DENVER – With hours to go until the polls close, candidates held their last get-out-the-vote rallies Monday, pleading with voters to either change the tide or endorse their direction for the state and nation.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall is in one of the most precarious situations. He faces a tough challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner in the spirited U.S. Senate race, which remains a statistical tie.

It has been the centerpiece of the Colorado election season.

The race has been dominated by a narrative on women’s reproductive health care and ties to President Barack Obama. But in the waning hours of the race, both candidates focused on ballots.

Udall began at Metro State University in Denver, focusing much of his time looking to rally Latino voters. He closed his day at a final get-out-the-vote rally in Wheat Ridge, motivating an army of volunteers at 24 field offices across the state.

“We are on offense,” Udall told a room full of boisterous supporters. “We are campaigning until the polls close. ... We are surging.”

Democrats are counting on a surge of last-minute voters and the help of a new law that requires ballots to be mailed to every voter in Colorado, including drop-off voters who traditionally don’t vote in midterm elections.

All across the state, volunteers manned phones and knocked on doors, frantically collecting and urging voters to return ballots.

As of Monday morning, Democrats continued to trail Republicans in early voting, with about 41 percent of ballots cast belonging to Republicans and 32 percent coming from Democrats. Another 27 percent represented unaffiliated voters.

Udall pointed to the unimaginable amount of outside money that has been spent in the race, totaling nearly $94 million.

“You can’t buy an election here in Colorado,” Udall said.

His opponent, Gardner, held his own final rally in Greenwood Village, just south of Denver.

Surrounded by a gaggle of reporters from across the world during the noon gathering, the significance of the moment was not lost on the darling of the Colorado Republican Party.

“We have one day more,” Gardner said to loud applause and cheers. “We will not sleep, we will not stop, we will not quit until we get every last vote into the ballot box.”

A confident Gardner told reporters numbers favor him.

“Republicans are motivated to win, not just because of Republicans on the ballot, but because we need to turn this country around,” he said.

Also fighting for his life is Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who faces a difficult challenge from Republican Bob Beauprez, a former congressman.

Hickenlooper joined Udall at the rally Monday evening.

“We’ve got 25 hours of work ... so that we don’t have to face the reality of Wednesday where everything we worked so hard for the last four years gets unraveled,” Hickenlooper said.

The governor’s race has been focused on sharp contrasts between Hickenlooper and Beauprez, especially on public safety. Beauprez assailed the governor for prison policies that released dangerous offenders early.

Hickenlooper also found himself defending an executive order he signed granting a temporary reprieve from execution for convicted killer Nathan Dunlap. Hickenlooper’s support for a package of gun-control laws also has been under the microscope.

Meanwhile, Hickenlooper stayed mostly positive, touting a rebounding state economy despite multiple natural disasters and a fragile national economy.

Beauprez spent his last full day before the election on the Western Slope drawing those contrasts.

“The crowds today were amazing,” Beauprez said. “In Grand Junction, they told us it was the biggest crowd they’d ever had in that office. People are hungry for victory and working hard. It’s very humbling, but encouraging, and we’re excited for tomorrow night.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com