Once reliably red, Colorado went blue in 2008 for just the third time since 1950. This year, nearly 10% of the TV ad money spent in the presidential race - $65 million - has been shelled out in this Western battleground. Democrats now hold the governorship and both Senate seats thanks to shifting demographics; driven by an influx of highly educated West Coast transplants and rapid population growth, the state has gotten younger and more Latino. The key to Colorado's nine electoral votes? It’s suburban Denver's swing counties, which President George W. Bush won in 2004, the president carried in 2008, and Senator Michael Bennet swept in 2010.
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The U.S. Census has more on Colorado's changing demographic landscape.
Here’s our latest NBC/WSJ/Marist polling in Colorado.
Interested in doing your own digging into how Obama's 2008 performance in Colorado stacks up to past presidential candidates? Check out Dave Leib's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
And some Rundown-recommended politics resources for the Centennial State: The Denver Post’s blog “The Spot,” NBC’s affiliate KUSA, and ColoradoPols.com.