AURORA | Arapahoe County voters appear poised to return the man who helped prepare and send them their ballots to his post.
Republican Matt Crane held a slight lead over his coworker and Democratic challenger Joan Lopez in the race for Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder as of about midnight on Nov. 7, according to the Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s office.
With about 213,000 votes counted from about 220,000 ballots cast in Arapahoe County, Crane held about a 2,000 vote lead over Lopez. That equates to about one percentage point.
A Littleton resident, Crane would enter his second full term as Arapahoe County Clerk. He received an appointment to the position in March 2013 when previous Clerk and Recorder Nancy Doty won a seat on the Board of County Commissioners. Crane has worked in the clerk and recorder’s office since 2007.
Lopez has worked in the county clerk’s office for nearly 20 years. She challenged Crane for the same seat four years ago.
The county clerk provides a bevy of services to residents, including providing marriage and civil union licenses, passport applications, motor vehicle registration, voter registration and ballot disbursement.
Crane has been proactive in digitizing and streamlining various systems in the clerk’s office, including implementing digital kiosks at the Department of Motor Vehicles.