10:55 p.m.:
Congressman Tom Tancredo’s victory speech began shortly after 10:30 p.m. tonight, and the newly re-elected representative started his speech by introducing his family as the stars of the commercial that he said sealed victory for his campaign.
“I really believe this is why we won, because we have the family in the commercial,” Tancredo said with his arms around his wife and grandchildren.
Tancredo introduced two couples who campaigned with him throughout his attempt to retain his congressional seat, saying with a somber face, “each couple had lost a son – one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.”
As he thanked them for the help on the campaign trail, the crowd of about 200 broke into applause.
Tancredo, like other representatives who spoke on the podium tonight, spoke about the potential losses that the Republican Party might suffer in national races.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Tancredo said. “The Chinese symbol for problem and opportunity is the same.what I think needs to happen is that we need to tell our base that there is a reason to support Republicans.”
Tancredo concluded his speech with a remark that caused the crowd to react louder than they had to anything else the congressman said.
“We will continue the good fight and we will prevail,” Tancredo said before walking off the stage.
-David Accomazzo, Campus Press Staff Writer
10:50 p.m.:
They say when one door closes, a window opens.
Republicans are hoping this rings true after Bob Beauprez accepted defeat in the gubernatorial race tonight.
Republican candidate for attorney general John Suthers, however, is up in the polls and said he thinks it will stay that way.
“It appears we will win by a double-digit margin,” Suthers said.
Suthers is running against Democrat Fern O’Brien.
Suthers made it known he has received endorsements from every paper in Colorado, including the Boulder Daily Camera.
He was appointed attorney general by Bill Owens shortly after former attorney general, Ken Salazar, was elected to Congress.
Suthers said his experience will give him an advantage.
“Experience does matter,” he said.
As of 11 p.m., most partygoers had left the Republican Party. Many left briskly, seeming upset after Beauprez’s defeat.
The room has grown quiet as people watch the screen for rolling results.
-Vanna Livaditis, Campus Press Staff Writer
10:14 p.m.:
Many posters adorn the Rocky Mountain Events Center at the Denver Tech Center Marriot Hotel that have an elephant’s head with the words “Final Four, Victory Team” across the animal’s eyes.
The same slogan can be found on t-shirts on many of the mingling crowd members around the ballroom floor.
“It’s a Republican get-out-the-vote drive,” said 21-year-old Rachel Morgan.
“It’s a push to victory in the final four days before the election,” Morgan said as a crowd gathered. She said that the most important issue on the ballot this year was Amendment 43 and Referendum I, which she referred to as “family issues”.
Morgan, a self-described non-denominational Christian, said that she supported Amendment 43 because she believed that families should consist of one man and one woman and same-sex marriages threatened that structure.
“(Same-sex partnerships) are not how God designed things to work,” Morgan said. “It’s not how things were meant to be.”
Morgan’s siblings and entire family attended the convention and volunteered on the Bob Beauprez and Rick O’Donnell campaigns this year. The Morgan mother, 49-year-old Karen, added that America was founded around the family.
“If you look at history, when families degenerate, the country degenerates,” Karen Morgan said.
The smiling Morgan family collectively said that society starts to crumble when the government begins to take over aspects of life normally controlled by parents.
When asked for an example, they cited education, saying that they supported “school-choice” candidates-those who support a voucher system.
Karen Morgan said that there is no better educational experience for children than educating them in the political process as it happens, and she gestured at the scene unfolding around her.
Her children would never forget this, she said.
-David Accomazzo, Campus Press Staff Writer
10:00 p.m.
Just over two hours after the polls closed, Republican voters are anxiously anticipating the outcome of these midterm elections.
Republican partygoer Jennifer Kress said she feels that the outcome “will be good no matter what happens.” Most of all, Kress hopes that the minimum wage amendment proposal fails.
“I think it will be really bad for business” she said.
The midterm elections are even receiving attention from students still in high school. Denver resident Jenna Langley, who attends Denver Christian High School, said she has high hopes for all the “Final Four” candidates.
“It’s a toss-up,” she said. “I think all the candidates are very capable.”
Langley said she hopes Amendment 44, which legalizes marijuana, passes most of all.
Many candidates have yet to make an appearance. Republican candidate for treasurer Mark Hillman, however, briefly entered and autographed red T-shirts that said “2006 Final Four Victory Team.”
-Vanna Livaditis, Campus Press Staff Writer
9:48 p.m.:
CU Regent at Large Republican hopeful Brian Davidson said he is encouraged by election results that show him leading Democratic challenger Stephen Ludwig by 3 points, with 21 percent of precincts reporting.
Davidson, a 29-year-old graduate student in his last year of residency at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, said that he recently accepted a faculty position at UCHSC, and that if elected, he would be a graduate student for six months and then become a faculty member while simultaneously serving as a Regent.
He also stressed the need to keep education affordable for CU students across the state.
“Tuition has gone through the roof in the last four years. We need to keep education affordable for Colorado students,” Davidson said.
Davidson said that it would be several years before Colorado’s Congress would allocate more funding for higher education, and that the first step would be to take steps to make universities run more efficiently.
“We need to prove to the legislature that the money we already have is being used well,” Davidson said.
If elected, Davidson said that his first priorities would be to control tuition increases, improve CU’s public image and focus on tenure reform.
When asked what he would do in the first 100 hours after being elected, Davidson smiled, took a sip of his half-full Jack and Coke, and replied, “I would call everyone who had helped out and thank them, and then I would begin packing my bags because I’m going Mexico.”
-David Accomazzo, Campus Press Staff Writer
8:53 p.m.:
Colorado Republicans of all ages seem to be enjoying themselves while awaiting election results for the Final Four Victory Team, comprised of Bob Beauprez, Mike Coffman, Mark Hillman and Rick O’Donnell.
With country music blaring and drinks flowing, the morale is high. The attendees have their eyes glued to the screen, which show immediate poll updates, and are shouting loudly when they see that one of their own is winning.
Although Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez is down in the polls, Kristin Strohm, the senior deputy finance director, said she’s optimistic the race will go the Republican way.
“We made 400,000 calls statewide in the past two days,” she said. “The polls had us down by double digits, but I think it will go up.”
-Vanna Livaditis, Campus Press Staff Writer
