Joe O’Dea was about to finish his bachelor’s degree. He had a few more classes to complete that weren’t even worth a full-time semester.
A brilliant student, O’Dea made the dean’s list in her first semester and was awarded a scholarship to cover part of her education for the rest of her time studying construction management at Colorado State University.
However, he was apprehensive about starting a job.
“I think I still had six or seven credits left,” O’Dea told Fox News.
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“And they needed a semester’s worth of tuition, which I think was about $2,500 at the time,” he continued. “My scholarship covered just over half of that.”
O’Dea once took a break from his education. After high school, he took a few years off to work as a union carpenter.
“I had to work my whole life,” O’Dea told Fox News. “I’ve been given nothing.”
But when the sweetheart he eventually married enrolled at Colorado State University, he followed her to Fort Collins and began working on his own degree. decided it wasn’t worth it.
“I dropped out because they didn’t want to pay for next semester,” said O’Dea. “I needed to get to work.”
By that time, he and his wife Celeste were married. Together, they started a construction company out of the basement.
More than 30 years later, O’Dea has a real chance to replace Michael Bennett as Colorado Senator for 13 years. Republican challengers are lagging behind in the polls, but they are very close. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich likened Oddie to the truck driver who fired the New Jersey Senate Speaker last year.
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“I understand the plight of working Americans and how difficult it is to add things up at the kitchen table,” O’Dea told Fox News.As inflation continues to soar to a 40-year high, Colorado He has repeatedly relied on his humble background to build relationships with voters.
“Americans are nervous and very anxious right now,” said O’Dea. “That’s why my candidacy makes so much sense for Colorado.”
“We need new policies to help working Americans,” he continued. “And that’s why I’m running this race.”
Bennett’s campaign declined to allow the senator to be interviewed and did not provide comment for this article.
In August, Bennett, a Democrat, questioned whether O’Dea kept in touch in the same way as working-class Coloradans. as he claimed.
“This is the man who literally posted on Facebook a picture of him and his wife on horseback buying sushi in a fancy neighborhood. Bennett said on MSNBC.
Odia later replied that she had been riding horses all her life.
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“Do your best every day”
O’Dea grew up in part of southeast Denver, which at the time was mostly fields and cattle.
A fourth-generation Coloradan, who was adopted by a police officer, said he was raised with respect for police officers.
“As the son of a cop, you are always worried about embarrassing your father.”He also instilled in us a respect for law and order.
“Growing up in a cop home, I think you realize how dangerous that job can be,” continued O’Dea. I remember going to sleep wondering if it was coming.”
But his father also stressed the importance of education. When O’Dea’s grades plummeted, his parents transferred him to an all-boys Catholic school.
In her third year, Odia started a carpentry apprenticeship. He was a traveler by the time he graduated, and for several years before entering college he worked as a union carpenter.
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When Odia dropped out of college, he intended to eventually graduate.
“I decided, ‘I can make it up later. I’ll get it later.’ Later it didn’t happen.”
The construction company he and his wife started in a basement quickly took off.
“When you work 8,000 hours a week in business, you don’t have time to do papers and stuff like that,” O’Dea told Fox News.
From there, O’Dea built his own company from scratch. He said he wakes up at 4am to run payroll and pay bills before he leaves home.
“I was usually on site by 6:00 a.m. and I was there until 7:00 p.m. at night,” O’Dea told Fox News. Say hi to my wife, eat some hay by 9:30, get up and try again.”
“I remember a few Sundays working on replacing engines from loaders and trucks because we couldn’t afford to hire a mechanic,” he continued. “
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O’Dea’s company, Concrete Express, currently employs over 300 Coloradans. He said he has seen “every facet of the construction industry” and has survived three recessions.
“You have to be tough enough to weather the storm,” O’Dea told Fox News.
Republicans boast of their business success in hopes of winning over Colorado voters.However Denver Business Journal Concrete Express has been fined $135,000 for 28 violations of federal safety standards since it was founded in 1988, and it was reported earlier this month that the company won a safety award. also mentions
“I think anyone who has been in business understands that, because they were victims of it,” O’Dea told the WSJ. We have literally hundreds of employees who have retired…I’m just going to stand by the record.”
Nevertheless, O’Dea said his business background would benefit him in the Senate.
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“It gives us a big advantage over Senator Bennett,” O’Dea told Fox News. “I know what it’s like to work hard every day.”
Bennett has been the son of a lifelong Democratic operative and has spent much of his career in politics. However, for a time he was the managing director of his Anschutz Investment Company.
“We know how it goes to negotiate with both Democratic and Republican customers to get great results on the projects we’ve been in charge of,” O’Dea said. This uniquely qualifies me to serve as a U.S. Senator.”
Ramiro Vargas contributed the accompanying video.