Colorado 2014 Election Results

Colorado held its general election on November 4, 2014, deciding 83 legislative seats and 5 statewide offices led by the governorship. Control shifted: the Senate moved from a 18-17 Democratic majority to a 18-17 Republican majority.

Highlights

• Republicans' one-seat Senate gain broke the Democratic trifecta. John Hickenlooper (D) won a second term and Democrats kept the House, but Senate Republicans picked Bill Cadman for Senate president and House Democrats chose Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D) as their speaker, leaving Colorado with a divided legislature for 2015.
• The Senate turned on three Democratic-held seats:
  • Tim Neville (R) unseated Jeanne Nicholson (D) by about 3 points in Senate District 16.
  • Laura J. Woods (R) ousted Rachel Zenzinger (D) by about 660 votes in Senate District 19.
  • Beth Martinez Humenik (R) beat Judy Solano (D) by about 900 votes for the open, Democratic-held Senate District 24, the result that settled control of the chamber.
  Democrats won back both seats Republicans had taken in the 2013 gun-control recalls, but that was not enough to offset those losses. Leroy Garcia Jr. (D) beat George Rivera (R) by about 10 points in Pueblo's Senate District 3, and Michael Merrifield (D) beat Bernie Herpin (R) by about 11 points in Senate District 11. "It's as if the recall never happened," Merrifield said after his win. Democrats also held three Senate seats by fewer than 1,400 votes each: Cheri Jahn (D) kept Senate District 20 by about 440 votes, Kerry Donovan (D) held the open Senate District 5 by about 1,300, and Andy Kerr (D) kept Senate District 22 by about 1,340.
• Hickenlooper beat Bob Beauprez (R) by about 3 points. He trailed until about midnight, when late returns from Boulder County and other Democratic-leaning counties pulled him ahead. A loss would have made him the first Colorado governor denied re-election since 1962, on a night when Republican Cory Gardner unseated U.S. Sen. Mark Udall.
• Republicans kept the three statewide offices they already held. Walker Stapleton (R) was re-elected treasurer by about 5 points over Betsy Markey (D); Cynthia Coffman (R) won the open attorney general's office by about 9 points; and Wayne W. Williams (R) won the open secretary of state's race over Joe Neguse (D) by about 2 points.
• In all, 8 legislative seats changed party, six toward Republicans and two toward Democrats, and 7 incumbents lost. In the House, where Democrats' majority narrowed to 34-31, Republicans unseated three Democrats:
  • JoAnn Windholz (R) beat Jenise May (D) by about 110 votes in House District 30.
  • J. Paul Brown (R) beat Mike McLachlan (D) by about 170 votes in House District 59.
  • Kit Roupe (R) beat Tony Exum Sr (D) by about 290 votes in House District 17.
  Beyond the flips, 3 races finished within two points.
• Voters rejected 3 of the 4 statewide measures. Amendment 67, a "personhood" amendment, and Proposition 105, which would have required labels on genetically modified foods, each lost by roughly 2 to 1; opponents of the labeling measure spent more than $15 million. Amendment 68, which would have expanded racetrack gaming to fund schools, also failed, while Proposition 104, an open-meetings requirement for school boards, passed easily.

Legislature

• House (65 seats): 37 D, 28 R before the election, 34 D, 31 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (35 seats): 18 D, 17 R before the election, 17 D, 18 R after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures