Larimer County gets new commissioner

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

More than 94 percent of active voters went to the polls for the 2004 election in Larimer County, but elections officials were more than prepared for the turnout.

This is the third election in which the county has used consolidated vote centers at 26 sites rather than using 144 precinct voting places. Between early voting, election day votes, absentee ballots and provisional ballots, 147,112 ballots were cast.

In Larimer County, the election concluded with some close races, but none close enough for a recount. Like some of the cliffhanger national races, local politicians watched their contests until late in the night. The certified election returns are posted on the county web site at www.larimer.org/2004election.

In a closely watched local race, Larimer County will have a new face at the commissioners' table on Jan. 11 when Democrat Karen Wagner of Fort Collins takes over the District 2 job from Republican Tom Bender of Bellvue. Incumbent Glenn Gibson retained his seat on the commission.

An odd voting pattern developed in the two races for county commissioner this year. Although commissioners have a countywide race, 5,209 more voters cast ballots in the District 2 contest than in the District 3 race between Republican Gibson and Democrat Roger Hoffmann, both of Loveland.

Hoffmann, who lost to Gibson by 1,953 votes, speculated that he lacked name recognition and that the Wagner-Bender race received more media attention. "Tom (Bender) is a colorful character," he noted.

Gibson received just under 51 percent of the vote. Bender, who received nearly the same number of votes, lost to Wagner by 3,250 votes.

Wagner and Gibson, who starts his second four-year term, will be serving with Kathay Rennels of Livermore, a Republican in the middle of her second term.

In the races for seats in the Colorado legislature, Democrats in Larimer County won two spots and Republicans won three. The closest race came in House District 52 where Republican incumbent Bob McCluskey beat Democrat John Kefalas by 484 votes.

In the House District 49 race, incumbent Republican Kevin Lundberg beat Doug Frisbie. Incumbent Democrat Angie Paccione beat Republican Ed Haynes in the House District 53 race. Democrat Bob Bacon, a former legislator, beat Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez in the Senate District 14 contest.

Running unopposed, Republican Larry Abrahamson will take over the district attorney's job from Stu VanMeveren, who was term-limited.

A Larimer County ballot measure to change the number of county commissioners from three to five was soundly defeated by nearly 80 percent of voters. The proposal came with a tax increase of about $250,000 a year. The citizens group that originally proposed the idea did not like this version of the ballot measure, so no one actively campaigned for the change.

Election manager Jan Kuhnen was pleased with the way the vote centers operated. Only the voting place at Colorado State University still had people in line when polls closed at 7 p.m., she said, and they were done by 7:30.

"I sincerely think Larimer County has embraced the vote center concept," said county Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle. "I hope it's here to stay."

The numbers also indicate that county residents were eager to vote in this hotly contested presidential election. More than 47,000 people cast absentee ballots and 45,326 voted early at designated sites. Combined, they represent almost 63 percent of ballots cast.

Of the 2,636 people who had to fill out provisional ballots because of questions about their voter registration, the county accepted 1,798 votes and rejected 838, according to the county clerk's office.