Arvada 2020 Election: Perlmutter Projected Winner, King Leads

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ARVADA, CO — Democrat Alexis King leads against Republican Matthew Durkin in the 1st Judicial District Attorney race.

While most eyes were on the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Colorado's general election, there are many important local races as well. Arvadans have decided the outcomes of state representative, senate and board of education seats. The local ballots also included the board of commissioners and district attorney races in Jefferson County.

Democrat Ed Perlmutter is the projected winner in the race against Republican Casper Stockham in the U.S. House District 7 race.

Our state has a 6-year history of successful mail-in voting, and Coloradans returned their ballots in record-breaking numbers in the general election. Many Arvada voters returned their ballots early and tracked them with the state's new online tracing tool.

Arvada general election results


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District Attorney - 1st Judicial District

  • Matthew Durkin (R): 152,259

  • Alexis King (D): 188,291

U.S. House Colorado District 7

  • Casper Stockham (R): 146,747

  • Ed Perlmutter (D) - i: 237,655

State Board of Education Member - District 7

  • Karla Esser (D): 242,803

  • Nancy Pallozzi (R): 145,673

State Senator - District 19

  • Rachel Zenzinger (D) - i: 52,576

  • Lynn Gerber (R): 35,498

State Representative - District 27

  • Brianna Titone (D) - i: 28,767

  • Vicki Pyne (R): 26,429

State Representative - District 29

  • Lindsey Daugherty (D): 25,120

  • Vanessa Warren-Demott (R): 16,751

County Commissioner - District 1

  • Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D): 178,590

  • Libby Szabo (R): 146,844

  • Hans V. Romer: 14,599


District Attorney - 1st Judicial District Race

Democrat Alexis King leads in the race against Republican Matthew Durkin for the 1st Judicial District Attorney seat, which serves Gilpin and Jefferson counties.

For more than a decade, King served as deputy district attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin counties. She led the district attorneys' juvenile and human trafficking units and was appointed to the Colorado Human Trafficking Council in 2016.

King was endorsed by more than a dozen Colorado leaders, including Sen. Jessie Danielson (D-District 20), Sen. Brittany Pettersen (D-District 22), Rep. Kerry Tipper (D-District 28) and former governor and Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter.

In her Patch candidate profile, King said that some of her top priorities are transparency, safety and providing alternatives to incarceration.

"My office will be transparent," she said. "A Conviction Integrity Unit, focusing on both innocence and equity, will collect, analyze, and utilize data regarding prosecutions and plea bargains to advance evidence-based practices and increase accountability."

But King said she believes that "dangerous people who prey on our most vulnerable" must be prosecuted.

"Smart reform means freeing up resources to focus on crimes against children, the elderly, and other at-risk populations, including those crimes motivated by hate or bias," she said.

"For those for whom incarceration is unnecessary and wasteful, we must have an appropriate diversionary track, similar to those I have already helped develop for this community, and focused on restorative justice, education, and stabilization."

Some of her proposed reforms include expanding the use of body cameras, modernizing training standards to include more conflict resolution and stopping the "revolving door where bad cops who are fired can still join another agency in Colorado."

King's opponent, Durkin, was endorsed by The Denver Post. After spending more than two decades serving as a prosecutor in Jefferson and Gilpin counties, The Post's editorial board said they believe Durkin is "extremely qualified" to become the new district attorney.

Durkin, a chief district attorney in Jefferson County, previously served as a deputy district attorney in county court, juvenile court and district court. Between 2011 and 2015, he worked as a prosecutor in the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

In his Patch candidate profile, Durkin said he believes that one of the most pressing issues facing Colorado is "a crime wave fueled by a drug addiction crisis."

"In Colorado, we have one of the worst recidivism rates in the country at nearly 50 percent," Durkin said.

"That means that those who are released from prison, return to prison on new charges within 3 years. At the same time, we have a drug addiction crisis that is fueling a crime wave. In 2019, Colorado set a record for overdose deaths at 1,062."

Durkin is calling for "meaningful drug addiction treatment, based upon accountability and responsibility, to help offenders heal, so that they do not return to crime and further victimize the community."

Durkin said he believes that despite the budget issues facing Jefferson and Gilpin counties, public safety needs to be prioritized.


County Commissioner - District 1 Race

Democrat Tracy Kraft-Tharp campaigned to unseat Republican Libby Szabo in the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners District 1 race. As of late Tuesday night, Kraft-Tharp was in the lead.

Kraft-Tharp has served for the past 8 years as state representative for House District 29.

As a state legislator, Kraft-Tharp sponsored a bill to develop the Behavioral Health Crisis System, an initiative that aims to provide more Coloradans with access to mental health services. She also worked to simplify the sales tax system, supported a program that offers technical assistance and training to low-income residents and veterans, and pushed for the detection of wildfires 12 to 18 hours ahead of time.

In her Patch candidate profile, Kraft-Tharp said she believes in being accessible to the public and "finding common ground for policy that works for everyone."

As Jefferson County businesses struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic, she said it's important to "implement science and public health experts' advice to wear masks and use social distancing."

"Economic recovery will occur as consumer confidence increases through techniques such as notices, masks and social distancing," Kraft-Tharp said.

Szabo, an Arvada resident and former state legislator, was elected to her first 4-year term in 2016. Prior to her election, she served three terms in the Colorado General Assembly.

While in the legislature, Szabo served as assistant leader and was the first Hispanic woman to be elected to a House leadership position. While serving her third term as a state legislator, she was chosen by her party’s vacancy committee to fill a Jefferson County commissioner’s unexpired term in 2015.

Szabo said she believes local government's role is to "implement efficient government spending habits while taking care of the issues that face the citizen of Jefferson County like: Safe communities for all, safe roads to travel on, a sound business environment where businesses can thrive and flourish, and accountability that citizens can trust."


State Board of Education Member - District 7 Race

Democrat Karla Esser and Republican Nancy Pallozzi were vying for the State Board of Education - District 7 seat, and Esser is the projected winner.

State board members serve six-year terms. The board is in charge of appointing the commissioner of education, handling charter school appeals and setting state standards. The board also oversees teacher licensure, the administration of grants approved by the legislature and requests for waivers from state regulations.

Esser, a retired professor, has also worked as a teacher, school administrator and assistant superintendent. In her Patch candidate profile, she said that teachers need help amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our teachers are overwhelmed with how to teach both remote and in person, while staying healthy and taking care of their own children, who may be learning at home virtually," Esser said.

"Teachers and schools are struggling to keep students safe and learning and they need our support."

Esser said that mental health is another of her top priorities.

"Colorado has the highest growth rate in teen suicide and this will need to be addressed in our schools and our communities," she said.

"I also believe Colorado cannot continue to be last in competitive teacher salaries in the country, when looking at pay and cost of living. We have many teachers leaving the profession to find better paying jobs where they feel safer," Esser said.

In her Patch candidate profile, Pallozzi also said that one of her top priorities is protecting the mental and physical health of children; however the two candidates differed on their approach to teachers and their unions.

"Covid-19 has affected everyone's lives, especially our youth," she said.

"It is time to open up our schools, 100%, using safety precautions, and stop letting the teachers union control our children's lives," Pallozzi said.


Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder George Stern said that one of their top concerns for the general election was cybersecurity.

"We, like election officials across the country, have seen an increase in the circulation of misinformation surrounding the election online," Stern said.

"We continue to monitor these reports and work with our local and state partners to counter any attempts to disrupt the election through disinformation. If you see anything you are unsure or concerned about, please reach out to the Jeffco Elections team."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security agency issued warnings in September about foreign actors that spread misinformation on fake websites, alter existing legitimate websites, send fraudulent emails and release articles in fake online journals.

"Foreign adversaries are conducting influence operations to try to undermine Americans' confidence in the electoral process, and states must act," Griswold said.

Griswold's office launched social media campaigns and a new website to combat misinformation. Her office also created the Rapid Response Election Security Cyber Unit to help combat emerging cyber threats.

"Colorado is considered the safest state in which to cast a ballot, and we continually innovate to maintain our leading cyber preparedness," Griswold said.


>> View statewide ballot measure results here.

This article originally appeared on the Arvada Patch