Flower, Day Win Commissioner Seats.
Linda Stanley Takes DA Race,
Ron Hanks Dominates HD60

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
Well, some very interesting local election results in this high-stakes 2020 election.
In Custer County both write-in County Commissioner candidates failed to win with incumbent District 3 Commissioner Tom Flower defeating Lucas Epp by 1,733 to 1,185. Epp’s vote count was quite strong for a write-in candidate. Kevin Day handily defeated write-in candidate Lynn Attebery by 2,370 to 555 to win the District 2 Commissioner’s position.
Republican Linda Stanley easily won the 11th Judicial District
District Attorney’s race against Governor Polis appointed Democrat Kaitlin Turner by a solid 31,555 to 20,580 vote margin. This was a very controversial election as two counties’ Republican sheriffs endorsed the Democrat appointee, causing quite the stir in Republican circles. However, the final result was not even close. Law and Order won over Social Justice.
The Colorado House District 60 race was handily won by Republican Ron Hanks over Democrat Lori Boydston. The count was 30,303 to 18,241. Ron will be a very active and vocal member in the Colorado House for the conservative cause.
1,092 Custer voters voted for Joe Biden for President disregarding the fact that the man has dementia, is often completely incoherent, is a pedophile and will tax and regulate us to death. Plus, his VP running mate, Commiela Harris, is a Bolshevik. 2,322 Custerites voted for Trump. Trump lost statewide by a large margin, 55.79% to 41.76%
Democrat Hickenlooper got a decisive win over incumbent U.S. Senator Gardner statewide by 53.86% to 44.04%. Custer County registered 2,311 votes for Gardner and 1,043 for Hick.
In one of the few bright spots for conservatives, Lauren Boebert easily beat leftwing Democrat Diane Bush in the Representative to the 117th United States Congress, Colorado District 3 race. Boebert got 2,285 votes in Custer with 1,033 voting for Bush. Districtwide, Boebert won by 51.09% to 45.66%.
Cleave Simpson won a nice victory for District 35 State Senator. Custer County voted 2,363 to 1,008 to elect him and he won 59.98% to 40.02% in the District.

The state ballot measures were a mixed bag.
Amendment B, which is a change to the Colorado Constitution, asked should the “Gallagher Amendment”, which controls the residential/commercial tax rates, be repealed. Custer County voted “No” by a close 1,797 to 1,590 margin. However, it passed at the state level by a 57% to 43% margin. Many analysts predict this will cause serious property tax increases.
Amendment C, also a Constitutional issue, concerning the conduct of charitable gaming was defeated in Custer County by a serious margin of 2,149 vs. 1,103. But it passed at the state level by the thin margin of 52% to 48%.
Another Constitutional amendment proposal, Amendment 76 was approved in Custer County and in Colorado as a whole.
This amendment requires that a person be a U.S. citizen in order there were 694 voters in Custer County that voted against this with the vast majority (2,689) approving it. In the state arena, it passed 63% to 37%. A large margin, yes, but when we have 37% of the state’s population saying non-citizens can vote, folks, we have a problem.
Amendment 77 proposed to change the Colorado Constitution and the Colorado Revised Statutes to allow local control of casino limits and games. It was narrowly defeated in Custer County by 1,699 to 1,549 but easily passed statewide by 60% to 40%.
Proposition EE which raised state taxes on nicotine products by a whopping $294 million dollars was approved in Custer (1,854 to 1,535) and in the state (68% to 32%). Regrettably, the poor will be hit the hardest by this.
Possibly the most controversial ballot item is Proposition 113, the National Popular Vote issue.
A “Yes” vote would have Colorado’s Electoral votes awarded to the winner of the national popular vote no matter how we actually voted in Colorado. A “No” vote would have our Electoral College votes go to the person we voted for. Custer County voters overwhelmingly voted against this disenfranchisement measure (2,272 to 1,103) which amazingly passed statewide by 52% to 48%. Most reasonable observers of this liberal national movement to disenfranchise most of the country believe that if enough states pass it so that it can be possibly become national law, that the U.S. Supreme Court will declare it unconstitutional.
The insane Proposition 114, which would mandate that Colorado introduce gray wolves into our state passed statewide by just 8,500 votes. This, in spite of the fact that the gray wolf was just delisted by the federal government from the endangered species act. It was soundly defeated in Custer County by a 2,272 to 1,103 margin. If this close vote holds up, the impact on our elk and deer herds and our cattle/sheep ranches will be (not could be) devastating. The Sentinel has run multiple articles over the last few years on the grey wolf devastation occurring in the states north of us. The fact that over a thousand people in this ranching and hunting county voted to harm ourselves, is frightening. But you can’t fix stupid.
Proposition 115 would ban late term abortions. It passed easily in Custer with a 2,018 to 1,340 margin but it failed at the state level by 59% to 41%. Shameful.
Coloradans, including a fair amount of democrats and unaffiliated, voted to reduce the state’s income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55% via Proposition 116. Custer’s “Yes” vote was 2,407 while 977 self-flagellating Custerites voted “No”. Statewide, it was approved 57% to 43%.
Proposition 117 narrowly passed in Colorado by 52% to 48%. In essence, it would require voter approval of large “fees” and “surcharges” proposed by the Colorado legislature that the Colorado Supreme Court has (incorrectly) deemed not covered by TABOR. Custer County voters loved it by 2,124 to 1,127. This is good.
Custer County voters voted overwhelmingly against the business killing mandatory family land medical leave proposal, Proposition 118. However, it decisively passed at the state level 57% to 43%. This new burden on our small and medium businesses couldn’t have come at a worse time.
(These are the unofficial results. If anything changes, we’ll let you know.)