Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman, a veteran of winning
elections at state levels, finished atop the four-way Republican
race in Congressional District 6.
Coffman will face Democrat Hank Eng in November to decide the
replacement for Rep. Tom Tancredo in the heavily Republican
district.
In the Aug. 12 primary, Coffman captured about 40 percent of the
vote, according to unofficial results.
Businessman Wil Armstrong, son of former Sen. Bill Armstrong,
was second with a little more than 30 percent of the vote.
Armstrong lagged by 4 percentage points in his home county of
Arapahoe and about 13 points in Douglas County.
In early reporting, Douglas and Arapahoe counties were close to
finished with unofficial numbers by 10:16 p.m.
Highlands Ranch resident State Sen. Ted Harvey, and State Sen.
Steve Ward, of Littleton, were third and fourth, respectively.
U.S. Congressional District 6 encompasses Douglas and Elbert
counties and sections of Arapahoe, Jefferson and Park counties.
Money in the race had been on Armstrong’s side.
According to the Federal Election Commission, as of July 23,
Armstrong raised about $1.2 million and still had $399,756 on
hand.
Coffman had $147,994 on hand, out of $968,970 raised.
Ward had $11,776 on hand and had raised $96,871.
Harvey had $45,202 and had raised $182,330.
Coffman and Armstrong also had debts of $100,00 and $526,409,
respectively.
The Harvey and Ward campaigns did not report debts in the last
cycle.
Ward was taking the loss in good spirits, a shot of 30-year-old,
single-malt scotch and a cigar, to be exact.
“The last time I shared a cigar with my friend here, we were in
Fallujah [Iraq],” Ward said. “Now the only noise is the train.”
Ward, a U.S. Marine, said he was not seeking re-election to his
state Senate seat.
“I opened the gate for anyone to run for that,” Ward said. “I’ve
been in the state Senate long enough.”
He said he will turn his attention to his real estate and
development company.
Harvey conceded about 8 p.m.
“My family and I and a bunch of my volunteers and supporters
went over to Mike’s watch party and congratulated him,” Harvey
said. “I’m excited for Mike — he’ll be a good congressman.”
Armstrong conceded about 9:30 p.m.
“He called Mike and talked to our people here,” said Armstrong
campaign manager Jack Stansberry.
Coffman was gone early to catch sleep before a 9:30 a.m.
television taping.
303-566-4107 | rlydick@ccnewspapers.com