Footsteps and voices echoed in the hallway at East High on Saturday as a half dozen volunteers and occasional other Republicans trickled in from the warm, bright morning.

Organizers for the GOP caucuses with 56 precincts had a pool with an over-under of 30 people showing up, when they layered the coronavirus and low stakes onto the Saturday morning sunlight and last Tuesday’s presidential primary.

The “under” was way under, a few more than a dozen people showed up, and the Republican caucuses in Denver were over in about 50 minutes. No Republican candidates showed up.

Republicans and Democrats across Colorado held their caucuses Saturday to choose delegates to the county and state assemblies.

Denver Republicans occupied East High in the morning, and Democrats were expected to convene there and other locations across the state in the afternoon.

In some precincts Republicans voted on non-presidential candidates for local and federal offices. There were none in Denver, with President Trump nor U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner facing challenges in Colorado.

“The race really starts today,” said Kristina Cook, Denver County’s party chair. “This is where our ground game gets organized. This is where our delegates get elected and this is where we start to get to November.”

The caucus at the Pueblo West library, which hosted seven precincts, also was sparsely attended, with fewer than two dozen in attendance.

The Pueblo region, which has swung toward Democrats for decades, broke with tradition in 2016 and voted for Donald Trump. So how do Republicans continue that momentum in November?

The caucus on Saturday chose delegates for the county assembly and discussed resolutions. They also discussed upcoming county and congressional district assemblies for several contested races, including HD46, currently represented by Democratic Rep. Daneya Esgar, and HD47, represented by first-term Democratic Rep. Bri Buentello. HD 47 has a contested GOP primary in June.

Also contested, and discussed on Saturday: the congressional Third District race, where incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez faces Lauren Boebert of Rifle.

None of the candidates attended the library caucus, but supporters read statements from Boebert and Tipton. Another supporter spoke for Stephanie Luck, who is challenging Buentello. Luck won the straw poll among the HD47 precincts at the library.

At the Pueblo West north fire station, the caucus adopted six resolutions to forward to the Pueblo County GOP assembly and potentially to the Colorado Republican state assembly, all passed unanimously. One named named Pueblo County a “sanctuary for the unborn” by seeking a ban on abortions within the county. Another called for a national “convention of states” to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, while another sought to overturn the legislature’s offer to award the state’s Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote.

Two resolutions addressed gun control: a repeal of the 15-round limit on ammunition magazines passed by the General Assembly in 2013 and last year’s red-flag gun law to temporarily take weapons from those deemed a risk to themselves or others. And another resolution supported a ballot initiative to ensure only citizens vote in state elections.

The light Republican turnout was the same at Thunder Ridge High School in Highlands Ranch, with an average of two or three Douglas County Republicans per precinct. In the classroom where three people from Precinct 236 were meeting, John Reeb, the outgoing precinct committee person, said that establishing a separate presidential primary was to blame for poor caucus participation.

“Four years ago, this room was full,” Reeb said, adding that at least two dozen Republicans had turned out to weigh in on the open presidential nomination.

A parade of candidates and their surrogates made their pitches to the assembled Republicans, including University of Colorado regent hopefuls Richard Murray and Priscilla Rahn, whose husband, a jazz musician, invited caucus-goers to an upcoming fundraiser featuring his music.

Speaking before about a dozen caucus-goers in a room with five precincts, Steve House, one of the Republicans running in a primary in the 6th Congressional District for the chance to challenge U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, talked about stricter border control.

“We have to secure the border,” he said. “Without the rule of law, why should I stop at stop signs?”

The other major candidate in the congressional primary, Casper Stockham, spoke to the room earlier.

“This is a David and Goliath race,” he said. “My opponent has more money than God, but I’ve got God in my corner.”