Wednesday 5 October 2022 06:27 PM George W. Bush RETURNS to the campaign trail to stump for Trump-wary Colorado ... trends now George W. Bush RETURNS to the campaign trail: President will stump for Colorado Republican Joe O'Dea - who said Trump lost the election and shouldn't run in 2024 George W. Bush will appear at a fundraiser for Senate candidate Joe O'Dea It will happen later this month and also be attended by Texas Sen. John Cornyn Republicans hope O'Dea's more moderate brand of GOP politics will be key to flipping Colorado's Senate seat from red to blue in November It's held by Democrat Senator Michael Bennet, who ran for president in 2020 O'Dea has bucked the GOP line on abortion, calling for a 5-month limit By Elizabeth Elkind, Politics Reporter For Dailymail.Com Published: 18:19 BST, 5 October 2022 | Updated: 18:23 BST, 5 October 2022 Viewcomments Construction company CEO Joe O'Dea is a moderate Republican who has given the GOP establishment hope that they could flip Colorado's Democratic Senate seat Former President George W. Bush is hitting the midterm campaign trail once again to stump for a Republican Senate candidate who's opposed to Donald Trump running for the White House in 2024. Bush will be in Colorado later this month to campaign for Joe O'Dea, the CEO of a construction company who is now challenging Democrat Senator Michael Bennet. O'Dea has separated himself from the majority of GOP Congressional hopefuls with his moderate stances - giving hope to the Republican establishment that he could flip a state that President Joe Biden won by 14 points. For instance, he's disputed Trump's claims that the 2020 election was rigged and shown support for Biden's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal. He also ventured out on his own to criticize the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade and has maintained support for legal abortion up to five months, with exceptions for rape and incest afterwards - a far cry from South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham's proposed ban after 15 weeks. While Trump has been silent on O'Dea's candidacy, he's clinched endorsements from an array of national GOP figures, including allies of the former president like ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Bush's upcoming fundraiser appearance for O'Dea was first reported by NBC News on Tuesday. The former commander-in-chief has himself not shied away from breaking from fellow GOP leader Trump. It's a trait also shared by the Republicans who Bush has endorsed this campaign cycle. He's getting campaign help from George W. Bush, who is attending a fundraiser for O'Dea later this month He previously campaigned alongside Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney in their primary races. Kemp, who has disputed Trump's allegations of widespread voter fraud in the Peach State, soundly defeated a primary challenger backed by the ex-president in former Senator David Perdue. Cheney, on the other hand, did not fare as well. Her opposition to Trump in the state he won by the widest margin in 2020 saw her rejected by Wyoming voters. She lost to Harriet Hageman, a Trump-backed attorney who will likely win the Cowboy State's lone at-large House seat in November. Bush has also donated to Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who Trump is fighting to unseat after she voted to impeach him over the Capitol riot. Attending the October fundraiser for O'Dea with Bush will be his fellow Texan, GOP Sen. John Cornyn. Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina is reportedly campaigning for O'Dea on Friday, and he got a boost from Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Trump ally, last month. O'Dea previously said of Trump, 'I hope he doesn’t run. I don’t want to see him as president again' The Colorado Republican has reportedly raised $3 million between July and September, including $1 million from his own money. He said of Trump during a talk radio appearance in August, 'I hope he doesn’t run. I don’t want to see him as president again.' 'I think that seeing a Biden-Trump rematch again in 2024 would rip the country apart. I think a lot of people are ready to move our country forward. So, I wouldn’t support him running again,' O'Dea added. Most polls show him trailing Bennet in the increasingly blue state, though O'Dea is not far behind as the midterms loom just over a month away. A left-leaning pollster called Public Policy Polling found O'Dea trailing Bennet by 11 points. Meanwhile the Trafalgar Group's late September survey saw Bennet just 6 points ahead. The Republican Attorneys General Association's poll with the Tarrance Group put the Democrat just a point over O'Dea. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility