Former state Sen. Jim Congrove won a slim victory over Wally Pulliam in the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Republican primary Aug. 10.
Pulliam, who raised roughly $28,000 for his campaign as of July 15, garnered 18,480 votes or nearly 47 percent of the total. Congrove, with the comparably paltry funds of approximately $4,000, took the contest with 21,023 votes, more than 53 percent. Both are from Arvada.
Congrove will face Democrat Scott Benefield, Libertarian Steve Gallant and Green Party candidate Tanya Ishikawa in November. They will vie for the District 1 seat to be vacated this year by term-limited Michelle Lawrence.
In a race that has often been tense, particularly during a July 26 candidate forum that focused on broadcast towers on Lookout Mountain, the question of who will carry the Republican torch into the November elections at times seemed to have no easy answer.
Congrove, a former state senator and current political appointee of Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall, said the race was hard to predict.
“I really didn’t know what to think about the way the race was going,” Congrove said. “There are never any polls for a race like this. We worked real hard, and we had a really good group of people. Wally probably beat me in the sign war, but signs don’t vote, people do.”
Pulliam, who serves on the Regional Transportation District board and formerly served on the county planning commission, said he was hampered by the party’s first vote in the race.
“We ran an issues-oriented race, but we couldn’t overcome the top-line designation,” Pulliam said, referring to Congrove’s name appearing first on ballots.
Pulliam said he didn’t know the impact of his heavy fund-raising.
“I don’t know if the money was an issue or not,” Pulliam said. “We worked harder than Jim did. I don’t know what the factors would be.”
Congrove said he looks forward to a November victory.
“I do appreciate all the Republicans in Jefferson County who voted for me,” Congrove said. “I’ll try to do the best job I can, keeping the Constitution and property rights at the top of my list.”