Weld County primary election results are in. Here’s who will run against who in the November election.
Weld County primary election results are in. Photo by Kelly Ragan.
By Kelly Ragan
Weld County primary election results are in. Here’s who will run against who in the November election.
U.S. Senator
Republican primary winner: Cory Gardner
Democratic primary winner: John Hickenlooper
Libertarian primary winner: Raymon Anthony Doane
Gardner ran unopposed.
Hickenlooper defeated former Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff by a healthy margin in Weld County at 62.23% 37.77%.
Doane, a tax analyst for the state Department of Revenue, defeated Gaylon Kent, a U.S. Navy veteran and author 66.77% to 33.23% in Weld.
Representative to the 117th U.S. Congress, district 4
Republican primary winner: Ken Buck
Democratic primary winner: Ike McCorkle
Both candidates ran unopposed, securing 100% of the vote.
State senator, district 23
Republican primary winner: Barbara Kirkmeyer
Democratic primary winner: Sally Boccella
Kirkmeyer, Weld County commissioner District 3 incumbent, defeated Rupert Parchment, a small business owner, 55.31% to 44.69% in Weld.
Boccella, defeated Galina Nicoll, a University of Colorado in Boulder instructor 57.26% to 42.74% in Weld.
State representative, district 48
Republican primary winner: Tonya Van Beber
Democratic primary winner: Holly Herson
Van Beber, a Weld County Council at-large incumbent, defeated Grady Nouis, a utility services employee, 55.99% to 44.01%.
Holly Herson, an ophthalmic assistant, ran unopposed.
State representative, district 49
Republican primary winner: Mike Lynch
Democratic primary winner: Yara Hanlin Zokaie
Lynch, a U.S. Army veteran and businessman, defeated Vicki Marble, Senate District 23 incumbent 65.41% to 34.59%.
Zokaie, a tax attorney, ran unopposed.
State representative, district 50
Republican primary winner: None – there were no candidates for office.
Democratic primary winner: Mary Young.
State representative, district 63
Republican primary winner: Dan Woog
Democratic primary winner: Gen Schneider
Woog, Erie Board of Trustees incumbent, defeated Patricia Miller, former House District 27 representative and a write-in candidate 62.03% to 37.15% and 0.82% respectively.
Schneider, former Dacono city council member, ran unopposed.
District Attorney, 19th judicial district
Republican primary winner: Michael Rourke
Democratic primary winner: None – no Democrat ran for this office.
County commissioner at-large
Republican primary winner: Perry Buck
Democratic primary winner: Paul Echternacht
Buck, House District 49 incumbent, defeated Kevin Ross, appointed incumbent, 61.81% to 38.19%.
Echternacht, an information technology consultant, ran unopposed.
County commissioner district 1
Republican primary winner: Mike Freeman
Democratic primary winner: John Shull
Freeman, county commissioner district 1 incumbent, defeated Kristie Melendez, former Windsor mayor, 60.62% to 39.38%.
Shull, a retired actor, ran unopposed.
County commissioner district 3
Republican primary winner: Lori Saine
Democratic primary winner: Michael Welch
Libertarian primary winner: Matthew Hess
This was by far the closest race in Weld. Saine, House District 63 incumbent, defeated Tommy Holton, Fort Lupton mayor and Lynette Kilpatrick, homeschooling advocate and volunteer 36.85% to 36.59% and 26.56% respectively.
Ultimately, it came down to 27 votes separating Saine and Holton.
According to Ballotpedia, "In Colorado, a recount is automatically triggered if the margin of victory separating the winner from the runner-up is equal to or less than 0.5 percent of all votes cast for the winning candidate."
Despite the razor-thin margin, it’s not close enough to automatically trigger a recount.
Hess, a systems administrator, and Welch, a doctor, both ran unopposed.