With the national political map turning into a familiar sea of red last night as news media looked at Republican gains in governorships, a prominent blue rectangle stamped middle America. It signaled that Colorado opted to once again elect a Democrat as governor, defying a nationwide trend and putting it in the company of California and New York, points out The Wall Street Journal.

Still, former Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, who just could not convince GOP gubernatorial nominee Dan Maes to drop out of the race, fought hard and scrappy—even while being bombarded by bird droppings during an Election Day honk-and-wave. But Tancredo couldn’t stop the momentum of Democrat John Hickenlooper. The Denver mayor and former brew pub owner easily won the election, writes The Denver Post.

“Colorado has responded to a positive campaign,” said Hick during last night’s victory party, referring to the fact that he refused to run attack ads against either of his opponents (via CBS4). “We set out from the very beginning to bring people together, and our campaign realized it was not just about winning.”

Tancredo, who ran as a candidate of the American Constitution Party, congratulated Hickenlooper in a call and apologized to his supporters “for not being able to carry it across the finish line. I don’t know where it goes from here. You gave us the ride of a lifetime.” Tancredo nabbed about 37 percent of the vote to Hickenlooper’s 50 percent, according to the latest reports (though votes are still being tallied).