Meet the Candidates: Winners of the Congressional Primaries in Colorado, Connecticut and Nevada

(For a full list of candidates, see the Nevada, Colorado and Connecticut portals.)

By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

The incumbent members of Congress running in the Connecticut, Nevada and Colorado primaries all survived their same-party challenges Tuesday.

In one of the two open House seats (both in Colorado), retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo's heavily Republican 6th congressional district, Colorado secretary of state Mike Coffman won the GOP nomination. In the other, Colorado's 2nd congressional district, Jared Polis (and the millions spent out of his own pocket) beat out the crowded field to represent the Democratic Party. Polis’s victory almost guarantees his victory in November – the district is very Democratic, so Republican challenger Scott Starin definitely has his work cut out for him.

Colorado is also home to the only open Senate seat, currently held by retiring Sen. Wayne Allard (R). Democratic Rep. Mark Udall and former Bob Schaffer (R), were uncontested in that primary.

Probably the most vulnerable incumbent in these states come fall is Rep. Chris Shays, the last remaining Republican in the House from New England. The Democrats in that district overwhelmingly nominated Jim Himes to challenge him in the general election.

See the full list of candidates and winners after the jump.

As part of Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote project, citizen journalists from around the country (and even some candidates!) have been logging information about the candidates' positions, biographies and records. We’ve also started displaying the candidates’ biggest campaign contributors on their profile page.

A full list of the candidates and their professions are after the jump, but you can also find them at their respective state portals via the Wiki the Vote project homepage. We need your help to find out more about these candidates, so if you know something about them please add it to their profile. (You can always contact one of the staff editors for help.)

Here are the victors of Colorado’s primaries:

• Sen. Wayne Allard (R) is retiring. Rep. Mark Udall is running for the seat against Republican nominee Bob Schaffer, a former congressman.
• In the 1st district, incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette (D) will face George Lilly (R), who had a career in sales.
• In the 2nd district, incumbent Rep. Mark Udall (D) won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. Entrepreneur Jared Polis (D) is up against Republican Scott Starin, a project manager for Bell Aerospace.
• In the 3rd district, Democratic incumbent Rep. John Salazar is being challenged by Wayne Wolf (R), who is president of the Western District of County Commissioners.
• In the 4th district, incumbent Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican, is running against Betsy Markey (D), a former congressional aide to Sen. Ken Salazar.
• In the 5th district, incumbent Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) will face Hal Bidlack, a Democrat, who is a retired Air Force colonel.
• In the 6th district, incumbent Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) is retiring. Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman (R) is up against Democrat Hank Eng, an aerospace engineer and consultant.
• In the 7th district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Ed Perlmutter is being challenged by John Lerew (R), the founder of a financial planning center.

Here are the victors of Connecticut’s primaries:

• In the 1st district, incumbent Rep. John Larson (D) is facing Joe Visconti, a Republican who owns a general contracting company.
• In the 2nd district, incumbent Rep. Joe Courtney (D) will be challenged by Sean Sullivan (R), an attorney.
• In the 3rd district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Rosa DeLauro is up against Boaz ItsHaky (R), an acupuncturist.
• In the 4th district, incumbent Rep. Chris Shays (R) will face Democrat Jim Himes, the vice-president of an affordable housing organization.
• In the 5th district, incumbent Rep. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, is being challenged by David Cappiello (R), a Connecticut state senator.

Here are the victors of Nevada’s primaries:

• In the 1st district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Shelley Berkley is being challenged by Kenneth Wegner (R), a part-time bail-enforcement agent.
• In the 2nd district, incumbent Rep. Dean Heller (R) will face Democratic nominee Jill Derby, the chair of the Nevada Democratic party.
• In the 3rd district, incumbent Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican, will be facing Nevada state Sen. Dina Titus (D).