DENVER – Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday discovered he won the toughest election of his political career, hanging on to four more years by a thread.
The nail-biter contest was not called until 8 a.m. Wednesday, after a tug-of-war over votes that saw Hickenlooper and Republican challenger Bob Beauprez squirming all night.
Hickenlooper was winning 48 percent to 47 percent, as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, with the majority of counties reporting. He had 912,888 votes to Beauprez’s 885,390, a difference of 27,498 votes.
Hickenlooper’s win is one of the few bright spots for Colorado Democrats, after a beating by Republicans that will be felt for years.
Beauprez conceded defeat around 3:30 p.m., hours after Hickenlooper declared victory at 9:30 a.m. during a packed news conference in which the smiling, quirky governor strolled past a circle of supporters who all shouted, “Four more years, four more years.”
“I think I can now demonstrate that with almost no sleep, you can still feel great joy,” Hickenlooper said to laughs inside the state Capitol, frequently turning to onlookers to wave at them and offer hugs.
The race was too close to call just before midnight when both candidates told supporters that they should go to sleep and wait for results in the morning. As those staff and supporters slept, ballots continued to be counted.
After a dump of results by Denver and Boulder counties at around 2 a.m., Hickenlooper had jumped ahead of Beauprez by about 10,000 votes, suggesting that the governor was poised for victory.
Beauprez’s camp said they simply wanted to wait to acknowledge the loss until after more ballots were counted, especially in Adams and Arapahoe counties.
Once it didn’t appear that there were “enough options to get us across the finish line,” the former congressman called Hickenlooper to congratulate him on his victory. It was Beauprez’s second failed run for governor.
“(The) frontier spirit which drew the pioneers here in the past gives us the courage we need to pursue the opportunities of the future,” Beauprez wrote in a statement to supporters. “Colorado can still be that shining city on a hill – a beacon to the nation, a light to the world. Why? Because this is Colorado. And where on Earth would you rather be?”
Hickenlooper, however, was jubilant. He won at a time when a Republican wave swept the nation, propelling the GOP to control of the U.S. Senate.
Republicans defeated incumbent Democrat Mark Udall in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, and they won all the major statewide offices in Colorado. The balance of power in the statehouse also remains in limbo, with Republicans edging Democrats in the Senate and declaring several surprising victories in the House. Many of those races were still too close to call Wednesday.
For Hickenlooper to survive during such a slaughter is a victory. But political observers question why the race was so close for the once extremely popular governor, especially against Beauprez, who has struggled connecting with Colorado voters.
Hickenlooper’s campaign was overshadowed by controversy, including statements to sheriffs earlier this year in which the governor told them he would have re-evaluated his support for a package of gun-control bills that he signed in 2013.
Hickenlooper also found himself defending an executive order he signed granting a temporary reprieve from execution for convicted killer Nathan Dunlap.
But Hickenlooper stayed positive during the campaign, despite the onslaught of attacks from Beauprez and the Republican Party.
“I am so proud that we were able to run a positive campaign,” Hickenlooper said to cheers.
The governor pointed to a last-minute get-out-the-vote effort by Democrats. But it remains unclear how much that effort helped the governor, considering the pouncing by Republicans.
“Even if your side loses, you feel better when you vote,” Hickenlooper said, jokingly rubbing sweat from his brow. “And when your side wins, you feel even better.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
