The polls closed, the political partisans gathered, victory speeches unwound and the numbers began telling the story of the 2014 election.
Colorado’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Mark Udall and Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) was one of the hottest in the nation, and it may have brought out voters to the polls, even in the final hours. Gardner won a surprisingly easy victory.
Into the night, state Rep. Mike McLachlan was in a tight battle against J. Paul Brown for Colorados’s 59th district seat.
Voters also turned out for the La Plata County sheriff’s race. Longtime Republican Duke Schirard was opposed by one of his deputies, new school law enforcer Sean Smith. At 11:30 p.m., Smith was far ahead by about 11 percent. He was already accepting his new role.
The county commissioner’s race was another nail-biter. Planning and real estate veteran Cynthia Roebuck was 144 votes behind local businessman Brad Blake.
Earlier, La Plata County Commissioner Bobby Lieb conceded his county treasurer race to corporate finance wizard Allison Morrissey.
Approaching midnight, 22,993 county residents turned in their ballots – many by mail, a first for Colorado, joining Washington and Oregon in an optional mail-in ballot format.
Including inactive voters, 42,814 voters are registered voters La Plata County. That means the unofficial voter turnout was about 54 percent. The percentage among active voters was much higher.
Before election Day, 1.6 million people statewide already cast their vote, but the ballots kept pouring in.
La Plata County Clerk & Recorder Tiffany Lee Parker said last minute voters were better late than never.
“We did have people registering at the last minute,” she said. “As log as you’re in line by seven.”
Voting official Ross Park said he saw people registering with 15 minutes to spare.
“It’s Colorado, that’s what we do.” he said.
