Colorado Election Results Open Thread

UPDATE (11:25): The big Denver paper and many of the other big TV stations have some major problems with their reporting. The Denver Post, for example, had Buck ahead of Bennet 48-46, on the strength of a 52-45 advantage in Boulder. A quick check of the Boulder Clerk and Recorder’s website has Bennet leading Buck 67-29. There are a lot of somebodies who should have caught this immediately — there’s no way Boulder County would go solid red for any Republican.

We recommend sticking with the results from Fox 31, which not only has a page that seems to actually load correctly, but isn’t making any obvious errors that we can see.

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UPDATE (11:16): It looks like we may be headed for at least one state legislative recount. In HD-29, Democratic Rep. Debbie Benefield trails Republican Robert Ramirez by 148 votes (50.34% to 49.66%).

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UPDATE (11:12): That didn’t last long. With 56% of ballots counted, Bennet and Buck are now tied at 47-47.

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UPDATE (11:00): Buck has pulled ahead of Bennet for the first time tonight, leading 49-46 with 49% of precincts reporting.

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UPDATE (9:50): It’s looking like the race that will have the biggest impact from an ACP candidate will not be the one anybody expected. The Secretary of State race is neck-and-neck, but the ACP candidate is already pulling 6% of the vote. Buescher may well win this seat by virtue of the American Constitution Party.

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UPDATE (9:44): The percentage of precincts reporting continues to rise, and Michael Bennet continues to hold a 50-45 lead over Ken Buck. This is not good news for Buck, because early returns should have favored him (Republicans voted in higher numbers than Democrats in early and absentee voting). Given Buck’s numerous gaffes in the last two weeks of the campaign, it’s not likely that late voters are going to choose him over Bennet, so it’s hard to see how Buck is going to make up 5 points with 27% of the vote already tallied.

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UPDATE (9:08): It’s always fun to see those really early returns that show absurd numbers. In HD-22, Democrat Christine Radeff is pummeling Republican incumbent Ken Summers 7,875 to 12. Yes, 12. For a few more minutes, anyway.

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UPDATE (9:05): Republican Cory Gardner is being declared the winner in CD-4.

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UPDATE (9:03): The Secretary of State race is coming down to the wire, and may be decided by the number of votes pulled in by the American Constitution Party candidate. Meanwhile, the race for Attorney General seems to be widening in favor of incumbent John Suthers.

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UPDATE (9:00): Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter has been declared the winner in CD-7.

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UPDATE (8:38): The old adage that Jefferson County decides statewide elections is largely holding form. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, unofficially, are doing better in Jefferson County, as is John Suthers. Cary Kennedy and Walker Stapleton are neck-and-neck in Jeffco, while Scott Gessler leads Bernie Buescher in the large west Denver suburb.

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UPDATE (8:35): Ladies and gentlemen, your next Governor…John Hickenlooper! The race has been called for Hick. Now the excitement turns to whether or not Dan Maes can cross the 10% threshold. From a Hickenlooper press release:

Colorado voters on Tuesday elected John Hickenlooper, a brewpub pioneer turned Mayor of Denver, as the 42nd Governor of Colorado.

“I am humbled and honored by the decision Colorado’s voters have made, and I accept the challenge you have entrusted to me to lead our state as Governor,” Hickenlooper said. “This is not the end of our journey. This is the beginning. And it starts with bringing people together.”

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UPDATE (8:20): Here’s a couple of developing stories to watch. All of this can change, of course, but as of right now…

  • Bennet maintaining early lead on Buck

  • Hickenlooper holding early lead for Governor

  • Tipton well ahead of Salazar in CD-3

  • Kennedy surprisingly strong in Treasurer race

  • Buescher may be saved by ACP candidate for SOS

  • Third party turnout not yet playing role in CD-4

  • Attorney General race staying close

  • Every major ballot measure getting crushed

  • Both Rep. Diana DeGette (CD1) and Jared Polis (CD2) have been declared winners already
  • —–

    We’ll update results as we can. In the meantime, please keep them updated, with links, in the comments below.

    *NOTE: Candidates in bold and italics have been declared the winner by at least one local news outlet.

    U.S. SENATE

    Michael Bennet (D): 47%

    Ken Buck (R): 47%

    56% reporting

    GOVERNOR

    John Hickenlooper (D): 51%

    Tom Tancredo (ACP): 37%

    Dan Maes (R): 11%

    48% reporting

    STATE TREASURER

    Cary Kennedy (D): 51%

    Walker Stapleton (R): 49%

    44% reporting

    ATTORNEY GENERAL

    John Suthers (R): 57%

    Stan Garnett (D): 43%

    44% reporting

    SECRETARY OF STATE

    Bernie Buescher (D): 44%

    Scott Gessler (R): 50%

    Amanda Campbell (ACP): 6%

    44% reporting

    CD-3

    John Salazar (D): 45%

    Scott Tipton (R): 50%

    63% reporting

    CD-4

    Betsy Markey (D): 41%

    Cory Gardner (R): 53%

    Doug Aden (ACP): 5%

    Ken “Wasko” (I): 1%

    69% reporting

    CD-7

    Ed Perlmutter (D): 53%

    Ryan Frazier (R): 42%

    16% reporting

    258 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

    1. DavidThi808 says:

      Good news – Bennet, Hick, & Markey kicking ass (4% reporting)

      Bad news – Tipton kicking ass (11% reporting)

    2. DavidThi808 says:

      Doug Bruce & Egg-hood are pulling about 25%. Same for the extra profits for bail bond companies one. And the II healthcare one is only pulling 40%

    3. droll says:

      Waaaaaaaah!

      Oh, and I’m shocked.

    4. Half Glass Full says:

      Shows how badly Buck hurt himself that it’s this close between him and Bennet. And how bad a candidate Tancredo is.

    5. Middle of the Road says:

      Markey is losing to Gardner by a hair and Bennet is up over Buck by about 1.3 points.

      Charley has garnered 489 votes.  

    6. droll says:

      It’s not on any of my lists even.

    7. RealJessJohnson says:

      http://www.politico.com/2010/m

      Looks like there is a lot of Buck country that has yet to be counted.

      • Pat Boon says:

        Buck country has more sheep than voters.

        • Colorado Pols says:

          But perhaps true. Denver, Jefferson, Arapahoe, Larimer, Adams, and to a lesser extent, Douglas, are the counties that matter in a statewide election. If you’re not close in those counties, then you’re dead. None of the rural counties have enough votes to make up the difference if you’re behind.

    8. ohwilleke says:

      because almost all jurisdictions will have about half of the results in.

    9. droll says:

      Tanc could’ve only lost by 10.  🙁

      • Half Glass Full says:

        Hick promised to run a positive campaign – and did. Maes was skewered by that goon Tancredo and his vicious commercials.

        Even with all his faults, had it been Hick versus Maes alone, this race would have been closer.

        • droll says:

          But I agree that if everyone would’ve stuck with Maes we wouldn’t have this kind of margin.

          I’d go so far to say that we wouldn’t have a called race yet.  Oh well.  Thanks, Tanc!

    10. Dabee47 says:

      Yay!

      That is all.

    11. ss says:

      NBC has called it and it looks like Maes is under 10%

    12. Ralphie says:

      Steve Harvey is losing by 26 percentage points.

      Gotta be a moral victory for Steve.

    13. DavidThi808 says:

      9 News calling it for Gardner.

      KUSA – State Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) has brought Colorado’s 4th Congressional District back to the Republicans after a two-year hiatus with a win over incumbent Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colorado).

      With 43 percent of the vote reporting, Gardner leads Markey by 52 to 43 percent.

    14. jpsandscl says:

      or is Shill-man remarkably quiet tonight? Must be working GOT… oh, wait, the polls are closed…

      I warned him about that salty beer, although I am starting to be really disappointed by the results for Markey and Salazar so far…

    15. droll says:

      Makes up for everything, I’m sure.

    16. DavidThi808 says:

      I think this may be another Dan Maes type situation. I had a lot of Republicans tell me off the record that they couldn’t vote for Gessler. I’m guessing they couldn’t vote for Bernie either…

    17. ajb says:

      If you look at the raw numbers, about 700k votes have been tallied in statewide races. In 2008, about 2.2 million votes were cast. If past mid-term turnout holds, then we’re getting close to 50% of votes, not 10%, right?

      So, things are looking better and better for those presently holding a lead.

    18. DavidThi808 says:

      Both nationally and in Colorado, is that the voters are punishing us Dems for doing a lousy job in the House, but keeping us in the Senate to protect them from the Republicans.

      • Ralphie says:

        Lieberman, Manchin, and Nelson will caucus with the Ds for the purpose of committee chairs (and favorable office space) but how will they vote on everything else?

        • BSWilson83.83 says:

          opportunity for Lieberman to fuck the Democratic party yet once again.

          Can you imagine what the Republicans would be willing to promise him in return for his switching caucus if it winds up 49-49-2?

      • sxp151 says:

        but more likely I think is that the Senate races were where a lot of us put in the effort to GOTV, feeling like it was easier to keep a relatively strong presence in the Senate by working a few big races than to work so many different vulnerable House districts. In some ways it’s easier to win a Senate election than a House election: most states have only one really big media market, which has to be shared among a bunch of House candidates but only one Senate candidate, for example. Plus it’s easier to run up the Senate numbers with a big turnout in Boulder, for example.

        • Middle of the Road says:

          That’ exactly what I did this year–abandoned my House candidate and put all my time and dime into the Senate candidate.  Ironic that David sees the House being punished for doing a “poor job” when they have really been far more effective in passing legistlation that is still sittig in the Senate. Not a very astute analysis of what is actually happening on the ground here.

      • ohwilleke says:

        The Senate doesn’t swing as much simply because two-thirds of the seat aren’t up at any one time.

      • droll says:

        Other than Szabo’s remarkable showing, there’s not much going on.  Most of the races still don’t have any returns.

        For the record; Kagan is looking safe.  I know some were worried on a personal level, as opposed to only for control.

        • jpsandscl says:

          are they working for Danial?

          He’s a good man. We shared a flight back from New Jersey several months back and had a great conversation. I liked him and hope he wins (and not JUST because of the D behind his name…)

          • droll says:

            There are just more than a few HD-3 people on here.

            Some people worry about national politics, some of us nerd out to local.  You just get involved, you know?

            Like even if we keep the House without him, I want Rice to win.  I don’t live in his district, I just think as a state we’re better off with Joe, not just any D, but JOE in the House.  Anyway, Kagan is one of those for a couple of people.

            That’s it, nothing dramatic.  🙂

        • Middle of the Road says:

          and that is very good news–bellweather seat for the State House.  

      • droll says:

        Hope she pulls it out!

      • droll says:

        I’m sure this won’t hold, but it’s been like this for a half hour or more:

        Christina Radeff [D] 7,875 100%

        Ken Summers [R] 12 0%

        I wonder who the 7875 people are.  That’s crazy.  Like a gigantic family or something.

      • droll says:

        Totally called that.  Sad to see her go though.

        Also HD 47 will switch.  That was McFadyen’s seat.

        HD 50, Reisberg will hold, comfortably.  That’s good news.  For DINO’s everywhere!  (Half kidding, I dig him, but he does piss people off sometimes.)

        • ReturnToSanity says:

          and moving much further to the right…

          STATE HOUSE – DISTRICT 59  — 31 of 44 precincts reporting (70%)

          J. Paul Brown [R] 10,579 53%

          Brian O’Donnell [D] 9,351 47%

    19. Interlocken Loop says:

      They are actually still voting in El Paso County

      It is going to be a long night

    20. DavidThi808 says:

      16% reporting and Scott is 7.5K ahead.

    21. DavidThi808 says:

      I hate to see this – the way he turned Kimball loose with no real review or supervision should have had consequences.

      • Half Glass Full says:

        Kimball only murdered a couple of people. Meanwhile: OBAMACARE! OBAMACARE!

        • PERA hopeful says:

          Nobody gives a shit about the AG.  Folks who aren’t used to voting D got the yips after voting for Hickenlooper and Bennet, and fled to the safety of R down ballot.

          I was glad to see Suthers acknowledge that the people in his office do a good job and are responsible for returning him to office, and he was absolutely correct when he talked about the Dems putting a target on his back when he joined that stupid lawsuit against health care reform.  That’s entirely on his shoulders, and his staff had nothing to do with that.

          And speaking of “Obamacare”: I’m glad to see Initiative 63 going down in flames.  Maybe now those morons I work with who keep saying, “Obama went against the people’s wishes when he pushed health care reform” will kindly STFU.

      • CJ says:

        campaign staff, with experience running a statewide campaign.  Suthers was vulnerable; and if Garnett was raising as much money as he supposedly did, that money could have funded a more effective effort.  

        If a candidate is running for statewide office for the first time, he needs experienced and seasoned veterans of statewide campaigns to run his campaign–and probably professional consultants/media people as well–from early on.  

        Hopefully this isn’t the last we will see of Garnett, who is a principled, talented, dedicated public servant.

          • CJ says:

            you can’t run a campaign for statewide office as though it is a county election for DA.  

            • Dabee47 says:

              but it’s not like anyone thought Suthers was remotely vulnerable until the whole health care law suit thing. Thus, no one bothered running until really late…

              • CJ says:

                I know of two people who work for separate national consulting firms, who were tasked with finding a Democratic candidate to run against Suthers.  These firms, which may have been wrong, seemed to think he was vulnerable based on his lackluster performance against sacrificial lamb Fern O’Brien in the last race.  It’s just not a very attractive job, and it doesn’t pay well.

                That being said, Suthers comes across as very cordial and pleasant in his public appearances–temperamentally, the opposite of the typical Teabagger.

    22. sxp151 says:

      In Illinois and Pennsylvania, Democrats may not win their Senate races but have clearly outperformed their polling. (Bennet also seems to be performing above his polls.) Based on my theory above that Senate races in these states have gotten more focused campaigns, I think big Democratic urban centers like Philly, Chicago, and Denver turned out in higher numbers than pollsters were predicting. Many of these voters were considered “unlikely” by pollsters. I could be wrong, but that’s how it looks to me. The Democratic base was big and motivated.

    23. Spade my dog says:

      Why is that?  Can Buck pick up enough there to overcome his current deficit?

    24. sxp151 says:

      Refusing to concede despite everyone calling it for his opponent.

      http://elections.wispolitics.c

    25. Lauren Bacall says:

      District 61

      Luke Korkowski (R) – 39%

      Roger Wilson (D) – 30%

      Kathleen Curry (I) – 31%

    26. DavidThi808 says:

      For those we will not hear from again:

      H-man Telling us the polls showing Bennet up were clearly wrong

      No2Dems Telling us about his man crush on Buck

      bjwilson83 telling us how Bennet lost the race talking to Boyles

      Not sure what we’ll do without your incredibly (in)accurate prognostication.

    27. Jambalaya says:

      …[message aborted as internet goes dead, with sadness]

    28. Aaron says:

      that I expected John Boehner to start crying suntan lotion?

    29. DavidThi808 says:

      Does anyone owe him anything? Or does he just drift off into the sunset?

    30. Half Glass Full says:

      Every other race has results… I smell a rat! 🙂

    31. sxp151 says:

      TPM still only has a tiny number of the precincts reporting; are their numbers behind or is it just going slowly?

    32. DavidThi808 says:

      I think it will be due to his decision to not protect Colorado companies from fraudsters. He focused on trying to justify a lack of security – and there are a ton of small businesses in Colorado who were all left wondering if they would be hit next.

      • Colorado Pols says:

        It will be because nobody knows what the Secretary of State does. Downballot races are always the most vulnerable to any sort of “wave” because voters aren’t familiar with either the candidates or the office. Hell, there’s probably a bunch of Colorado voters who think the Colorado Secretary of State is responsible for keeping us out of war with Kansas.

      • raymond1 says:

        … or to put it differently:

        #Coloradans concerned about SOS online business security

        =

        #Coloradans really really concerned about Hawaiian politics.

      • Ralphie says:

        I talked to many business owners about the database problem.  No one even knew about it (which in itself is an indication that it was poorly handled, but it still doesn’t matter to Real People).

        Buescher lost because of straight-ticket voting at the bottom of the ticket.  Nobody is going to split a ticket to vote for SoS or Treasurer.

        Occam’s razor, my friend.

    33. Aaron says:

      No on the numbers has been successful.

      I was worried about 63, but it’s looking good.

    34. ajb says:

      “27% of the vote already tallied.”

      We’re looking at about 900k votes counted by 10:00. No way that’s 27%. More like 50-60%.

    35. ClubTwitty says:

      Surprise!  Rassy overestimated the Tanc vote due to inherent intensity of the crazy-minded.  

      A fun twist that will keep giving is that the GOP has been relegated to where it belongs on future ballots…

      …The race has been called for Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver, who leads by 17 points. That margin is relatively consistent with traditional, live-operator surveys, which are less prone to these sorts of problems, but automated polls like Rasmussen Reports had suggested that Mr. Tancredo might finish within 3-5 points.

      Adding insult to injury for Republicans, their official nominee, Dan Maes, is tracking just under 10 percent of the vote, which means that Republicans could be demoted to minor-party status in 2012.

      http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.n

    36. ohwilleke says:

      which means big GOP swings at the end of the night.

    37. sxp151 says:

      UNIVERSITY REGENTS – AT LARGE — 1,007 of 3,246 precincts reporting (31%)

      Steve Bosley [R] 444,035 50%

      Melissa Hart [D] 397,505 45%

      Jesse Wallace [L] 46,797 5%

      http://blog.coloradodems.org/2

      Did he mean Nazi stormtroopers or Star Wars stormtroopers?

    38. Willy Wonkish says:

      Am I the first to notice this?

      Bennet 521,144  48%

      Buck   515,058  47%

      Is that right?

      http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20

    39. Aaron says:

      1421/3246 Reporting (44%)

      Bennet – 48% (585,500)

      Buck – 47% (576,818)

      Too close for comfort

    40. demverglenn says:

      Plus side – most of the numbers seem to be in from El Paso County.  Denver and Boulder still seem a bit low.  Arapahoe finally reporting.

    41. droll says:

      Damn!

      He makes me happy!  Not so much for the cartwheel as just being Ed.

    42. Spade my dog says:

      In Denver, JeffCo, etc.  Denver is at 120k total with a net 60k to Bennet.  El Paso is at 115k with a net 30k to Buck.  Can we extrapolate final numbers?

    43. Half Glass Full says:

      Arapahoe County results aren’t in yet, thanks to our wonderfully efficient Republican political machine that dominates the county.

      And we know what that means… Once Arapahoe finally gets its act together, Buck will vault ahead. Damn it.  

    44. Half Glass Full says:

      I voted Nancy Doty for Arapahoe County Clerk, because I thought her Democratic opponent was a rank amateur.

      But in this case, even the rankest of amateurs could hardly do worse. A black-letter day for Arapahoe County’s election officials.

    45. Spade my dog says:

      That makes me nauseous.  Does the Bush/Walker/Stapleton clan have a pact with the devil?  How many incompetents in that family that are going to get elected?

    46. DenverHoya says:

      Boulder County website is reporting 24,185 votes for Buck.  MSNBC and 9 News is reporting 64,185 for Buck in Boulder.

    47. sxp151 says:

      expect right-wingers to complain about 40,000 “stolen” votes in Boulder for the next six years.

    48. Aaron says:

      at 82% and Bennet is only down 4K.

      We’re gonna get it baby!!!!!

    49. ohwilleke says:

      With Jahn and Morse both holding seats, no GOP takeover of the state senate.

      I don’t see the six HD pickups that the GOP needs to take the state house either.

      Looks to me like Dems will control all rings of state politics for redistricting.

    50. ardy39 says:

      … Dolores (36.2%) and Montezuma (37.9%) Counties and his holding up the R guidon (whoever that is) with 11.2%. (From Politico at 11:40pm.)

    51. ardy39 says:

      … in Moffat (22.2%) and Rio Blanco (21.0%) Counties. (Also from Politco @ 11:42pm.)

    52. Aaron says:

      61%

      667.7k – Buck (47.5%)

      662.8k – Bennet (47.2%)

    53. BSWilson83.83 says:

      Fox site reporting total votes in the Governor’s race of 1,481,211.

      Total votes cast in the senate race 1,482,712.

      Undervoting in the senate race appears to be negligible to non-existant.

      Buck up by 9332.  (Charley Miller has received 9,440 votes.)

    54. ohwilleke says:

      Suthers and Gessler seem to have it tied up as well.

      There’s enough late motion in the Bennet-Buck race not to call it yet.  Kennedy seems to be doing pretty well, however.

    55. WinstonSmith says:

      I don’t post here much these days, but would just like to point out that Gessler is the LAST person we should want in the SoS office. He is a pure partisan that will twist any and all legal arguments to see his position prevail. Fair and equal elections lose with him in charge. You active folks on here need to keep a close eye on this guy for the next four years lest he hand elections to the GOP.

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