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Editors’ note: This is a living story that will be updated as we learn more.
Stay up to date on how Colorado voted in the 2024 election.
Jump Ahead:
Presidential Race
The race for the presidency is still too close to call. We do, however, know that Vice President Kamala Harris defeated former President Donald Trump in Colorado, according to AP. As of 8:08 p.m. Tuesday night, when the race was called, Harris had earned 55.1 percent of the vote compared to Trump’s 42.7 percent.
The definitive victory in the Centennial State for Harris continues Colorado’s blueward shift, with the Democratic candidate winning the state for the fourth presidential election in a row. Following the 2020 election, data showed most counties around the Denver metro area, many of which were once considered toss-ups, are now reliably blue due to an influx of new residents and changing voter demographics. In 2024, the early results showed mixed results on that trend, with Jefferson and Boulder counties each shifting three points toward the Democrats and Broomfield County moving two in that direction. Adams County, however, shifted five points toward the Republicans and Arapahoe County three (both with a majority still voting for Harris).
Colorado’s Congressional Races
District 1
Diana DeGette (Democrat, incumbent) defeated Republican Valdamar Archuleta, Daniel Lutz from the Approval Voting Party, and Critter Milton of the Unity Party. DeGette, the longest-serving member of Colorado’s congressional delegation (27 years), will return to the U.S. House of Representatives for a 15th term. The vote was roughly 78.1 percent in favor of DeGette to 20.4 for Archuleta when the race was called at 7:11 p.m. on Tuesday night.
District 2
Joe Neguse (Democrat, incumbent) defeated Republican Marshall Dawson and a slew of minor party and independent candidates. Neguse, who currently serves as the Assistant Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, will return to Congress for a fourth term. He led with 69.5 percent of the vote (to Dawson’s 28.5) when the race was called at 7:48 p.m. on Tuesday.
District 3
Republican Jeff Hurd looks poised to defeat Democrat Adam Frisch, Libertarian James Wiley, and the Unity Party’s Jeff Withrow and will likely head to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time. The race to represent the Centennial State’s largest congressional district by area was thrown into flux when Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert announced in December she would abandon her re-election bid to run in Colorado’s more conservative 4th District during the 2024 cycle. Boebert’s decision came at a point when she was down by five to seven points in polls against Frisch, after defeating the former Aspen City Councilmember by just 546 votes in 2022. She was also staring down a serious challenge in the Republican primary, including from Hurd.
Frisch’s campaign lost momentum after Boebert’s exit. Once the more moderate Hurd convincingly won the Republican primary, he became the favorite in the right-leaning district, which includes the entire western half of the state and the southern portion of the I-25 corridor. The Grand Junction attorney has never held elected office before, but he recently served as chair of the board of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce.
As of 11:19 p.m. on Tuesday, Hurd led the district with 50 percent of the vote (171,064 votes) to Frisch’s 47 (160,596 votes). AP estimated that 76 percent of votes had been counted. (Editor’s note: We will update this as we learn more.)
Read More: Can Adam Frisch Really Turn Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District Blue?
District 4
Lauren Boebert (Republican, challenger, sorta) defeated Democrat Trisha Calvarese and other minor party candidates to win the state’s most Republican-friendly seat, according to the Colorado Redistricting Committee. Boebert, who has represented Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District for the past four years, decided to run in the 4th District after Republican Ken Buck announced his retirement late last year. At of 9:38 p.m. on Tuesday, AP called the district for Boebert (52.9 percent).
District 5
Republican Jeff Crank is poised to defeat Democrat River Gassen and other minor party candidates. Crank, a longtime conservative radio host and political consultant, will become a first-time congressman for the only district in the state that has never sent a Democrat to Congress. Republican Doug Lamborn held the seat for nine terms but announced he would retire from Congress earlier this year.
As of 11:13 p.m. on Tuesday, Crank led the district with 54.8 percent of the vote (127,554 votes) to Gassen’s 41.9 percent (97,636 votes). AP estimated that 63 percent of the votes had been counted. (Editor’s note: We will update this as we learn more.)
District 6
Jason Crow (Democrat, incumbent) defeated Republican John Fabbricatore. Crow, a former Army ranger who gained national attention for his heroic actions during the January 6 insurrection and the ensuing impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, will return to the U.S. House of Representatives for a fourth term. He earned 59.5 percent of the vote (to Fabbricatore’s 38.6) when the race was called at 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
District 7
Brittany Pettersen (Democrat, incumbent) defeated Republican Sergei Matveyuk. The former state senator will head to the U.S. House of Representatives for her second term. During her first two years in Congress, much of Pettersen’s work focused on expanding addiction treatment and limiting drug trafficking, issues she also championed during her time in the Colorado Legislature. She had secured 57.3 percent of the vote (to Matveyuk’s 39.8 percent) when AP called the race at 8:44 p.m. on Tuesday.
District 8
The race between Yadira Caraveo (Democrat, incumbent) and Republican Gabe Evans is still too close to call. Caraveo, a former state representative and pediatrician, won the district, which was created in 2021, by just 1,600 votes in 2022. Gabe Evans is a former police lieutenant and current state representative for parts of Weld and Adams counties.
The 8th Congressional District contest was one of the most scrutinized and tightly contested House races in the country. As of late October, more than $23 million had been spent by super PACS on the contest, with Democratic PACs that were supporting Caraveo contributing more than $12 million and Republican PACs that were buttressing Evans doling out close to $11 million. As anyone who has watched a Denver Broncos game this season can tell you, the spending led to a cavalcade of attack ads on television; Republican-backed ads claimed Caraveo was responsible for the fentanyl crisis and continued issues at the border, and Democrat-backed ads called Evans a MAGA extremist for his views on gay marriage and abortion.
Much of the punditry about the race focused on the abilities of Caraveo and Evans, both of whom are Hispanic, to connect with Latino voters—a group that makes up nearly 40 percent of the district’s population. That challenge was most evident as both candidates expressed views on one of the campaign’s most discussed issues: immigration and border security. Notably, Evans sought to avoid the demeaning rhetoric about immigrants used by former President Donald Trump, and Caraveo tried not to seem too lax on border security while explaining that immigrants who are currently living here need to have an opportunity to legalize their status.
As of 11:21 p.m. on Tuesday, Caraveo led the district with 49.7 percent of the vote (118,554 votes) to Evans’ 47.8 (114,203 votes). AP estimated that 68 percent of votes had been counted. (Editor’s note: We will update this as we learn more.)
Colorado’s Statewide Ballot Measures
Amendment 79: Creating a constitutional right to an abortion
This ballot measure passed. Its passage will add language to the state constitution that will prevent the state Legislature and local governments from limiting abortion access in Colorado. The amendment will also dispatch the current constitutional ban on public funding for abortions, allowing government employees and others with publicly funded health plans to get coverage for abortion care.
AP called this race at 8:26 p.m. Tuesday. At 10:04 p.m., 61.5 percent of voters had voted to pass the amendment, with 64 percent reporting.
Read More: The Sense & Sensibility of Being an Abortion Haven
Amendment 80: Creating a constitutional right to school choice
This ballot measure seems poised to fail. Its passage would enshrine the right to school choice, including for charter schools, private schools, home school, and “future innovations in education,” in the state constitution.
Currently, Colorado students are able to attend any public school thanks to the Public Schools of Choice law. Families can also opt to attend private schools or homeschool kids. While the amendment’s passage wouldn’t have an immediate impact on education in Colorado, opponents of the measure, including the Colorado Education Association, Colorado PTA, and Colorado Democrats, said the amendment makes it possible for citizens to push for taxpayer dollars to go to things like school vouchers for private schooling and homeschooling funding. Proponents, like the Colorado Association of Private Schools, claimed the intent is just to further protect the ability to choose the best educational option.
As of 11:21 p.m. Tuesday, Amendment 80 was failing, with 52.3 percent of Coloradans voting no with 65 percent of votes recorded, according to AP.
Proposition 131: Establishing all-party primaries and ranked-choice voting for general election
This ballot measure seems poised to fail. Its passage would have replaced single-party primaries with all-candidate primaries and introduced ranked-choice voting for general elections. The change would affect races for Congress, state Legislature, governor, and other state offices like the State Board of Education. Local races and presidential elections would have remained unchanged.
For the all-party primaries, every candidate would be listed on the same ballot, with the top four vote-getters moving on to the general election. In the general election, instead of selecting one candidate, voters would rank candidates in order of preference.
Similar proposals for nonpartisan primaries and ranked-choice voting are on the ballot in Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, South Dakota, and Montana this election (and seem poised to fail in all). The measure was endorsed by a number of high-profile politicians, including Governor Jared Polis, Senator John Hickenlooper, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, with many of them claiming it would encourage bipartisanship.
The state Republican and Democratic parties both came out against the initiative, saying that it would help wealthy candidates because primaries would become more expensive to compete in.
As of 11:25 p.m. Tuesday, Proposition 131 was failing, with 55.5 percent of Coloradans voting no with 64 percent of votes recorded, according to AP.
