Colorado Sen. Cleave Simpson will return to Denver in 2025 to represent Senate District 6. The Alamosa Republican fended off a challenge from Durango Democrat Vivian Smotherman by a margin of nearly 12%.
Smotherman called Simpson to concede early Tuesday evening.
Simpson had secured 56% of the vote while Smotherman secured 44% with 68% of the state’s votes counted. Voters in La Plata County favored Smotherman by a margin of five points.
District 6 comprises 14 counties and stretches from Costilla County west to the Utah state line, north up to Saguache and Montrose counties, excluding Hinsdale and Gunnison counties.
“I feel good and ready to take a bit of a moment and catch my breath, and then continue,” Simpson said. “I've always been just kind of a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy, and (I’m) ready to move on.”
Although Simpson was the incumbent, he had never run in the district before. The senator was elected to represent District 35 in 2020, which stretched from the San Luis Valley east to the state line. In 2022, redistricting took effect and Simpson has represented District 6 ever since.
The district’s voters do not strongly favor either party, according to a 2021 nonpartisan analysis.
“We were actually quite shocked by the results,” Smotherman said.
An engineer by trade, Simpson is the general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and a farmer. Smotherman, also a farmer and Navy veteran, was born in Denver and moved to Durango in 2021 following a 20-year career in the oil and gas industry.
Although the two candidates' stances on some hallmark issues – gun control and abortion chief among them – differ, Simpson and Smotherman were closely aligned on others, such as climate change and the transition to green energy.
Simpson is already preparing to introduce his first piece of legislation next year, a bill that will incentivize local regenerative agriculture. He said he has a roster of potential bills already in the hopper, including one that will address rural health care needs.
Simpson returns to the gold dome with a reputation as a bipartisan collaborator.
An expert in water matters, the senator maintained a positive working relationship with outgoing House District 59 Rep. Barbara McLachlan. She indicated support for Simpson before Smotherman entered the race and although she gave the Democrat money, McLachlan never endorsed Smotherman.
“My only hope is that he looks at the people of this district as much as he looks at the water, because the people are where we need some help,” Smotherman said.
The race between the two candidates was mostly cordial even as outsiders on both sides lobbed electioneering barbs that contained partial truths.
Simpson raised $156,000 during the campaign and had spent about $122,000 of it as of Oct. 28, according to the latest campaign finance reports. He accepted a voluntary spending cap of $142,000. Smotherman, who received support from the national Democratic Party, raised $95,000 during the campaign and had spent $68,000 as of Oct. 28.
The Senate Majority Fund, a state-level super PAC supporting Republican state Senate candidates, spent heavily in the district, funding attack ads against Smotherman and promotional materials in favor of Simpson to the tune of $135,000.
Much to Simpson’s chagrin, the state Republican Party in an August email blast went after Smotherman. The email misgendered the transgender candidate, among other attacks. Both candidates denounced the messaging and Simpson, known as a moderate within his party, said the issue of Smotherman’s gender identity had “no bearing on this conversation.”
“Between he and I, it was a clean race,” Smotherman said.
Given the significant rift between the state GOP and the senator which grew after the August incident, Simpson said part of his motivation was to show that traditional conservatives still have a place in Colorado.
“Part of my calculation was to show you can be a thoughtful, engaged, conservative Republican and still be impactful and still help guide – it’s an uphill battle, for sure – but try to guide the direction of the state of Colorado,” he said. “I wanted to be a face in that crowd.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
