The closest political race in Colorado is ready to call, as Chris Floyd concedes to Consuelo Redhorse nearly 24 hours after ballots closed on the June primary.
The latest official election report shows Redhorse, of Summit County, winning by 164 votes over Floyd, of Leadville, for the Democratic nomination in state House District 13. Soon after the report was filed Floyd conceded the race.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for candidates and ballot counters. Floyd led for several hours yesterday, only to see her lead evaporate just before midnight. Redhorse tells Krystal 93 she finally went to sleep around 1:30 a.m. when she felt like, “I’m good.” She won by two-tenths of a percent.
In her home county of Summit, Redhorse won by six votes total. She won more comfortably in Park, Grand and Lake counties. Floyd took the race in Chaffee and Jackson counties.
“The result of the primary election is not what we hoped for, but I am incredibly proud of the campaign we built and the conversations we had across House District 13,” Floyd’s concession statement reads. “We ran this campaign because mountain and rural communities deserve leadership that understands the cost of living, housing shortages, healthcare access, small business challenges, wildfire mitigation, water and the need to protect what makes Colorado unique.”
Floyd ends with a plea for party unity, writing, “We’re all still Democrats and serious work lies before us.”
Ballots are still being verified, but Redhorse also feels confident the nomination is hers. Sitting legislators are calling to congratulate her, she says.
“I’ve been contacted already by several representatives in the House,” Redhorse confirms. “I’m getting ready to get some laws passed (and) best serve our communities. I feel like that’s fast-tracked now. I’m excited for it. I’m ready to go.”
Marx overtakes Kirkmeyer
The Republican nomination for Colorado governor is tight and getting tighter.
For most of the day Barb Kirkmeyer, a sitting state Senator, led newcomer Victor Marx by less than 1,400 votes.
At 5:26 p.m. the tally flipped in favor of Marx by 1,646 votes. Nearly a half-million voters statewide cast a ballot in this race, giving Marx a margin of barely three-tenths of a percent.
A third challenger, Scott Bottoms, is sitting in distant third.
This Republican primary is playing out like a general election, where more liberal city voters split off from more conservative rural voters. Kirkmeyer carried Summit and most of the state’s densely populated counties, like Denver, Boulder and Jefferson, while Marx won most of the Western Slope, plus El Paso and Pueblo counties.
