Election results will not be official in Colorado for a couple of weeks, when the absentee ballots arrive from military personnel and other folks living overseas.
But here are a few numbers that provide a good indication of what those official result might eventually look like.
Archuleta County voters appear to have elected Sheriff’s deputy Warren Brown, Republican, to the District 1 seat on the Board of County Commissioners. Brown garnered about 4,392 votes (50%), compared to unaffiliated candidate Clifford Lucero’s 3,398 votes (39%). Candidate Matthew Witt — also unaffiliated — received about 932 votes (11%).
County Commissioner Ronnie Maez was apparently re-elected to another four-year term in District 2, with about 4,543 votes (52%). Unaffiliated challenger Natalie Carpenter received about 4,176 votes (48%).
Archuleta Countys voters overwhelmingly endorsed Donald Trump as President, giving him about 5,126 votes (57%) against Democrat Joe Biden’s 3,693 (41%). But the President was less popular in Colorado as a whole, receiving only about 42% of the state-wide vote, compared to Democrat Joe Biden’s 56%. Most commentators have now conceded Colorado’s 9 Electoral College votes to Biden.
At 9pm last night, the New York Times had called 17 states in favor of the President, and 15 states for Biden. Biden, however, had won more of the Electoral College vote.
By 6am this morning, the Electoral College race was much closer, with 8 swing states — worth a total of 98 Electoral College votes — still counting absentee and mail ballots. According to the New York Times reporters, most of these swing states expect to announce unofficial vote counts later today, possibly by late evening.
Several of these same swing states also had competitive US Senate races, with the Democratic Party hoping to win control of the currently-Republican-controlled Senate. Presumably, some of those races will not be called until the votes are all counted.
Colorado Results
Back on the ranch — the Colorado ranch, that is — Democrat John Hickenlooper easily beat incumbent Republican Cory Gardener to claim a six-year US Senate seat. Hickenlooper appears to have won about 54% of the voter, compared to Gardener’s 44%. Libertarian Party candidate won about 2% of the vote.
Republican Lauren Boebert (51%) appears to have beaten Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush (46%) in the race for a two-year term as the Western Slope’s representative in the US House of Representatives.
In the race to represent southwest Colorado in the state House of Representatives, Democrat Barbara McLachlan (55%) was re-elected to her seat over Republican challenger Marilyn Harris (45%).
Amendment B, the proposed constitutional amendment that changes the Gallagher Amendment to freeze current property tax rates, appears to have passed easily (57% Yes).
The voters seem to have made it more convenient to operate Bingo games in Colorado, via Amendment C (52% Yes).
Amendment 76, which requires voters in Colorado to be US citizens, looks to be successful (60% Yes) although no one can tell what difference it will make, exactly, since only US citizens were allowed to vote in the first place.
Proposition EE won handily (68% Yes) and will raise the price of tobacco products.
Proposition 113 — endorsing the election of the US President based on the popular vote rather than an Electoral College vote — was approved (52% Yes)
Proposition 114, the law that requires the State of Colorado to reintroduce wolves in certain locations, is probably too close to call at this point, but ‘Yes’ votes have a very slight edge.
The voters have rejected (59% No) Proposition 115, which would have prohibited abortions if the fetus were older than 22 weeks.
Voters lowered the Colorado income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%, for all taxpayers, by approving Proposition 116 (57% Yes).
Proposition 117 was apparently approved (52% Yes) and will require voter approval for the creation of new “state enterprises” that are funded by “fees” if the enterprise expects to accrue more than $100 million within its first five years of operation.
And voters approved Proposition 118 (57%) which requires Colorado to develop a ‘paid family and medical leave’ program for employees, thus joining 23 other US states that have family leave programs in place.
For more Colorado election information, visit the Colorado Secretary of State’s summary page, here.
For a summary of Archuleta County candidate results, visit this page.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.