Some candidates still watching and waiting to see if final returns can flip their fortunes

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice

Polls closed nearly 72 hours ago at this point, but there are still some races in Colorado that could drag into the weekend and perhaps next week before a clear winner is decided.

The most high-profile of those races is in Northern Colorado, where Gabe Evans and Yadira Caraveo are fighting it out for the 8th District seat in the U.S. House. But, there are other seats which are either undecided or close enough a trailing candidate with some help in remaining vote returns might have a chance for a comeback.

Here’s a look at the races we’re still watching across the state:

  • District 8, U.S. Representative: Democrat Yadira Caraveo’s margin in the race is shrinking. A race the one-term U.S. Rep. Caraveo once led by a somewhat comfortable 1.59% margin has been closed to a 0.44% difference between Evans and Caraveo. As of late Friday, Evans trails by 1,321 votes. “We are confident that Gabe will win,” said Alan Philp, a spokesperson for the Evans campaign. This is the race that filled the college football and Broncos commercial time for the past month.
  • District 8, State Board of Education: Conventional wisdom is that this race is over. Republican Yazmin Navarro is leading Democrat Rhonda Solis by 10,368 votes, representing about 3.6% of all votes cast. It is important to consider the district includes Larimer, where 12.2% of votes have not been reported, and Adams, where 13.1% of votes remain to be reported.
  • Colorado Senate District 12: Democrat Marc Snyder leads Republican Stan VanderWerf by 1,601 votes in a district in which 64,421 votes have been reported. The reason this race could still have a chance to turn toward VanderWerf is the quantity of outstanding ballots. Discounting the low ballot count available in Teller County, 8.2% of ballots remain unreported across El Paso County, according to the Associated Press.
  • Colorado Senate District 16 and 21: In a pair of longshots for Republicans, these races are still close enough to watch. The likelihood they will change isn’t high. In District 16, Republican Robyn Carnes trails Democrat Chris Kolker by 4,487 votes. In District 21, Republican Frederick Alfred Jr. trails Dafna Michaelson Jenet by 1,982 votes.
  • Colorado House District 16: This race is about as close as it gets. Republican Rebecca Keltie trails Democrat Steph Vigil by 269 votes in this El Paso County district. The margin is presently outside qualifying for a mandatory recount. About 8.2% of votes have not been reported in El Paso County.
  • Colorado House District 19: Republican Dan Woog trails Democrat Jillaire McMillan by 1,128 votes. Unfortunately, for Woog, Weld County only has an estimated 2% of votes left to report, and McMillan could benefit from 17.3% of votes in Boulder County remaining to be reported.
  • Colorado House District 43: Republican Matt Burcham trails Democrat Bob Marshall by 1,215 votes in the Douglas County district. He’s in a similar position to Dan Woog. While it is a small margin, Douglas County only has about 1% of the vote unreported.
  • Colorado House District 50: Republican Ryan Gonzalez leads Mary Young by 209 votes in a race being watched by Young Republicans. The probability Gonzalez hangs on for the win is fairly high considering about 2% of ballots remain. The race could very well come down to military ballots and hold-back ballots.
  • Colorado House District 59: If you glance into the far southwest corner of the state near New Mexico, you will find District 59. There, Republican Clark Craig trails Democrat Katie Stewart by 1,295 votes in the district which includes Archuleta, La Plata and Montezuma counties. The chance for Craig lies in Montezuma, which went for Donald Trump by a 21% margin and still has 20.1% of votes unreported.
  • District Attorney, 8th District: In one of the oddities on Election Day, unaffiliated Dawn Lyn Downs could upset Democrat Gordon McLaughlin in the 8th District race for district attorney. McLaughlin leads by 2,167 votes. Downs might have some hope in Jackson County, which went 76.1% for Donald Trump and has 6% of its vote unreported.