In Larimer County sheriff election, Fort Collins police assistant chief has strong lead

UPDATE: John Feyen wins Republican primary race to become Larimer County's next sheriff

Fort Collins Police Services Assistant Chief John Feyen has a strong lead in the Republican primary race that will determine who becomes Larimer County's next sheriff.

With a little over 37,000 votes counted in the election for county sheriff as of 11:41 p.m. Tuesday evening, Feyen has a lead of about 5,200 votes.

Feyen had 21,139 votes, and his opponent, Jeff Fisher, deputy chief at the Louisville Police Department, had 15,884. There was no candidate for sheriff on the Democratic primary ballot.

Current Sheriff Justin Smith is term-limited and is running for Larimer County Commissioner for District 1 against incumbent Democrat John Kefalas.

Feyen was leading by about 4,000 votes when the first round of results posted at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and by about 4,600 when the second round of results posted at 9:37 p.m.

Because more than 20,000 ballots were turned in Tuesday, the count stopped after a wave of results posted at 11:41 p.m. Tuesday and resumed at 9 a.m. Wednesday. More results were expected to be released Wednesday evening.

There were about 9,000 or 10,000 total ballots left to count, Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers said Tuesday.

Feyen told the Coloradoan he was "cautiously optimistic" after the first round of results and "even more optimistic" after the second round because the results are "heading in the right direction."

"With every result, I get more and more optimistic," Feyen said after the third round.

Fisher did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.

Meet the candidates: Larimer County's next sheriff will be picked in the primary election

Before first results were posted Tuesday evening, Feyen and his supporters shared in a champagne toast at his watch party at Colorado Coffee Company in Loveland.

"Regardless of what the results are, I am truly blessed by all of you," Feyen said. "The work for tomorrow will be done tomorrow."

He said it was important to him to thank his supporters before knowing the first round of results because, no matter the outcome, he is grateful for their support.

"I'm overwhelmingly grateful for people who put their time and effort into me and for the voters who trusted and put their faith in me," Feyen said.

Just down the street from Feyen's watch party, Fisher and his supporters watched the results come in from the rooftop of Desk Chair. The first round of results did not make Fisher feel concerned, he said.

"I feel great," Fisher said at that time. "I'm going to win this thing."

Fisher said the energy was "vibrant" and "electric," the culmination of an intense campaign that concluded with 17 events in 17 days.

Nearly 55,000 total ballots had been returned as of Monday night, Myers said, with more than 20,000 additional ballots cast Tuesday. As of late Tuesday, 70,360 ballots had been counted.

This year's turnout appears to be far behind the record turnout for Larimer County primaries. In 2020, more than 111,000 people cast ballots in Larimer County, representing 47% of registered voters at the time.

The sheriff race was the only contested countywide race on either primary ballot in Larimer County this year.

2022 Colorado primary election results: Find key state and Larimer County races here

Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County government and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Larimer County sheriff election: John Feyen has big lead on Jeff Fisher