Overview
- Large mail-ballot turnout has already been recorded with about 327,000 Democratic and 228,000 Republican primary ballots cast and vote counting could continue into the night because Colorado releases mail and early results gradually.
- The Democratic governor contest between Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser will be decided Tuesday and a Bennet victory would create a Senate vacancy that he says he would fill with an appointee under age 50.
- First-term Sen. John Hickenlooper is facing a leftward primary challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales with limited polls showing Hickenlooper leading but by a narrowed margin.
- Colorado’s 8th Congressional District remains the state’s top House toss-up with Democrats Manny Rutinel and Shannon Bird competing for the nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Gabe Evans in November.
- On the GOP side, Victor Marx leads in fundraising and has drawn more than $400,000 in outside TV and digital spending while the secretary of state race has drawn added attention after Gov. Jared Polis commuted Tina Peters’s sentence.