Democrats made a clean sweep of Colorado’s statewide executive offices Tuesday, winning the races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer as well as governor.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the bunch was Democratic political newcomer Jena Griswold, who defeated Republican incumbent Secretary of State Wayne Williams. The other statewide seats were open.

Griswold received a congratulatory concession call from Williams just before 9:30 p.m. as she mingled with supporters in a hospitality suite across the lobby from the state Democrats’ overflowing election night watch party at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel.

Moments later, she leaped onto a chair and pumped her fist in the air to quiet the crowd. “We won!” she said, adding that she was proud to be the first Democrat elected to be Colorado’s secretary of state in 60 years. “We’re not going to let the politics of fear divide us,” she said.

As of 11:19 p.m., Griswold led Williams by 3-1/2 percentage points.

Democratic treasurer candidate Dave Young also claimed victory late Tuesday as Republican candidate Brian Watson called to concede. Young was ahead by just over 3 points late Tuesday.

“We’re thrilled with the results and thrilled that we’ve run a very lean race and managed to be successful,” Young said.

He acknowledged that the Democratic wave that washed over Colorado had something to do with his win.

“There’s some momentum,” Young said. “I think people are ready for a change. I think some responsibility comes with that. I was in the [state] House when we held both chambers; you want to be very careful with that. You represent everyone in the state. You want to be sure you are doing a job of governance that does, in fact, represent everyone in the state. That’s how I’m going to approach this as treasurer.”

Meanwhile, Democrat Phil Weiser took to the stage to declare victory in the attorney general’s race just after 11 p.m. in front of a dwindled – but still boisterous – crowd at the state Democrats’ watch party, but overnight results had Weiser ahead only narrowly, and Republican George Brauchler waited until early Wednesday to concede.

As of 8:32 a.m. Wednesday, Weiser was leading Brauchler by 2.2 percentage points.

Late Tuesday, Weiser said former Gov. Roy Romer told him this if he wanted to be attorney general, he had to build authentic relationships across the state, and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter – who won re-election Tuesday – said he needed to “tell people who you are.”

“So all across the state, I told people my family’s story – about my grandmother giving birth to my mother in a concentration camp and getting liberated the next day by the U.S. Army,” Weiser said.

Over the crowd’s cheers, he said he agreed with what state party chair Morgan Carroll had said earlier, that “Colorado will show the nation how government works.”

Then he delivered a lengthy set-up before referring to his campaign slogan.

“During the campaign,” Weiser said, “we talked about the need for a strong attorney general who will protect our constitutional rights; and the need for a fair attorney general, who will take on the opioid epidemic and criminal justice reform; and a wiser attorney general, who will solve problems, not score political points.

“That’s why we said, we need an attorney general who is stronger, faster and Weiser,” he said.

In one other statewide race, for the at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, Democrat Lesley Smith defeated Republican Ken Montera.

Griswold, an attorney, gained traction with voters by portraying Williams as quick to release voter information to President Trump’s administration. She also far outraised Williams in the campaign, tripling his contributions by collection nearly $1 million. She spent much of that money on TV ads, promising to safeguard Coloradans’ right to vote.

Williams had attempted to safeguard his position by pointing to his track record in the office and to a report from The Washington Post that called Colorado “the safest state to cast a vote.”

Brauchler attempted to lean on his experience to gin up support. He is district attorney in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District and portrayed Weiser as seriously lacking courtroom experience. But Weiser gained a following with his pledges to defend the Affordable Care Act, protect public lands and fight the separation of immigrant families at the border. Weiser is a former University of Colorado Law School dean and former official in the Department of Justice under Presidents Obama and Clinton.

Weiser had painted Brauchler as unwilling to defend the rights of Coloradans in the face of Trump’s administration.

In the treasurer’s race, Young, a state representative from Greeley, relied on his experience in the statehouse to garner votes, painting Watson, a professional real estate investor, as a candidate who would bring conflicts of interest into the office and stretch himself too thin with his private business enterprises.