After a delay due to a winter storm that hammered Routt County on Tuesday, ballots cast at voting locations in South and West Routt County finally were transported to Steamboat Springs and tallied Wednesday.
Routt County Clerk and Recorder Jenny Thomas said just before 11 p.m. Tuesday that there were between 800-1,000 ballots that would be added to results Wednesday.
The clerk’s office released final, unofficial results including those uncounted ballots just after 4 p.m.
The final unofficial results posted Wednesday evening showed 16,527 ballots returned from Routt County voters, a figure representing 82.6% of all active voters.
The total turnout figure represented a drop from the 2020 presidential election, when 88% of registered voters in Routt County, roughly 17,000 individuals, cast a ballot.
Go to SteamboatPilot.com to view a full listing of the Routt County results.
Thomas said Wednesday evening that she had never encountered an election-day scenario, during her time as clerk or as deputy clerk, or in any other position, that involved holding ballots at voting locations due to winter conditions.
“Physically, we couldn’t get there to get (the ballots) and we couldn’t send them here either,” said Thomas. “People we had out in West Routt were able to stay with people they were working with, so that worked out really well. We had three of us here in Steamboat that couldn’t get home ourselves.”
Ballots from Clark were retrieved Tuesday evening with the help of Routt County Sheriff Doug Scherar, who volunteered to drive election officials to the voting location at the Clark Store to retrieve the ballots.
“We were actually going to see if we could store them in the post office up there in the Clark Store and that would have been secure and everything is secured under seal and counted and everything,” said Thomas.
“But I had the sheriff there and the road wasn’t blocked and there weren’t accidents reported that we were aware of, so when he offered to help I said, ‘Well if you want to drive these judges up to Clark and we can get that box and get those processed tonight,” she added.
The tightest Routt County contest came in the race for the county commissioner’s seat for District 1 with Republican Brent Romick facing off against Democrat Angelica Salinas to fill a seat currently held by Commissioner Tim Corrigan, who is stepping down at the end of the year after his term.
According to the latest unofficial results released late-afternoon Wednesday, Salinas beat out Romick with 54.4% of the vote.
Salinas said she was grateful for her supporters and her team who helped her knock on roughly 7,000 doors during the campaign. She also thanked her opponent, Romick, who she said had called her earlier in the day.
“I just want to send my sincere thanks to Brent Romick for his dedication to serve our community,” Salinas said Wednesday afternoon. “Running for office takes a lot of courage and I am grateful for his commitment to Routt County and his willingness to engage in the democratic process.”
Salinas’ win came as a part of a sweep by Democrats on the ballot in Routt County with incumbent County Commissioner Tim Redmond beating Republican Tracy Lawton with 61.7% of the vote, according to the updated unofficial results released Wednesday afternoon.
At the federal level, incumbent U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse, a Democrat, won reelection against Republican Marshall Dawson and secured 61.6% of the votes cast in Routt County.
While President Donald Trump secured the presidential election, 62.6% of voters in Routt County cast their ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris.
At the state level, incumbent Democrat Meghan Lukens easily beat out her opponent, Republican Nathan Butler with more than 90% of the vote across the district and 68.9% of the vote in Routt County.
“I grew up in House District 26, and I’m honored to work hard on behalf of the many people in Eagle, Routt, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that live here and represent all of our community at the state Capitol,” said Lukens on Tuesday evening.
“This is a competitive district; we have diverse views,” Lukens said. “I operate in a bipartisan manner working to represent everyone in House District 26,” she added.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Butler congratulated Lukens on her victory and thanked his supporters while emphasizing the need for unity needed to address important economic challenges facing the district.
“This wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, and I know it is disappointing. But please don’t lose heart; there are greater plans for all of us, and this particular outcome is part of that journey. I am deeply grateful for the passion, time, and energy each of you invested in our shared vision for the future,” said Butler in a statement.
“Our communities need strong leadership to tackle these issues,” he said. “I look forward to seeing Meghan work on behalf of HD-26 to find real solutions, and I hope we’ll see continued support for efforts that strengthen and uplift Northwest Colorado.”
In Hayden, Mayor Ryan Banks will continue to serve in the position after running unopposed. In the race for five Town Council member seats, the unofficial final results showed Ryan Bell, Danny Hayden, Elaine Hicks, Camilla Haight and Melinda Carlson securing their positions.
Outside of the candidate contests in the county, the unofficial results released by the clerk’s office Wednesday revealed decisions made on local ballot initiatives:
In Oak Creek, voters approved a ballot measure changing the town’s regular municipal elections from being held in April to being held in November.
Voters in the West Routt Fire District voted against increasing tax levies by 3 mills to help the district support maintenance and repairs of assets.
On the judicial side of the ballot, 76% of voters in Routt County cast their ballots in support of retaining District Court Judge Erin Wilson on the bench. The district attorney for the 14th Judicial District, Matt Karzen, won reelection in an unopposed contest.
To certify the results and make them official, Thomas, the Routt County clerk, said an eight-day cure period for signature discrepancies to be corrected will be followed by an audit of the ballots cast overseen by a bipartisan team of judges. A final canvas of the results then is performed.
“We should be done, hopefully, right before Thanksgiving,” said Thomas. “That is our goal.”