Democrats add to House majority; Republicans retain Senate majority

At the end of a long election season that delivered shocks at every stage, including a dramatic upset win for Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, voters in Colorado shuffled some of the players at the state Capitol but didn’t change the game.

The next legislative session will see Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate, same as the last legislative session.

From the Denver Westin where state Democrats gathered on election night, it didn’t at first look like things would turn out this way. They were energized when former Sen. Rachel Zenzinger took an early lead that never faltered over Arvada Republican incumbent Sen. Laura Woods in swing Senate District 19. The match up had been the most closely watched on most legislative lists, a target of spending by state and national political groups.

In her victory statement, Zenzinger thanked the “large percentage of district voters with moderate political views” who she said “seemed to tip the polls” in her favor.

“I am grateful to those voters who took the time to absorb our middle-of-the-road, commonsense messages in which we emphasized plans for collaboration at the State House,” Zenzinger said.

Woods made news in the weeks before the election for openly championing the Trump campaign, including introducing the presidential candidate with a fiery speech when he visited Golden at the end of October. As Woods was quick to concede Wednesday, the strategy, born of conviction, was a near miss: Trump won the presidency, but he lost Colorado.

“We did everything we could to win,” said Woods, who won the Senate seat from Zenzinger in 2014. “We knocked doors. We delivered our message, but that’s the nature of a swing district – it shifts back and forth. The silver lining is that Republicans will retain control of the state Senate and Trump will be president. That’s good for the state and good for the country.”

Republicans last session held a one-seat majority in the Senate. It will likely be the same next session.

On Tuesday, Republicans lost Woods’ District 19 seat but, at press time, they appeared to pick up the District 25 seat vacated by term-limited Aurora Democrat Mary Hodge.

With 12,000 of some 51,000 votes left to tally in Adams County, the 8 percent lead Brighton Republican State Rep. Kevin Priola won over former state Rep. Jenise May seemed likely to hold.

Neither Priola nor May returned messages by press time. Candidates in several of the Senate’s top swing races seemed similarly hesitant to go on record, given that elections officials were still tallying results.

Still, Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial, enjoyed what looked like a steady lead in District 27. He paused in an interview to check if the tallies had been updated. They hadn’t.

According to the Arapahoe County clerk’s office, at noon on Wednesday, roughly 34,000 ballots had yet to be counted, and at least several thousand of those were likely cast for Tate and his Democratic opponent Tom Sullivan. Residents of the county reportedly still were casting votes Tuesday night, hours after polls closed at 7 p.m.

“I haven’t even thought very much about how things might be different next year,” Tate said. He added that his head was still buzzing from the election. “When you’re running, you’re just in it, you know?”

Tate sounded like a lot of people did Tuesday night and Wednesday morning: slightly dazed and exhausted with trying to digest the information coming at them.

Tate’s District 25 is solidly Republican but Sullivan is a straight-talking former postal worker and it seemed to be his kind of year. A political novice, Sullivan became a public figure after his son, Alex, was murdered in the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting, prompting Sullivan to dedicate himself to advocating for stricter gun laws. He routinely appears in state and national news stories on the politics of gun violence.

Tate led by some 5,000 votes. The Sullivan campaign had yet to concede.

“There are literally thousands of votes that haven’t been officially tallied. We have no definitive results,” said Sullivan campaign manager Marguerita Ten Houten, sounding like she thought it was madness to take anything for granted this year.

In swing Senate District 26, held by term-limited Democrat Linda Newell, Cherry Hills Village Democratic state Rep. Daniel Kagan was out front of Republican Arapahoe County Commissioner and Littleton resident Nancy Doty.

In Senate District 35, incumbent Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, solidly defeated Democratic Las Animas County Sheriff Jim Casias, a pro-gun rights former firefighter, miner and Trinidad police officer.

And in Senate District 8, incumbent Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulfur Springs, defeated Democratic opponent Emily Tracy for the second time in four years.

But Democrats were cheered somewhat Wednesday with news that the party would at least likely double its three-seat majority in the 65-member House.

Democrat Tony Exum unseated Colorado Springs District 7 Republican Rep. Kit Roupe; Dafna Michaelson Jenet unseated Commerce City District 30 Republican JoAnn Windholz; and Democrat Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village on Wednesday maintained a solid lead over Cherry Hills Village District 3 Republican Katy Brown.

Democrats also were closely watching the race for Durango District 59, where Democrat Barbara McLachlan led Republican incumbent J. Paul Brown by some 600 votes.