Dear Fellow Republicans:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
It was a very active 2008 for all of us as we fought our way through a very tough election season. Unfortunately, the outcomes were not what we had hoped for; however, there were a few bright spots for which we can be thankful.
First, we gained back two seats in the Colorado House. One of those seats was taken back from Bernie Buescher who was next in line for the Speaker position. The downside to that is that he will still be in Denver after being appointed to fill Mike Coffman’s remaining term as Secretary of State. Mike of course won his Congressional race and we congratulate him for that.
Second, amidst all the fervor and hype surrounding the national election, Fremont County had a 70% turnout of voters. Over 20,000 people went to the polls from our 30 precincts.
Third, the Republican candidates did extremely well in Fremont County. John McCain and Sarah Palin claimed 63.6% of the votes for President/VP. Bob Schaffer took home 56.35% of the vote for Senate and Doug Lamborn got 61.48% for the 5th CD. Bob Gardner got 64.38% while Tom Massey got 68.45% for their respective State House races. The only in-county totals that were upside down were in the HD-47 race where Troy Sammons put on a great campaign but got only 46.21% of the vote. This is something we must turn around for the next cycle as it will be an open seat.
The county races were also very encouraging. Of course, our big winner was Thom LeDoux who got a whopping 15,492 votes – all 100% of those cast. Our biggest vote getter though in a contested race was Ed Norden who garnered 13,016 votes for 68.3% of the total. The District 1 race was much tighter for incumbent Mike Stiehl as it was a hotly contested race for several months. However, through some great grass-root efforts on his part and the mustering of the party’s forces he came out on top with a win and a spread of nearly 6 percentage points, or over a 1,000 votes. Attaboys to all the above for well-run campaigns.
These are some things to feel good about when we muse over the past election. But these are also things that we can use to propel us forward to even greater success in 2010. We have several races coming up that will require 100% effort to keep things moving forward.
Our three House Districts seats will be up again not the least of which is HD-47 which will be an open seat. Also, Ken Kester will be completing his second term in Senate District 2 and that seat will be open. Several County seats will also be up again including Commissioner Dist. 2, Assessor, Treasurer, Clerk & Recorder, Sheriff, and Coroner.
On a state-wide level we have several races as well including Senator Salazar’s seat, all the Congressional seats, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, and Governor.
With all the offices that are at stake, this upcoming election is crucial and we can turn things back around here in Colorado by reclaiming many of these seats that we lost over the past few elections.
It’s time to get to work.
Let’s get it done.
Sincerely,
Kevin J. Grantham
Chairman, Fremont County, Colorado GOP