DENVER | The Latest on the Colorado election (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Republican state Sen. Rachel Woods has conceded to Democrat Rachel Zenzinger in a hard-fought rematch in Denver’s western suburbs.
Unofficial results indicate another tight race between them two years after Woods ousted Zenzinger by a few hundred votes. But Woods tells The Associated Press she called Zenzinger to congratulate her after determining there were not enough outstanding votes to overcome a slight deficit.
Woods says that she has no regrets and that “it’s the nature of a swing district that swung. The silver lining is that the GOP keeps control of the state Senate.”
Zenzinger served as a state senator in the district before narrowly losing to Woods in 2014. She says affordable housing and reining in college student debt are her priorities.
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9:50 a.m.
Colorado’s state Legislature will stay split, with Republicans maintaining control of the Senate and Democrats retaining their House majority.
Republican Kevin Priola defeated Democrat Jenise May in an Adams County Senate district currently held by Democrat Mary Hodge, who didn’t seek re-election.
Priola’s win ensures Republicans will retain at least a one-seat majority in the 35-seat Senate.
Democrats have retained their advantage in the state House. Democrats picked up a seat in Adams County when Dafna Michaelson Jenet defeated incumbent Republican Rep. JoAnn Windholz.
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9:10 a.m.
Republican U.S. Senate challenger Darryl Glenn has formally conceded to incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet.
Glenn, an El Paso County commissioner, ran a strong race against Bennet, who was re-elected to a second full term. Glenn won more than 1 million votes and trailed Bennet by only 3 percentage points, according to unofficial results.
In a statement released Wednesday, Glenn says that “though we were successful in starting a movement, we fell short in winning the race.”
He congratulated Bennet on his win and said he hopes that Bennet “will work with Republican lawmakers to preserve Colorado’s freedoms and western way of life.”
Bennet claimed victory Tuesday. But Glenn refused to concede, saying too many votes remained uncounted.
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7:40 a.m.
The vote on whether to amend the Colorado Constitution to remove a reference to slavery as a punishment for a criminal conviction is tight. But not all counties have reported their results yet.
The constitution currently prohibits slavery or involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime — wording proponents of the amendment say is outdated. They say the amendment is a symbolic statement, and removing the reference to slavery reflects fundamental values of freedom and equality.
Those against the amendment argued it could cause legal uncertainty involving Colorado’s prison work programs.
But backers of Amendment T note that 25 other states that do not reference slavery in there constitutions also have prison work and community service programs for inmates.