Eagle County Clerk releases preliminary, unofficial general election results

Editor’s note: The Eagle County Clerk & Recorder’s office at 2:40 a.m., Wednesday, released a final round of unofficial preliminary general election results with another 5,209 ballots counted, which did not significantly change any of the projected results released right after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Eagle County voters chose Kamala Harris by a 60.9% to 36.4% margin over Donald Trump, who lost Colorado as a whole by an 11.5% margin but won the presidency nationally for a second time.

Initial Eagle County unofficial election results posted at 7 p.m., Tuesday

The Eagle County Clerk & Recorder’s office released unofficial preliminary general election results shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Democrats appeared poised to win several countywide offices.

Unopposed Eagle County Commissioner candidate Tom Boyd received 14,298 votes, and fellow Democrat and incumbent commissioner Matt Scherr was leading Republican Gregg Cooper by a margin of 12,765 votes to 8,693 votes, or 59.4% to 40.5%.

Democratic District Attorney candidate Heidi McCollum, unopposed, received 14,294 votes.

So far, out of 35,411 eligible votes in Eagle County, 23,063 ballots have been counted, or about 65.13% of the electorate.

In the nonpartisan Avon Town Council race, incumbent Lindsay Hardy so far is the top vote-getter at 1,005 votes, followed by Gary Brooks at 912 votes and Kevin Hyatt at 802 votes. The top three win council seats.

Town of Avon ballot issue 2C, a construction use tax, was leading 928 to 803, or about 53.6% to 46.3%.

The Eagle River Fire Protection District sales tax question 6A was leading in early results by a wide margin of 5,255 to 2,821, or 65% to 34.9%.

Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, whose state House District 26 includes most of Eagle County, appeared comfortably ahead in districtwide voting by a margin of 22,424 votes to 14,401 for Republican challenger Nathan Butler of Craig, 60.8% to 39.1%. Lukens was leading in Eagle County by a margin of 11,631 to 6,843 votes, or 62.9% to 37%.

Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, whose state House District 57 includes a small portion of Eagle County, was leading Republican challenger Caleb Waller 54.8% to 45.1%.

Lukens’ and Velasco’s apparent victories are part of a continued domination by Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives.

“Coloradans have once again placed their trust in us, and I am grateful to the people of our state. They have elected an overwhelming Democratic majority to the House in similar numbers to what we won in 2018 and 2020 when we secured the largest Democratic majority since FDR,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said in a press release.  “It’s clear from the results that Coloradans believe we are the right people to lead our state forward. Coloradans believe in reproductive freedom, and tonight, Coloradans reelected a pro-choice majority. Coloradans believe in public education, and tonight we reelected a pro-public schools majority. Coloradans believe in climate science, and tonight we reelected a pro-climate action majority. House Democrats are excited to build on our breakthrough session and continue fighting for our values, our freedoms and our Colorado way of life.” 

Amendment 79 to enshrine the right to an abortion in the Colorado Constitution was headed to victory statewide by a margin of 61% to 39%.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat who serves as Assistant Democratic Leader in the U.S. House, was leading Eagle County by a margin of 61% to 36.9% and had been declared the winner in the entire 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of Eagle County and much of the northern Front Range from Boulder to Fort Collins.

“Congressman Neguse spends his time in Washington fighting to cut the cost of living, protect public lands, and make Colorado’s economy more resilient,” said Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party and an Eagle County resident. “From standing up for our democracy to investing in wildfire mitigation, Congressman Neguse has been an effective fighter for Colorado, promising a new and more optimistic politics.”

In the 3rd Congressional District currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Democrat Adam Frisch of Aspen was trailing Grand Junction Republican Jeff Hurd 153,751 to 146,623 in statewide voting. Frisch was leading in the small section of Eagle County in CD3 by a margin of 2,639 to 1,142, or 68.7% to 29.7%.

Frisch lost to Boebert by 546 votes in 2022, prompting Boebert to move to the state’s 4th Congressional District on the Front Plains — a more comfortably conservative district where she was leading Democrat Trisha Calvarese by a margin of 52.9% to 43.2% in preliminary, unofficial results.