senators.

We’ll see about that. I am who I am. But know this, none of THIS will change ME.

I’m an outsider, not a politician.

I’m a contractor, not a slick talker.

I’ll listen to the people.  

I’m a man who loves this country, and I don’t have a lot of patience for those who live to tear America down.

I will represent Colorado because my heart and soul is here in Colorado.

I’m a person who isn’t afraid to walk into a room of people who disagree with me – and say “we don’t agree on everything, but let’s find a way to work together”.

I did that many, many times in this primary. And I’ll do it in the senate as well.

I’ll work with reasonable people on both sides of the aisle and stand up to the extremes.

I won’t vote the party line. Michael Bennet votes with the Democratic Party every time. I’ll be more like a Republican Joe Manchin – I’ll vote my conscience, I’ll make tough choices, I’ll ruffle some feathers, and I’ll always put America and Colorado first.

No political party will own me. My agenda is common sense.

I’m running to be a voice for working Americans. I am one of you, I will fight for you. I’m running to cut the debt and reduce wasteful spending.

The debt is a moral issue. And I’m not worried about the next election. I’m worried about what we are leaving to the next generation. I’m running to keep America safe and secure. At home, that means supporting our police and law enforcement – I will back the blue.  

Overseas, that means standing by our military and pursuing a foreign policy in the tradition of Reagan – Peace through Strength.

Above all, I am running to move America forward. America is the greatest nation in the history of humankind. We are so much better than what we have become.

You know it for yourselves, and we do too. It is the only place in the world where a story like mine and Celeste’s is possible.

Celeste cleaned homes with her mom. She waited tables when she was 13 – both to help her family cover the bills. I never met my biological mom and dad – I was adopted by a Denver cop and raised in a middle-class Denver home. My parents loved me like their own. They made me wash dishes to pay for Catholic school. That’s Love.

Celeste worked at the Aurora Mall to help pay her way through school, then went to work as a microbiologist and – she started her workday at 4 AM for years and years.

I left Colorado State a semester early to start a construction company – 30 years later after several recessions, we are still going strong. We’ve employed thousands of families that helped build this great state.

All of these things were made possible through hard work and through opportunities provided by this great country. I am running for the senate because I want that formula – hard work and a country with endless possibilities – to be alive and thriving for generations.

You know, nothing in life has ever been given to me. I was sort of hoping this primary wouldn’t turn out to be World War III, but that’s just my luck – nothing given, only earned. And I’m ok with that.

I won all these personal battles the same way I will win this one. By working. By fighting. By taking zero for granted.

We are up for the fight. I’m not afraid of Chuck Schumer are you? We beat him in the primary and were gonna beat him again in the general.