AURORA | Four days after the midterm election, one unexpectedly close state Senate race went to Republicans, giving them control of Colorado’s upper House.
“After several days of wait-and-see, we now know the fate of Senate control,” said Senate President Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora in statement Sautrday. Democrats congratulated Republicans and the same time sent a shot saying they would push to continue their work of the past few years.
Control of the state Senate hinged on one Thornton state Senate race, that Democrats say they cannot possibly win. Republican Beth Martinez-Humenik led the Democrat Judy Solano in Senate District 24 by about 800 votes when tallies were released late Friday night. Counting is nearly completed. It appears Solano will lose the race by about that amount.
Both sides watched for days as results in that and other close races made Senate control a tossup. Democrats won 33 seats in the House, keeping control.
Carroll said Senate Democrats remain committed to work they’ve done in the past few years, sometimes, with gun rights and civl rights measures, infuriating Republicans.
“Under Democratic leadership, we were able to achieve the fourth fastest growing economy in the nation and get the unemployment rate down to the lowest it has been since 2008. We are extremely proud of our accomplishments and all of the people who worked with us to make those possible. Going forward, we will do what we can to defend the rights and liberties that we worked so hard to protect. It is our job to hold the Republicans accountable, work together where we can, and continue to fight for a great state.”
Republicans immediately vowed to pursue changes. GOP Leader Bill Cadman, a Colorado Springs senator expected to be named president, said his party would move “away from the extraordinary divisiveness of recent years.”
“We are here to serve common interests, not special interests,” Cadman said in a statement.
At a later press conference, Carroll vowed to work with the new Republican majority. “People don’t want gridlock. I think people said that loud and clear,” the Aurora Democrat told reporters.
The delay in getting definitive results from Adams County was blamed on an incredibly close race, tired judges, a write-in question and an unexpected rush of voters late on Election Day.
It was a surprise to Democrats to lose this and other seats, saying they were caught off guard by a Republican push in what is normally known to be a spate of Democratic strongholds.
Now that the race and control is decided, each part will choose leadership positions, and Cadman is the heir apparent in Colorado Senate, members of both parties said. Carroll has not said if she will seek the minority leader position.
Split control of the Legislature will make it difficult for either party to drive an ambitious agenda, and it could make a debate next year over hydraulic fracturing even more contentious.
In Aurora, a once Democratic stronghold is currently going to Republicans — by only 110 votes. House District 30 Rep. Jenise May, an Aurora Democrat, is trailing Commerce City Republican challenger Joanne Windholz by a narrow margin, as of Saturday morning, according to Adams County election results. The seat has been held by a Democrat for decades.
The oft-ignored surveyor’s election in Adams County is slowing things dow, Siedlecki said. Because there were no certified candidates for Adams County surveyor, Siedlecki said many voters wrote in a candidate, which has meant more write-in ballots than is typical.
In Arapahoe County, state Rep. Su Ryden appears to have barely hung onto her east Aurora state House seat, claiming victory against Republican Richard Bowman by about 650 votes
Officials in Arapahoe County are still counting a few ballots — including military and overseas ballots that can come in until next week — but none of the county’s races are expected to change. Clerk and recorder Matt Crane said Friday that the county mailed just 1,800 ballots to uniformed military personnel, and not all of those will be returned.
The Senate switch came despite the Democrats regaining two seats they lost last year through recalls. Democrats in a Colorado Springs district and a Pueblo district were ousted by voters unhappy with 2013 votes on gun control, including a law requiring expanded background checks and another limiting ammunition magazines.
Those districts both returned to Democratic control Tuesday. Ironically, the Colorado Springs district went to a Democrat who formerly worked for a national gun-control advocacy group.
“It’s as if the recall never happened,” Michael Merrifield, the Colorado Springs Democrat who won Tuesday, said after his victory.
However, those gains were countered by races where Democrats appeared to be headed for losses in the Denver suburbs.
Democrats have controlled the state Senate for a decade. For eight of the past 10 years, Democrats have controlled both chambers of the Legislature.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Why do the Democrats insist that they create jobs? Basically, they spend money they got from taxes collected by the state. Jobs are mainly created by businesses that are run for a profit motive. I suppose the exception is governmental jobs. So quit patting yourselves on the back and get to work!