November 19, 2010 02:11 AM UTC

GOP Wins Colorado House Majority by 197 Votes

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Jefferson County clerk released final results moments ago in the last undecided Colorado General Assembly race: Republican Robert Ramirez is the apparent winner in HD-29 over incumbent Debbie Benefield by a margin of 197 votes.

Debbie Benefield (D) 12,541

Robert Ramirez (R) 12,738

This leaves Republicans with a 33-32 House majority, so Speaker-designate Frank McNulty’s position is secured–it does appear that the final count didn’t move even as much as it did in other close legislative races. What Democrats did accomplish, after some initial hesitation, was highlighting the very small majority that Republicans actually won. Where the story before was “GOP takes the House,” nobody will fail to note the “by one seat” qualifier that made the last two weeks so uncertain. It may not slow McNulty down, but at least it’s part of the story now.

UPDATE: Minority Leader Sal Pace’s statement after the jump: “The voters have spoken and delivered a very balanced Colorado State House.” That’s the theory, anyway…

Denver–Final tallies have been reported today in House District 29, delivering a loss to incumbent Representative Debbie Benefield of Westminster.  Immediately following the news, Minority Leader Sal Pace called to offer his congratulations to Speaker-Elect Frank McNulty and his caucus.

“We now have closure on the 2010 election,” said Minority Leader Pace. “I’m proud of all our candidates and our campaigns, and that it was Democrats who stood up for Coloradans to make sure all of their votes were counted.”

Today’s news finalized a one-seat Republican majority in the State House.

“The voters have spoken and delivered a very balanced Colorado State House,” said Minority Leader Pace. “We look forward to working in a bipartisan manner to bring solutions to the state. We pledge to work with the other side of the aisle to create jobs and fix the economy.  Democrats remain committed to making wise choices that respect the values of the people of Colorado.”

Including Minority Leader Pace, the other members of the Democratic leadership team are:

   * Assistant Minority Leader, Rep. Nancy Todd, Aurora

   * Whip, Rep. Claire Levy, Boulder

   * Deputy Whip, Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, Boulder

   * Caucus Chair, Rep. Lois Court, Denver

   * Deputy Caucus Chair, Rep. Su Ryden, Aurora

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