The Colorado House of Representatives District 59 race was too close to call Tuesday night.
Republican candidate Clark Craig made up some ground late Tuesday on his Democratic opponent Katie Stewart, who had 51.3% of the vote – or a 3 percentage point lead – as of 10 p.m.
Craig dominated in Archuleta and Montezuma counties with double-digit leads, but Stewart took the more populous La Plata County by storm, leading the vote by almost 13%.
Stewart was cautiously optimistic about her lead early in the night.
“I'll wait until I receive official word,” she said. “I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch. I just appreciate everybody that turned out to vote.”
Despite trailing, Craig said he was feeling optimistic about the race.
“It's a great battle, and we're just looking at the numbers waiting for them to come in. We knew it's going to be a tight race,” Craig said.
Craig said based on past elections, he feels he has performed well against Stewart.
“From where we've been at two years ago, four years ago, it feels like we have brought that gap a little bit closer than where we've been at in the past,” Craig said.
In the 2022 election, Democratic candidate Barbara McLachlan defeated Republican candidate Shelly Shaw, securing nearly 57% of the vote.
Stewart ran her campaign based on defending women’s reproductive rights and also evaluating affordable housing solutions. During her campaign, Stewart gave nonspecific responses to how she would handle affordable housing in the area.
She told The Durango Herald in October that this region of the state needs more affordable housing units and that it was going to take working with community partners to develop solutions.
She repeatedly questioned Craig on his stance on abortion. While Craig has said that he is anti-abortion, he acknowledged that anti-abortion laws are unlikely to happen in the state. Instead, he said that legislators should focus on providing resources for birthing and child rearing to support mothers in need.
Craig highlighted his experience with the La Plata Economic Development Alliance, the Regional Housing Alliance, and his tenure as mayor of Ignacio as key qualifications that set him apart from Stewart.
Stewart has spent the last three years on the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education.
She advocated for mobile home cooperatives during her campaign to help ensure affordable housing options for the workforce.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
