DENVER – The results of the state election will impact Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s second-term agenda on issues like energy development and the state budget.
A Republican majority in the Legislature could force the governor to revisit difficult issues if the party tries to reverse Democrat-sponsored legislation like the gun-control measures passed in 2013 and new renewable energy mandates on rural cooperatives.
But neither party could definitively claim victory in the House, where Democrats have a 37-28 majority, or the Senate, where they have an 18-17 advantage.
“Right now, we don’t know who controls the Senate,” said Democratic Senate President Morgan Carroll. Her party has controlled the chamber for 10 years.
“It’s going to be a nail-biter,” Democratic House Speaker Mark Ferrandino said of his chamber.
One such race is in Denver, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Daniel Kagan was trailing Republican Candice Benge by 100 votes. Democratic Rep. Mike McLachlan of Durango was behind Republican J. Paul Brown by under 300 votes.
Reps. Joe Salazar, Jenise May and Tony Exum also trailed.
Democrats have controlled the House the past two legislative sessions.
In the Senate, Democrats regained two seats they lost last year in recalls over the gun-control legislation.
Republican Sen. George Rivera, a former deputy police chief, lost to state Rep. Leroy Garcia in Pueblo. And former state Rep. Michael Merrifield, a gun control advocate who once worked for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, beat Sen. Bernie Herpin, a founder of one of southern Colorado’s most active gun clubs.
Merrifield said he didn’t think his support for stricter gun laws hurt him.
“I am really satisfied. It’s as if the recall never happened,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Nicholson was behind in her contest against Republican Tim Neville, while Democratic Sen. Andy Kerr was ahead of GOP challenger Tony Sanchez.
“Our way of governing has always been to try and work from the middle and try to bring both sides together,” said Hickenlooper, who barely won re-election himself.
“If anything, that would just accentuate that that’s the appropriate way to lead,” he said of the election results.
