Greenwood Village, Colorado — Cory Gardner has won Colorado, becoming the first Republican Senator in the state since 2002, Fox News and CNN are reporting.
With 65.1 percent reporting, Gardner has 50.8 percent of the vote, compared with Democrat Mark Udall’s 43.9 percent, by the Wall Street Journal’s latest count.
Here at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, a packed house has turned out to celebrate Republican victory.
As the ballot boxes closed, the media room was already at capacity, with journalists, volunteers, and revelers spilling over into the Root 25 Taphouse.
Fox and CNN play on big-screen TVs, and the latest Colorado results flash across the screen, met with cheers.
The enthusiasm isn’t limited to the Republican-party election night bash. Earlier today, a young man at a barbeque joint in Denver reveled with his “I Voted” sticker. “Cory Gardner’s a pretty good candidate,” he tells me, “which Coloradoans who did their research already know.”
The governor’s race remains tight, with Republican Bob Beauprez slightly ahead, leading John Hickenlooper by fewer than 12,000 votes.