County residents are mixed bag at voting booth

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Larimer County voted for Democrat Barack Obama for president and for two Republicans for county commissioner.

The county voted Democratic for the most part, with a 93 percent voter turnout after provisional ballots were counted. Altogether, 167,285 ballots were cast.

Rural and small town residents elected Kevin Lundberg, a Berthoud Republican, to his fourth term as state representative for House District 49, which includes northern Larimer County. Lundberg pulled in more than 57 percent of the vote over James Ross, a Democrat living in rural Fort Collins. This is the first time Ross sought the office.

Provisional ballots did not change any outcomes in the election. Voters have given seats on the Larimer County Commission to two Republicans, Tom Donnelly of Loveland and Steve Johnson of rural Fort Collins. In January, they will join Republican Kathay Rennels of Livermore, who is in the middle of her third and final term. Commissioners make an annual salary of $87,300, which is set by the state legislature.

Donnelly is the current county surveyor and half way through his first term. He won the commissioner District 3 job by a narrow margin of 954 votes, or less than 1 percent, over Roger Hoffmann of Loveland.

Hoffmann, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully against Republican Glenn Gibson four years ago. This year, Donnelley won the Republican nomination over Gibson, who will conclude two terms in January.

Johnson is a current state senator for District 15, and he served as state representative before being elected to the Senate. He defeated Democrat Randy Eubanks by 9,820 votes, about 6.5 percent of votes cast.

Eubanks was appointed to the county commission one and one-half years ago to fill the seat vacated by Karen Wagner. This was his first time to have his name on a county ballot.

Starting from the top of the ballot, Larimer County gave 54 percent of its vote to Obama, the first African-American elected to be president of the United States.

The county supported Democrat Mark Udall of Boulder over Republican Bob Schaffer of Fort Collins for U.S. Senator, as did the majority of the state. Udall will fill the post held by Republican Wayne Allard, who is retiring. Colorado now has two Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

In the 4th Congressional District race, the county gave nearly 61 percent of the vote to Democrat Betsy Markey over Republican Marilyn Musgrave. Markey, who lives in Fort Collins, also won the districtwide vote, though by a smaller margin. Republicans have held the 4th Congressional District since 1973.

In Fort Collins, Democrat State Sen. Bob Bacon retained his District 14 seat by a wide margin of 63 percent to 37 percent over Republican Matt Fries.

Democrat John Kefalas defeated Republican Bob McCluskey in House District 52 with 59 percent of the vote, giving Kefalas a second term.

Democrat Randy Fischer defeated political newcomer Donna Gallup, a Republican, with 63 percent of the vote, also giving him a second term.

In Loveland, Republican Don Marostica defeated Democrat Ken Bennett with 57 percent of the vote in House District 51.

An unopposed Larry Abraham-son, a Republican, will serve a second term as district attorney for the 8th Judicial District, which includes Larimer and Jackson counties.

Issue 1A, which asked voters to approve a 0.25 percent sales tax to build and operate a detox center and mental health treatment facility, lost by a wide margin of 62 to 38 percent. Placed on the ballot by the Larimer County Commissioners, the proposal was intended to provide a treatment facility outside the county jail. With a local facility, the county should also have seen fewer trips to Weld County, which has the nearest detox facility.