Dan Jablan
CO ACEP Lobbyist
2022 Colorado General Election
Final Results
Introduction
Going into the 2022 midterm elections, it was widely believed that Republicans would see slight gains due to voters’ concerns with inflation, the economy, and the President’s low approval ratings. While Republicans made some gains nationally, this trend did not reach Colorado. The GOP did not win any statewide or open Congressional races, and actually lost seats in both state legislative chambers. Colorado is now a reliably Blue state. The US Rep Boebert congressional race may be indicative of the mood of the voters. The 3rdCongressional District was thought to be a solid Republican seat, but voters are rejecting her right-wing politics in favor of the other party. Several legislative races in conservative areas, which favored the Republican candidates also turned Blue, with unaffiliated voters more concerned about fringe right-wing politics than the price of groceries.
In the Colorado Governor’s race, incumbent Jared Polis (D) defeated Heidi Ganahl (R) by a wide margin, having spent over $13 million of his own money on the campaign.
In the US Senate, incumbent Michael Bennet (D) defeated Joe O’Dea (R) also by a wide margin. In the US Congress, Colorado elected two new members of the US Congress: Brittany Peterson (D) in the 7thCongressional District to replace the retiring Rep. Ed Perlmutter, and Dr. Yadira Caraveo (D) in Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District.
With 99% of the vote counted, 3rd CD Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert is barely ahead in her race, by only 1,122 votes, which is outside the .5% margin for an automatic recount. The district voted for Trump over Biden in the 2020 presidential election, 51.6% to 46.1%. Boebert won her election in 2020, defeating the Democratic challenger 51.4% to 45.2%. Going back to the 1970s, the 3rd CD has a long history of flipping back and forth between electing Democrats and Republicans. Starting with Ray Kogovsek (D), to Mike Strang (R), to Ben Nighthorse Campbell (D), Scott McInnis (R), John Salazar (D), Scott Tipton (R). Then Boebert defeated Tipton in the 2020 primary. We likely will not know the winner until at least Nov. 18 as there are still outstanding ballots to process.
Meanwhile, five Congressional incumbents successfully retained their seats by comfortable to wide margins. (DeGette, Neguse, Buck, Lamborn, Crow)
Statewide offices
In the Attorney General’s race, incumbent Phil Weiser (D) defeated John Kellner (R). In the Secretary of State’s race, incumbent Jena Griswold (D) defeated Pam Anderson (R). In the State Treasurer’s race, incumbent Dave Young (D) defeated Lang Sias (R). Every statewide Democrat is on track to outperform their Republican challengers by close to 10% points. In the Secretary of State’s race, incumbent Griswold raised $4.2 million to challenger Anderson’s $240,000.
Colorado General Assembly
Coming into the election, Colorado Senate Democrats held a six-seat majority with 21 of the 35 seats. Of the chamber’s 35 seats, 17 seats were up for election this year. The race for control of the State Senate hinged upon seven key competitive races. The Democrats needed to win three seats to maintain their majority in the chamber, while Republicans needed to win four seats to take control. The Democrats swept every one of the competitive races. Election results show the balance of power in the Senate for the 74th General Assembly will be 23 Democrats and 12 Republicans. Democrats picked up two Senate seats – a historic majority for Democrats in the State Senate. There are only 2 women in the Senate Republican caucus, and 10 female Democratic Senators.
The State House came into the election with a 17-seat Democratic majority, holding 41 of the 65 seats. Election results show the balance of power in the House is 46 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Democrats picked up five House seats – also a historic majority for Democrats. Republicans lost three races that had a third-party candidate. The House races in districts 16, 25, and 50 were each decided by a plurality of voters. In each, the Democratic candidate won by fewer votes than the Libertarian candidate received.
There will be 27 new faces in the House, with 17 new Democrats and 10 new Republicans. In a rarity, Senator Tammy Story won a seat in the lower chamber, after her former Senate seat was re-drawn through the redistricting process. There are nine new Senators moving up from the House – five Democrats and four Republicans and two new faces who have never served, one on each side of the aisle. The House Democrats have 34 women and 12 men in the caucus. For the first time, women will make up a majority of the Colorado legislature, with 51 out of 100 members.
A vacancy committee will appoint a new legislator to House District 51. Republican Minority Leader Hugh McKean unexpectedly died on October 30. He was the only candidate for the seat. We have heard rumor that Senator Rob Woodward who lost his race for reelection will seek to be appointed to the McKean vacancy.
Statewide there were 2,550,784 total ballots cast, for a 66.43% turnout. In Denver, 41% of the ballots came in on Election Day. Several Republican counties also experienced large turnout on Election Day, leading to delayed results. In El Paso county, 100,000 ballots were submitted on Tuesday.
Ballot Issues
There were 11 statewide ballot measures this cycle. Of the 11 measures, five were referred by the Colorado General Assembly, and six were initiated by citizens. Constitutional amendments require 55% of the vote to pass, while statutory changes require just a majority of the vote to pass.
Two alcohol-related questions—Propositions 124 and 126—were defeated, while Proposition 125, a measure to allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores, is currently passing by the narrowest of margins. The “Yes” campaigns spent a combined $32 million (donors included King Soopers, Safeway, Target, Whole Foods) on these proposals with the “no” campaign’s $680,000.
At the same time, voters approved Proposition 122, which starting in 2024 will legalize the limited use of “magic mushrooms” (psychedelic plants and fungi) for therapeutic purposes. Voters also approved a significant income tax reduction in Proposition 121 while simultaneously approving an income tax hike on “high-earners” to support a healthy meals program in public schools (Proposition FF) and a tax revenue set-aside for affordable housing (Proposition 123).
Final Election Results
COLORADO STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
| State House District – Incumbent
|
Democrat |
Republican |
| 1 – (Lontine) OPEN
Southwest Denver |
Javier Mabrey X |
Guillermo Diaz |
| 2 – NEW/OPEN
Central Denver |
Steve Woodrow X |
Stephanie Wheeler |
| 3 – Froelich
Cherry Hills Village, Englewood, Sheridan and South Denver |
Meg Froelich X |
Marla Fernandez |
| 4 – Gonzales-Gutierrez
West Denver |
Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez X |
Jack Daus |
| 5 -Valdez
Central and North Denver |
Alex Valdez X |
Johnnie Johnson |
| 6 – (Garnett) OPEN
East Central Denver |
Elisabeth Epps X |
Donald Howell |
| 7 – Bacon
North East Denver |
Jennifer Bacon X |
none |
| 8 -Herod
Central Denver |
Leslie Herod X |
Hilleary Waters |
| 9 – Sirota
Glendale and Southeast Denver |
Emily Sirota
X |
Tom Cowhick |
| 10 – (Hooton) OPEN
Boulder County, eastern Boulder |
Junie Joseph X |
William DeOreo |
| 11 – McCormick
Boulder County, western Longmont |
Karen McCormick X |
Tara Menza |
| 12 -Bernett
Boulder County, inc Lafayette, Louisville, Niwot and Superior |
Tracey Bernett X |
Anya Kirvan |
| 13 -McCluskie
Grand, Jackson, Lake, Park, Summit county and Buena Vista, Poncha Springs and Salida |
Julie McCluskie X |
David Buckley |
| 14 – (Sandridge) OPEN
Northwest CO Springs |
Rob Rogers |
Rose Pugliese X |
| 15- (Williams) OPEN
Eastern CO Springs |
Alvin Sexton |
Scott Bottoms X |
| 16 – (Pico) OPEN
Central CO Springs |
Stephanie Vigil* X |
Dave Donelson |
| 17 – (Exum) OPEN
Southern CO Springs |
Regina English X |
Rachel Stovall |
| 18 – Snyder
Green Mountain Falls, Manitou Springs, Western CO Springs |
Marc Snyder X |
Shana Black |
| 19 – Woog/NEW
Boulder and Weld |
Jennifer Parenti* X |
Dan Woog |
| 20- (Carver) OPEN
Monument and Palmer Lake |
none |
Don Wilson X |
| 21 – Bradfield
Fort Carson and Fountain |
Kolten Montgomery |
Mary Bradfield X |
| 22 – NEW/OPEN
North central CO Springs |
Blake Garner |
Kenneth DeGraaf X |
| 23 – Duran
Jefferson county inc Lakeside, , Wheat Ridge, parts of Lakewood |
Monica Duran X |
Fred Clifford |
| 24 -Daugherty
Adams and Jeffco, inc Arvada |
Lindsey Daugherty X |
Bill Patterson |
| 25- Larson
Southwest Jeffco, inc Morrison and Littleton |
Tammy Story X |
Colin Larson |
| 26 – (Roberts) OPEN
Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt county; Eagle County inc Avon, Eagle, Gypsum, Vail |
Meghan Lukens X |
Savannah Wolfson |
| 27 – Titone
Northwest Jeffco, Golden and Arvada |
Brianna Titone X |
Lynn Emrick |
| 28 – NEW/OPEN
Central Jeffco, inc Lakewood |
Sheila Lieder X |
Dan Montoya |
| 29 – Bird
North Jeffco and Adams, inc Westminster |
Shannon Bird X |
Vanessa DeMott |
| 30 – Kennedy
Central Jeffco, inc Edgewater and Lakewood |
Chris Kennedy X |
Russ Carter |
| 31 – (Caraveo) OPEN
Adams County, inc Thornton |
Said Sharbini X |
Heidi Pitchforth |
| 32 – Michaelson Jenet
Adams County, inc Commerce City |
Dafna Michaelson-Jenet X |
Justin Brown |
| 33 – (Gray) OPEN
Broomfield and parts of Thornton |
William Lindstedt X |
Stacie Dougherty |
| 34 – (Mullica) OPEN
Adams County, inc Northglenn and Thornton |
Jenny Willford X |
Kevin Allen |
| 35 – Benavidez
Adams and Jeffco, inc Federal Heights, Thornton, Westminster |
Adrienne Benavidez X |
Craig Jones |
| 36 – Weissman
Eastern Adams and Arapahoe, inc Aurora |
Mike Weissman X |
Andrew Gibson |
| 37- (Sullivan) OPEN
Foxfield, Greenwood Village, parts of Aurora and Centennial |
Ruby Dickson X |
Paul Archer |
| 38 – Ortiz
Bow Mar, Columbine Valley, Centennial, Littleton |
David Ortiz X |
Jaylen Mosqueira |
| 39 – NEW/OPEN
Castle Pines, Larkspur, Long Tree, part of Highlands Ranch |
Eric Brody |
Brandi Bradley X |
| 40 – Ricks
Southeast Aurora |
Naquetta Ricks X |
Le Sellers |
| 41 – Jodeh
Central Aurora |
Iman Jodeh X |
Stephanie Hancock |
| 42 – Lindsay
Northeast Aurora in Arapahoe County |
Mandy Lindsay X |
Cory Parella |
| 43 – Huffman
Highlands Ranch and Littleton in Douglas County |
Robert Marshall* X |
Kurt Huffman |
| 44- (Ransom) OPEN
Parker |
Bob Henry |
Anthony Hartsook X |
| 45- (Neville) OPEN
Castle Rock |
Ruby Martinez |
Lisa Frizell X |
| 46- (Esgar) OPEN
Pueblo County inc Rye and Pueblo |
Tisha Mauro X |
Jonathan Ambler |
| 47 – NEW/OPEN
Baca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero, Prowers; Huerfano, Boone and Pueblo West |
Edwin Ormiston |
Ty Winter X |
| 48 – (Van Beber) OPEN
Brighton, Ft Lupton, Gilcrest, Hudson, Keenseburg, Kersey, La Salle, Lochbuie, Platteville |
Spring Erickson |
Gabe Evans X |
| 49 – Amabile
Clear Creek & Gilpin; Lyons,Ward, Boulder, Jamestown, Nederland |
Judy Amabile X |
Kathryn Lehr |
| 50 – Young
Weld County, inc Garden City, Evans, northeast Greeley |
Mary Young X |
Ryan Gonzalez |
| 51 – McKean#
Loveland |
none |
Hugh McKean X (vacancy committee) |
| 52 – Kipp
South Fort Collins |
Cathy Kipp X |
Deborah Vicino |
| 53 – Boesenecker
North Fort Collins |
Andrew Boesenecker X |
Donna Walter |
| 54 – Soper
Delta and Mesa County |
AliceMarie Slaven-Emond |
Matt Soper X |
| 55 – (Rich) OPEN
Grand Junction |
Damon Davis |
Rick Taggart X |
| 56- Bockenfeld
Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln; Ramah in El Paso;Bennett; and Deer Trail, Aurora in Arapahoe |
Kathleen Conway |
Rod Bockenfeld X |
| 57- Will
Garfield and Pitkin County; Basalt in Eagle County |
Elizabeth Velasco X |
Perry Will |
| 58 – Catlin
Dolores, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, San Miguel; northwest Montezuma; Crawford, Hotchkiss, & Paonia |
Kevin Kuns |
Marc Catlin X |
| 59 – McLachlan
Archuleta, La Plata, San Juan County; Cortez, Dolores & Mancos |
Barbara McLachlan X |
Shelli Shaw |
| 60 – (Hanks) OPEN
Custer and Fremont county; southeastern Chaffee; parts of Pueblo West; Cripple Creek, Victor, Woodland Park |
Kathryn Green |
Stephanie Luck X |
| 61 – NEW/OPEN
Arapahoe and Douglas county, inc Aurora and Centennial |
Eliza Hamrick X |
Dave Woolever |
| 62- (Valdez) OPEN
Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache; Huerfano; Pueblo |
Matthew Martinez X |
Carol Riggenbach |
| 63- Holtorf
Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Yuma county; Ault, Grover, New Raymer |
none |
Richard Holtorf X |
| 64- NEW/OPEN
Berthoud, Mead, Milliken, Greeley and Jamestown |
Richard Webster |
Ryan Armagost X |
| 65 – Lynch
Timnath, Wellington, Windsor, Eaton, Severance |
Lisa Chollet |
Mike Lynch X |
COLORADO STATE SENATE
| State Senate District/Incumbent |
Democrat |
Republican |
| 1 – (Sonnenberg) OPENNortheastern CO: Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington & Yuma; parts of Weld |
none |
Byron Pelton X |
| 3 – Hinrichsen
Pueblo County |
Nick Hinrichsen X |
Stephen Varela |
| 4 – (Story) OPEN
Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Lake, Park, Teller; portions of unincorporated Jeffco and Douglas, Larkspur |
Jeff Ravage |
Mark Baisley X |
| 7- (Scott) OPEN
Mesa County and Cedaredge in Delta |
David Stahlke |
Janice Rich X |
| 8 – (Donovan) OPEN
Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt and Summit; parts of Eagle, Garfield |
Dylan Roberts X |
Matt Solomon |
| 9 – Lundeen
Northwest El Paso County, inc Monument and Palmer Lake and a portion of Colorado Springs |
Arik Dougherty |
Paul Lundeen X |
| 11 – NEW/OPEN
Southeastern Colorado Springs |
Tony Exum, Sr. X |
Dennis Hisey |
| 15 – Woodward
Estes Park, Loveland, Red Feather Lakes, and Wellington, Lyons, Jamestown, Nederland, & Ward |
Janice Marchman X |
Rob Woodward |
| 20 – NEW/OPEN
Jefferson County and inc far western Arvada, sw Lakewood, Morrison, and several unincorporated communities in the foothills and Denver |
Lisa Cutter X |
Tim Walsh |
| 22 – Danielson
Jefferson County, inc western and northern Lakewood & Edgewater, Golden & Wheat Ridge |
Jesse Danielson X |
Colby Drechsel |
| 24 – NEW/OPEN
Federal Heights and Thornton |
Kyle Mullica X |
Courtney Potter |
| 25 – Winter
Broomfield, Westminster and Northglenn |
Faith Winter X |
Melody Peotter |
| 27 – NEW/OPEN
Centennial, south Aurora, Arapahoe county |
Tom Sullivan X |
Tom Kim |
| 30 – Van Winkle
Douglas County, inc Castle Pines and Lone Tree, Highlands Ranch and Roxborough Park |
Braeden Miguel |
Kevin Van Winkle X |
| 32 – Rodriguez
South and East Denver inc Glendale and Holly Hills |
Robert Rodriguez X |
Dean Flanders |
| 34 – Gonzales
North and West Denver |
Julie Gonzales X |
none |
| 35 – NEW/OPEN
Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Otero, Crowley, Elbert, Huerfano, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas, Lincoln, Prowers; eastern El Paso |
Travis Nelson |
Rodney Pelton X |
FEDERAL AND STATEWIDE
| Federal/Statewide Office |
Democrat |
Republican |
| U.S. Senate
Michael Bennet |
Michael Bennet X |
Joe O’Dea |
| Congressional District 1- DeGette
Denver |
Diana DeGette X |
Jennifer Qualteri |
| Congressional District 2 – Neguse
Boulder, Larimer |
Joe Neguse X |
Marshall Dawson |
| Congressional District 3 – Boebert
West Slope and Pueblo |
Adam Frisch |
Lauren Boebert* X |
| Congressional District 4 – Buck
Eastern Plains |
Ike McCorkle |
Ken Buck X |
| Congressional District 5 – Lamborn
El Paso County |
David Torres |
Doug Lamborn X |
| Congressional District 6 – Crow
Arapahoe County |
Jason Crow X |
Steve Monahan |
| Congressional District 7 – (Perlmutter) OPEN
Jefferson, Chaffee, Lake, Teller, Fremont, Custer & Park |
Brittany Petersen X |
Erik Aaland |
| Congressional District 8 – NEW/OPEN
Adams, Larimer & Weld |
Dr. Yadira Caraveo X |
Barbara Kirkmeyer |
| Governor – Polis |
Jared Polis X |
Heidi Ganahl |
| Treasurer – Young |
Dave Young X |
Lang Sias |
| Secretary of State – Griswold |
Jenna Griswold X |
Pam Anderson |
| Attorney General – Weiser |
Phil Weiser X |
John Kellner |
*Results could change pending final vote count
BALLOT MEASURES
| Ballot Measure | Result |
| Amendment ‘D’ – New 23rd Judicial District Judges
This measure would require the Governor to reassign judges from the existing 18th Judicial District to the new 23rd Judicial District on a one-time basis. |
PASS
67.08% / 32.92% |
| Amendment ‘E’ – Extend Homestead Exemption to Gold Star Spouses
This measure would reduce property taxes for the surviving spouses of both United State Armed Forces service members who died in the line of duty and veterans who died as a result of a service-related injury or disease. |
PASS
87.94% / 12.06% |
| Amendment ‘F’ – Charitable Gaming Constitutional Amendment
This measure would reduce the minimum number of years that a nonprofit organization must be in operation in Colorado to apply for a bingo-raffle license and allow members of a nonprofit organization to receive compensation for managing or operating a bingo-raffle game. |
FAIL
39.88% / 60.12% |
| Proposition ‘FF’ – Healthy Meals for All Public School Students
This measure would create the Health School Meals for All program to provide access to free meals for all public school students in Colorado. This program would be paid for by increased taxes on households earning more than $300,000 in annual income and utilizing additional federal funding. |
PASS
55.80% / 44.20% |
| Proposition ‘GG’ – Amount of Tax Owed for Taxable Initiatives
This measure would require that a tax information table appear on the petition and ballot for any citizen-initiated measure that changes the individual income tax rate. |
PASS
71.37% / 28.63% |
| Proposition #121 – State Income Tax Rate Reduction
This measure would reduce the state income tax rate for individuals and corporations from 4.55 percent to 4.40 percent for tax year 2022 and future years. |
PASS
65.68% / 34.32% |
| Proposition #122 – Access to Natural Psychedelic Substances
This measure would decriminalize the personal possession, growing, sharing, and use, but not sale, of psychedelic mushrooms and other select plant-based psychedelic substances by individuals over the age of 21. This measure would also allow the supervised use of psychedelic mushrooms by individuals over the age of 21 at a licensed facility, require the state to create a regulatory structure for the licensing of such facilities, allow local governments to regulate the manner of operations of such facilities, and establish penalties for individuals under the age of 21 for possessing or using natural psychedelic substances and for individuals over the age of 21 who allow underage access to such substances. |
PASS
52.41% / 47.59% |
| Proposition #123 – Dedicated Revenue for Affordable Housing Programs
This measure would set aside 0.1 percent of taxable income each year from the state General Fund for affordable housing programs and exempt that money from the state’s TABOR revenue limit. This measure would further establish eligible uses of the dedicated revenue, including a number of a affordable housing programs in the Office of Economic Development & International Trade and the Department of Local Affairs. |
PASS
51.44% / 48.56% |
| Proposition #124 – Increase Allowable Liquor Store Locations
This measure would allow retail liquor stores to apply to state and local governments to open additional locations on a phased-in schedule, with no limit on the number of permissible locations after 2037. |
FAIL
37.56% / 62.44% |
| Proposition #125 – Allow Grocery & Convenience Stores to Sell Wine
This measure would allow grocery stores and convenience stores that sell beer to also sell wine, by automatically converting beer retail licenses to beer and wine retail licenses, beginning March 2023. |
PASS*
50.14% / 49.86% |
| Proposition #126 – Third-Party Delivery of Alcohol Beverages
This measure would allow third-party companies to deliver alcohol directly to customers on behalf of liquor-license businesses and permanently allow takeout and delivery of alcohol from bars and restaurants. |
PASS*
51.88% / 48.12% |
*Results could change pending final vote count
Elections have consequences. To that end, CO ACEP has a Small Donor Committee (a form of a political action committee) so that we can support candidates that share our mission of promoting the interests and values of emergency physicians and their patients. In Colorado, Small Donor Committees (SDC’s) are unique in that they may not accept contributions of more than $50 per person per calendar year. By limiting the amount that can be contributed to the SDC, the SDC can make larger expenditures to candidates. Please consider making a small contribution ($50 or less) to the ACEP, Colorado Chapter SDC. Your money stays local and helps your Colorado emergency medicine advocacy organization support legislators friendly to emergency medicine and its goals. Make your contributions here.