Larimer County sales tax question leads by 426 votes in unofficial election night results

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.¹² 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.¹⁴

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%.¹⁵

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.⁵¹ 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.⁵⁶ 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.⁵⁶ 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.⁵¹ 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.⁵¹ 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.⁸⁷ Weld voters backed five of the seven constitutional amendments, rejecting only 84 and 87, while Larimer voters backed only 87.⁷¹ 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.¹⁷ 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.¹⁵ 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.⁷¹

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.¹⁷ 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. 25.⁹⁴

This article was generated with assistance from AI models and was edited and reviewed by a human.