For the second election in a row, Republicans swept all three of Colorado’s statewide cabinet-level offices on Tuesday, scoring wins for attorney general, state treasurer and secretary of state.

State Treasurer Walker Stapleton won a second term, besting former U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, the Democratic nominee, 50 percent to 44.9 percent. Libertarian David Jurist got 5.1 percent of the vote, according to returns posted at press time by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.

Assistant Attorney General Cynthia Coffman defeated the Democratic attorney general nominee, former Broomfield and Adams County District Attorney Don Quick, with 51.6 percent of the vote to Quick’s 42.3 percent, with Libertarian David K. Williams trailing at 6.2 percent. She succeeds Republican John Suthers, who is term-limited and announced recently that he is running for mayor of Colorado Springs.

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Wayne Williams won election as secretary of state over Joe Neguse, a CU regent from the 2nd Congressional District, in the closest race of the three, with 47.5 percent to the Democrat’s 44.9 percent, followed by American Constitution Party nominee Amanda Campbell at 3.9 percent and Libertarian Dave Schambach at 3.7 percent. Williams will take over from Republican Scott Gessler, who ran for governor rather than seek a second term but lost that bid in a four-way primary.

Stapleton, who faced an aggressive challenge from Markey, thanked his family — he was working to create a secure economic future for his children, he said — and campaign team as he took to the stage at the state Republican Party’s election night watch party at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center in Greenwood Village.

“You know what we affirmed today, Colorado? We affirmed that we care about the economic future of our state!” Stapleton declared, pumping his arms in the air.

Vowing to fix the state’s public employee retirement system and “fund our obligations,” Stapleton told the crowd, “We can work together and build an economic model that this entire country can be proud of.”

Markey hit Stapleton hard on his continued insistence that the state retirement fund is wobbly and blasted the incumbent for skipping most of the system’s board meetings. She also charged he didn’t show up for work at the Capitol most days, citing electronic key-card records, though Stapleton disputed that claim and said Markey’s data didn’t prove anything.

Appearing on stage shortly after U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner had been declared the winner in his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, Stapleton toasted his fellow victorious Republicans and said he would stand alongside them, protecting the taxpayers of the state. “Let’s not stop tonight, let’s go out and spread the words to our friends and neighbors: Colorado is back!”

Shortly after declaring victory, Stapleton told The Colorado Statesman that his message of working across the aisle “for common-sense fiscal policy” had been borne out by the election result.

“We’re not going to be afraid to work with Democrats when they agree with us, or disagree with them when we believe fiscal responsibility is in the best interest of the taxpayer,” Stapleton added.

When Coffman and her supporters crowded the stage — many wearing the trademark black fedoras and sporting the distinctive “campaign blue” shade — she thanked her husband, U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, who had only recently appeared on stage himself to declare victory in his own race, for teaching her how to campaign. “And it really took,” she said as the crowd cheered.

Then she pointed out the obvious as she stood on stage flanked by her campaign team. “It’s important for people to see it, that this was all done by women, it was girl power,” she said.“We have a dynamic, growing Republican Party in this state,” Coffman said.

She thanked Quick and Williams for a campaign she called “spirited and interesting and challenging,” one she said gave Coloradans a chance to understand what the attorney general does.

“Not only am I representing all of you in this room, I am representing the people who voted for my opponents — and that is very significant to me,” she said. “I want people to understand the depth and breadth of my commitment to represent all of the people of Colorado and the state as a whole,” adding that she plans to put together an office of community initiatives within the attorney general’s office to provide consumer information; protect the privacy, information and data of state residents; alert people to scams; and protect public safety.

As “the people’s lawyer,” Coffman said, she promised to tackle “everything from human trafficking to domestic violence to school safety.”

“We need to continue to ensure that our elections continue to run smoothly,” said state GOP chairman Ryan Call, who introduced Williams and his wife, Holly, to the jubilant crowd.

Saying he’s “been trusted by both Democrats and Republicans to run elections fairly as the county clerk for El Paso County,” Williams vowed to work with his fellow clerks to do the same statewide.

Williams joined Gessler last year to oppose a Democratic-sponsored bill that mandated sending mail ballots to all registered voters, among other changes to election law, legislation supported by the Colorado County Clerks Association.

Noting that he arrived at the watch party later than most — as clerk, he was responsible for the ballot count that started just hours earlier — Williams tipped his hat to his staff.

“Folks, the only way I won this was by doing a good job as clerk and recorder, and the only way I did that was with the help and assistance of the great staff that I have as the El Paso County clerk and recorder — and they’re still working tonight, so thanks to them,” Williams said.

Then Williams mentioned that he’d spoken with one of his opponents on the drive up I-25 and credited all three for a spirited race.

“Thanks for a good, clean campaign, for a hard-fought fight, and for their great work,” he said. Folks, now we’re going to go and work together and make sure that elections in Colorado, that our business processes, and everything else the secretary of state oversees is run as wonderfully as this state deserves!”

See the Nov. 7 print edition for full photo coverage.

— Ernest@coloradostatesman.com