Republican Bob Beauprez edged Democrat Mike Feeley by a mere 121 votes to win Colorado's newly created Seventh Congressional District, making it the country's closest House race in 2002. With national and local interest groups staying largely above the fray, the heavy hitting was carried out by the Republican and Democratic national congressional campaign committees and their proxies, the state parties. Using a combination of hard and soft money, the national parties not only outspent the candidates in the ground and air wars, but they also orchestrated the electoral strategies of both campaigns on a daily basis. As a result of the direct involvement of the national parties, the debate over issues of local concern became distorted, as both Beauprez and Feeley were increasingly beholden to the policy directives of their respective congressional parties, which largely financed the campaigns.