The Republican candidate in a critical state Senate race in Adams County held on to a comfortable lead late Friday, giving the Colorado GOP real hope that it will be the majority in the 35-seat chamber.
At the latest count, Republican Beth Martinez Humenik held an 882-vote lead over her Democrat opponent, Judy Solano.
That’s up from 803 votes earlier in the day. It was the first time the gap in the race had widened since polls closed Tuesday.
With fewer than 3,000 ballots left to count, it’s becoming less likely that Solano can gain enough ground on Humenik to keep the Senate from going into Republican hands for the first time in a decade.
A GOP-controlled Senate would act as a counterbalance at the Capitol, where Democrats retained control of the House on Friday.
Democrats and Republicans are locked in a 17-17 tie in the Senate, based on unofficial results from the other 17 Senate races that were held across the state on Tuesday. Democrats had an 18-17 edge in the Senate in the last session.
Democratic strategist Steve Welchert said a split legislature would be good for Gov. John Hickenlooper, who won’t have to wrestle with as many ideologically driven bills coming out of the statehouse.
“If there’s a split, it’s going to force both chambers to negotiate before the bills get to him,” he said.
Welchert said there likely would be more focus on bread-and-butter issues, like infrastructure improvements and educational initiatives.
The ballot-tallying process in Adams County bogged down this week in part because voters had a write-in choice for county surveyor, requiring election judges to check each ballot more carefully.
County spokesman Jim Siedlecki said voters wrote in Justin Timberlake, Brad Pitt and Godzilla as the county’s next surveyor, but only the current county surveyor, Tim Thoms, is a certified write-in candidate for the post.
Siedlecki said Thoms failed to get his candidacy papers into the county on time this year to get his name listed on the ballot.
Republicans held out hope that Humenik’s lead wouldn’t evaporate as the last several thousand ballots were tallied in Adams County. They pointed to GOP political gains this week in a county that typically leans Democratic as a sign that their fortunes have improved there.
Adams County Commissioner Erik Hansen, who was re-elected Tuesday, said his fellow Republicans in the county benefited from a strong victory operation, good candidate recruitment and squabbling among Democrats.
Outgoing Sen. Lois Tochtrop, a Democrat, .
Despite Democrats’ dimming prospects for holding on to the Senate, they were able to cheer when to them majority control of the House.
Hours after conceding, House Republicans met at the Capitol to pick leadership for the coming term. House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, and House whip Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County, kept their posts.
Rep. Libby Szabo of Arvada was selected for assistant minority leader. The only contested race came for caucus leader, where Lois Landgraf of Fountain ousted Rep. Kathleen Conti of Littleton from the post.
DelGrosso said he was gratified the party picked up at least three seats after being down 37-28 in the last legislative session.
“This election we had an uphill battle,” DelGrosso said in a statement. “Democrats gerrymandered the House district maps, rammed through their highly partisan election laws, and outspent us 3-1.”
The GOP conceded as Reps. Daniel Kagan and Su Ryden maintained slim leads over their Republican challengers in Arapahoe County, with most of the county’s ballots now tallied.
And in hard-fought Jefferson County, Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, widened her lead Friday over GOP opponent Larry Queen to 381 votes out of more than 72,000 ballots counted, putting that race comfortably outside automatic recount territory.
Republicans prevailed in a very tight House District 59 race in southwest Colorado, where J. Paul Brown beat Democratic Rep. Mike McLachlan by a little more than 200 votes.
A final party line breakdown in the House won’t be known until the two Adams County races are called. Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, increased his lead over Republican Carol Beckler to 166 votes, and Democrat Rep. Jenise May narrowed her deficit to Republican JoAnn Windholz to 188 votes from 229 earlier Friday.
Because , recounts are always a possibility. Military and overseas ballots still need to be counted, which could affect unofficial results.
All counts must be certified by Nov. 21, and any recounts would have to be finished by Dec. 11.
John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold
House gop leadership
Republicans conceded the House to Democrats, then met at the Capitol to pick leadership for the coming term:
Minority leader: Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland
Minority whip: Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County
Assistant minority leader: Libby Szabo, R-Arvada
Caucus leader: Lois Landgraf, R-Fountain
