# Larimer County sales tax question leads by 426 votes in unofficial election night results - **Publisher:** FoCo Observer — independent local news for Fort Collins and Northern Colorado - **Published:** Nov 4, 2026, 6:43 AM MST (2026-11-04T06:43:02.764425-07:00) - **Section:** Local-government - **Canonical URL:** https://foco-observer.com/fort-collins/larimer-county-sales-tax-question-leads-by-426/ Larimer County's Ballot Issue 1A, a sales tax for watershed protection, wildfire mitigation and public safety, led by 426 votes — 74,417 to 73,991 — in the county's third unofficial posting of election night, released at 11:33 p.m. Tuesday.[^1][^2] The clerk and recorder's office said counting would resume Wednesday morning, with the next update expected by 5 p.m. Wednesday.[^3] The 1A margin could move. The county's election page showed 187,064 ballots cast, 68.4% of 273,489 active voters.[^4] The Tuesday night summary report that the figures in this story come from had tabulated about 151,000 ballots, leaving roughly 36,000 received ballots uncounted when the posting went up.[^1][^4] In the race for clerk and recorder — the office administering this count — Kenneth Forsythe (D) led incumbent Tina Harris (R) by 3,322 votes, 75,836 to 72,514.[^1] In the other contested county races, Shane Atkinson (D) led the District 1 commissioner race with 61.1% of the vote, Joann Ginal (D) led for treasurer with 61.6%, and Bob Overbeck (D) led for assessor with 61.5%. Sheriff John J. Feyen (R), Surveyor Tom Donnelly (R) and Coroner Stephen Hanks (D) ran unopposed.[^1] Democratic candidates led in all three state House districts entirely within Larimer County: Jacki Marsh in House District 51 with 52.3%, Yara Zokaie in House District 52 with 71.4%, and Andy Boesenecker in House District 53 with 81.3%.[^1] Janice Marchman (D) led Senate District 15 with 58.1% district-wide, and Lesley Smith (D) led House District 49 with 68.3%.[^5] In House District 64, which spans Larimer and Weld counties, Maureen (Mo) Dower (D) led the Larimer portion but incumbent Scott L. Slaugh (R) led district-wide with 54.3%.[^1][^5] Every statewide office went to the Democratic candidate, by margins of 17 to 27 points: John Hickenlooper took 60.2% for U.S. Senate; Phil Weiser and Lesley Dahlkemper took 60.9% for governor and lieutenant governor; Amanda Gonzalez took 59.8% for secretary of state; Jeff Bridges took 58.5% for treasurer; and Jena Griswold took 58.5% for attorney general.[^5] Joe Neguse (D) took 74.9% in Congressional District 2.[^5] In Congressional District 4, Eileen Laubacher (D) led incumbent Lauren Boebert (R) 49.15% to 47.73%, a margin of 4,894 votes, too close to call; Larimer County's share of that district went 58.3% for Laubacher.[^5][^1] In Congressional District 8, Manny Rutinel (D) led Gabe Evans (R) 55.5% to 40.8%.[^5] On statewide ballot questions, six of the seven proposed constitutional amendments were failing. Amendments 81 through 84 and 86 trailed outright, and Amendment 85, on plain-language ballot questions, held a bare majority at 50.8% — short of the 55% those amendments need to pass.[^5][^6] Amendment 87, which would replace the flat state income tax with a graduated one, led by 21,046 votes, 50.49% to 49.51%, too close to call; it needs only a simple majority because it removes constitutional language rather than adding to it.[^5][^6] Larimer County voters backed it with 55.1%.[^1] Proposition NN, the K-12 school funding measure, led 55.4% statewide and 58.0% in Larimer.[^5][^1] Propositions 132 (fentanyl penalties), 134 (school sports by sex) and 135 (surgery on minors) were passing statewide while Larimer voters rejected all three; Proposition 133, on penalties for trafficking of a minor, led in both.[^5][^1] Proposition 136, a 4.4% income tax rate cap, trailed with 47.3% yes. Proposition 137, steering a sporting goods tax to conservation funding, led by 13,569 votes, also too close to call.[^5] Voters retained every judge on the ballot by wide margins.[^1] Weld County voted nearly the mirror image of Larimer. Voters there backed the Republican candidate for every statewide office except governor — Weiser and Dahlkemper edged Marx and Markert 53,782 to 52,672 — according to the county's live results page and its 11:35 p.m. election summary report.[^8][^7] Weld voters backed five of the seven constitutional amendments, rejecting only 84 and 87, while Larimer voters backed only 87.[^7][^1] Weld's contested county races went Republican by double digits: Steve Reams took 61,642 votes for commissioner at-large against an unaffiliated challenger, and Matt Turner took 62,732 for sheriff, also against an unaffiliated challenger.[^7] Among local measures, Wellington's public safety sales tax trailed with 31.5% yes and Berthoud's Mountain Vista Park debt question with 40.7%. The Estes Valley Fire Protection District's measure led with 69.1% yes, and the Poudre Valley Fire Protection District's measure led with 59.9% across its two counties.[^1][^7] The Front Range Passenger Rail District's measure, a 0.333% sales and use tax, led with 58.0% in Larimer County and 55.2% across the 12-county district.[^1][^5] In Weld County, Greeley's sales and use tax for capital projects trailed with 30% yes; a Nunn Fire Protection District question led by a single vote, 627 to 626; and the Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District's measure was failing in both counties, a combined 42.2% yes in the two counties' unofficial reports.[^7][^1] All figures are unofficial. Statewide numbers are as of the Secretary of State's 4:02 a.m. Wednesday update, with 61 of 64 counties having completed election night reporting and statewide turnout at 55.0%.[^5] Larimer County figures are as of the county's 11:33 p.m. Tuesday posting, and Weld County figures as of its 11:35 p.m. posting.[^1][^7] Voters can cure signature or ID issues on their ballots through Nov. 12. The Secretary of State's office says its results page updates at least once each weekday by 4 p.m. through the cure deadline, and Larimer County expects to post final results no later than Nov. 25.[^9][^4] [^1]: https://www.larimer.gov/sites/default/files/election-results/2026/General-Election-2026-11-03-11-33-PM.pdf [^2]: https://www.larimer.gov/clerk/elections/results [^3]: https://www.larimer.gov/clerk/elections/results/Primary-Election-2026-11-03-11-41-pm [^4]: https://www.larimer.gov/clerk/elections/election [^5]: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/127407/ [^6]: https://leg.colorado.gov/bluebook [^7]: https://apps.weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/results/xml/ElectionSummaryReportRPT.pdf [^8]: https://apps.weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/results/ [^9]: https://coloradosos.gov/pubs/newsRoom/pressReleases/2026/PR20261102ElectionResults.html ## Sources - [https://www.larimer.gov/sites/default/files/election-results/2026/General-Election-2026-11-03-11-33-PM.pdf](https://www.larimer.gov/sites/default/files/election-results/2026/General-Election-2026-11-03-11-33-PM.pdf) - [https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/127407/](https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CO/127407/) - [https://apps.weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/results/xml/ElectionSummaryReportRPT.pdf](https://apps.weld.gov/clerkrecorder/elections/results/xml/ElectionSummaryReportRPT.pdf) - [https://www.larimer.gov/clerk/elections/election](https://www.larimer.gov/clerk/elections/election) ## More from FoCo Observer - [This story (web)](https://foco-observer.com/fort-collins/larimer-county-sales-tax-question-leads-by-426/) - [Local-government section](https://foco-observer.com/section/local-government/) - [Front page](https://foco-observer.com/) - [All pages for LLMs](https://foco-observer.com/llms.txt) - [News feed (RSS)](https://foco-observer.com/rss.xml)