Progressive Denver Democratic Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández were trailing their primary challengers as early voting returns for several tightly contested statehouse races trickled in Tuesday night.
Here’s a look at key Democratic primaries in early results posted to the Colorado secretary of state’s website as of 7:50 p.m.:
Denver’s House District 4: Rep. Tim Hernández 44%, Cecelia Espenoza 56%.
Denver’s House District 6: Rep. Elisabeth Epps 35%, Sean Camacho 65%.
Lakewood’s House District 30: Kyra deGruy Kennedy 41%, Rebekah Stewart 59%.
Thornton’s House District 31: Rep. Julia Marvin 44%, Jacque Phillips 56%.
Aurora’s House District 36: Michael Carter 61%, Bryan Lindstrom 39%.
Fort Collins’ House District 52: Ethnie Groves Treick 39%, Yara Zokaie 61%.
Boulder’s Senate District 18: Rep. Judy Amabile 78%, Jovita Schiffer 22%.
Arvada and Westminster’s Senate District 19: Rep. Lindsey Daugherty 65%, Obi Ezeadi 35%.
Aurora’s Senate District 28: Rep. Mike Weissman 55%, Idris Keith 45%.
Outside spending aimed at influencing the outcomes in those hotly contested Democratic House and Senate primaries has approached $4 million. It has pit charter school supporters against the Colorado Education Association, trade unionists against the AFL-CIO, and traditional Republican backers against longstanding Democratic boosters.
Much of that money, spent to boost more moderate candidates against more progressive opponents and vice versa, has been opaque, with its original sources hidden.
The focus on Democratic primaries — particularly from business groups who’d previously gotten involved in GOP races — has increased as Republican power in the state has waned and Democrats have jockeyed for influence over the now-dominant party, which holds large majorities in both chambers.
The total outside spending includes more than $1 million in last-minute buys from a brand-new group backed by Kent Thiry, the former DaVita CEO and millionaire who’s pushing for a voter-approach overhaul of the state’s elections system.
That late cash infusion, revealed for the first time four days before Election Day, has gone to back eight Democrats and five Republicans; the Democrats were largely the same as those who’d benefited from dark money spending by other business, trade unionist and education reform groups.
The candidates have also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves.
The contests are considered — by both many of the candidates and the organizations backing them — part of a broader struggle for the control and direction of the Democratic Party in Colorado. As the state has turned blue in recent years, a growing contingent of left-wing lawmakers and elected officials have pushed for more significant changes, particularly in an increasingly progressive state House.
The emerging left and the more established center have not been shy about criticizing each other as they compete for influence and take divergent approaches on how to address housing, criminal justice and economic challenges.
Three of the contests include sitting Democratic lawmakers facing primary challenges. That includes Epps and Hernández, two of the most left-wing members of the legislature. Epps has drawn particular scrutiny and criticism for social media posts castigating some of her colleagues and for shouting down at fellow legislators from the House gallery during a November special session.
Epps ran against Camacho, a lawyer backed by centrist interests. Hernández was challenged by Espenoza, a former immigration judge he beat in a vacancy committee process last year.
Marvin, a Thornton-based representative, was, like Hernández, appointed to the legislature via a vacancy committee and was being challenged by her opponent in that selection process. She was trailing.
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While all of the spending has drawn scrutiny, the amount spent by a shadowy group in the race for an Aurora-based Senate seat has been particularly eye popping. That contest featured Democratic Rep. Mike Weissman squaring off against Idris Keith. Keith has been backed by more than $400,000 in outside support, almost entirely from a super PAC created last month; that includes another $50,000 for door-to-door canvassing reported Saturday, three days before Election Day.
Weissman has been supported by labor and education groups. In all, that contest’s spending has surpassed $800,000.
As of early results Tuesday, Weissman was leading Keith.
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