November 03, 2010 09:07 PM UTC

Hold Your Horses, Say Dems in 2 Key House Districts

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s being reported that Republicans will not take control of the Colorado Senate, a position solidifying now that incumbent Democrats Gail Schwartz and John Morse appear to have won their very close races against Bob Rankin and Owen Hill respectively.

In the Colorado House, the situation is much tighter. Republicans have picked up a few seats, but everything now is coming down to two suburban districts that will likely decide control of the House: HD-29 in Arvada and Westminster held by Rep. Debbie Benefield against Robert Ramirez of the GOP, and HD-33 in Broomfield pitting incumbent Dianne Primavera against Republican Don Beezley. In both of these races, the GOP’s margin is perilously small–in HD-29, we’re told there are a significant number of provisional ballots left to be counted and a margin of only 221 votes, while in HD-33 there are Adams County precincts that have not yet tallied.

In both cases, Democrats say the numbers do not allow either side to claim victory, and are asking for patience while the clerks do their jobs. We’ll update as circumstances warrant.

UPDATE: Sources tell us there are at least 450 provisional ballots in HD-29, counting will reportedly not even begin on these ballots until tomorrow. Needless to say, that makes it impossible to call a race separated by 221 votes.