El Paso County Clerk and Recorder candidate Peter Lupia announced Wednesday he would not concede the race to his primary opponent, despite losing by a wide margin. 

Lupia garnered 34% of the vote, and El Paso County Assessor Steve Schleiker received 66% in the race for the clerk’s office, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s website.

The margin between candidates need to be within a half a percentage point of the of the leading candidate’s vote total to automatically trigger a recount. Candidates usually refuse to concede when margins are tight.

Colorado primary election results: Five takeaways

A campaign email Lupia sent out to supporters said that the election losses that he and other anti-establishment candidates suffered were proof of fraud.

“These results are highly suspicious at best, fraudulent in truth,” he said. 

Lupia and a slate of other candidates promoted debunked theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

El Paso County establishment Republicans and their primary wins: 2 key areas made the difference

Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman said Lupia can request a recount, but he would need to pay for it, a cost that could run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Under state law, the recount would have to be done by machine.  

Schleiker said he wasn’t bothered by Lupia’s announcement and that his focus was on the coming general election and educating voters on fair and open election processes. 

Establishment Republican Steve Schleiker leading in clerks race

“The clerk and recorder needs to be fair referee for all in El Paso County. It is not an office to allow any kind of political bias,” he said. 

He said he planned to have a large number of town halls on the election process and was ready to dive into detail-oriented questions about election security with concerned voters. 

The Clerk and Recorder’s Office is responsible for conducting all county elections and overseeing voter registration, as well as marriage licenses, vehicle titles and registrations and land records and deeds.

Lupia did not immediately return requests for comment. 

This story has been updated to correct the margin that triggers a recount.