Pueblo County 2024 election results and live updates

by Junna Base November 6, 2024

It’s Election Day 2024, Pueblo!

In addition to making their voices heard on who should be the next president of the United States, Pueblo voters are helping decide:

The Chieftain will be following all of these races throughout the day and providing live updates and results at the top of this live blog as soon as we get them.

So make sure to check back at chieftain.com throughout the day, especially after polls close at 7 p.m., to keep up with the latest election news.

Rep. Ty Winter spoke to the Chieftain after taking a commanding lead in the Colorado House District 47 race. With over two-thirds of the 35,000 votes tallied as of about 8:45 p.m., the Republican candidate running for reelection shared a message of gratitude to and a promise to continue “telling the story” of the district’s nine southern and southeastern Colorado counties.

“The vote totals coming in are a reflection of the work I have done for this district,” Winter said. “I continue to pledge that I will represent this district with ethics, with honor, transparency, honesty, and I will do the best I can in the 75th General Assembly to advocate for House District 47.”

-James Bartolo

Just after 8 p.m., the Associated Press called Colorado for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, giving Harris the Centennial State’s 10 electoral votes.

Harris had accumulated more than 55% of the vote in Colorado as of 8:40 p.m., compared to 42.7% of the vote for Donald Trump, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

-Zach Hillstrom

While trailing after the 7:30 p.m. vote drop, Republican Pueblo BOCC candidate Steven Rodriguez said he was confident the race was still within the margins and could win back ground to beat Democrat Miles Lucero.

Rodriguez stated he ran for the office because the city of Pueblo he grew up in is “not what we are all experiencing now.”

If elected commissioner, he said he wants to address crime and public safety. Specifically, he stated he wants to build a facility where young people can congregate, learn skills, exercise, and just hang out safely.

Rodriguez also stated he would come up with a plan to address Pueblo’s housing issue in a more effective manner than the city’s homeless camping ban, which he criticized as being “unacceptable” and “without a plan.”

“I’ve been to these camps and spoke to these folks. The majority are from Pueblo. They aren’t going anywhere,” he said.

-Justin Reutter

The first batch of Pueblo County voting results, posted just before 7:30 p.m., shows incumbent County Commissioner Eppie Griego well behind his two opponents in the three-man race.

Griego had totaled just 11,604 votes compared to 29,313 for Democrat Miles Lucero, and 26,419 for Republican Steven Rodriguez, as of the county’s first vote dump.

-Zach Hillstrom

7:35 p.m.: Pueblo County Young Democrats leadership member outlines stakes for Dems

The freedom to disagree with elected officials, reproductive rights, workers rights and LGBTQ+ rights are at stake in this election, according to Pueblo County Young Democrats leadership team member Sydney Haney.“There’s so many important societal issues just around our community that are really at stake tonight,” Haney said.

-James Bartolo

In a Facebook post just after 7:20 p.m., Pueblo County officials said approximately 200 people were still in line at local polling stations.

“All voters currently in line will be allowed to cast their ballots,” the officials said in the post.

-Zach Hillstrom

Kyle Aber, a Democratic candidate for 10th Judicial District Attorney, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about his chances of victory in the race against his Republican opponent, Kala Beauvais.

“I think between us as a group we have a really good slate, doing a lot of good work and we have similar ideas for the future,” he said.

If Aber wins, he said one of his biggest priorities would be “bringing the community into the DA’s office.”

“For too long, they’ve seen (the criminal justice process) happen from afar and they don’t have any faith in it anymore,” he said.

Aber said he would focus on initiatives such as restorative justice to fix underlying issues for minor crimes and also focus on staffing the office.

If Aber loses, he said, he would call Beauvais to share his ideas and begin the process of campaigning again.

“At the end of the night, the next election cycle starts at midnight tonight,” Aber said.

-Justin Reutter

It’s 7 p.m. in Colorado, which means the polls have officially closed.

However, if you’re still in line to vote, don’t leave: anyone in line to vote when polls close at 7 p.m. is allowed to vote, “no matter how long it takes for each person to cast his or her ballot,” according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder’s Office plans to release voting results “as close as possible” to 7 p.m., according to its website.

-Zach Hillstrom

Steven Rodriguez, a candidate for Pueblo County Commissioner District 1, spoke with the Chieftain about being the Republican candidate in a three-person race that includes independent incumbent Eppie Griego.“We teamed up with Jeff Hurd’s campaign and we made over 20,000 calls in the past month,” Rodriguez said. “The energy was there and people came along… Numerous volunteers started helping us.”

-James Bartolo

Pueblo County GOP chair Michelle Gray told the Chieftain there’s an “energy” that “leans red” in Pueblo County leading up to the first batch of local votes being tallied.“I really do believe Trump is going to take Pueblo,” she said. “I’ve had Democrats, unaffiliated and Republicans all come into the office.”

-James Bartolo

Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Candace Rivera reported shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday on the Pueblo County Facebook page that about 77,000 ballots have been returned so far.

Pueblo County has a total of 116,821 registered voters, which amounts to about 66% of registered voters having returned their ballots with two hours left to vote.

Speaking from the Colorado State Fair Voter Service Polling Center, Rivera said, “Everything is going smooth and we have lots of voters.”

By comparison, 89,155 Pueblo County voters cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election, which amounted to 71% of 115,525 registered voters.

Rivera reminded voters the polls close at 7 p.m.

-Tracy Harmon

A uniquely Colorado-centric voting sticker is popping up all over social media as users post about completing their civic duty Tuesday.

The sticker reads “I Voted” and features the state flower, the Columbine, in place of the “o” in “voted.” It depicts a colorful sky, Garden of the Gods-inspired red rock formations, and a variety of cactus and native grasses.

The sticker was designed by Cosmo Bell, a Fort Collins ninth grader who signs his work “Harold.” Bell won a contest sponsored by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.

Find out more at our sister publication, the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

-Tracy Harmon

Pueblo Sheriff David Lucero announced Monday that the PCSO’s Emergency Operations Center would be activated from Monday through 7 p.m. on Election Day to monitor ballot drop box sites.

Joshua Johnson, emergency management coordinator for the PCSO, said since 9 a.m. on Monday, the PCSO has only been made aware of two instances across the county of “politicking” at a polling place.

“(Politicking is) where somebody just wears a T-shirt or hat, or something clothing-wise, that represents a particular candidate, or something not allowed under Colorado rules. You can’t wear endorsements to a polling place,” Johnson said.

Johnson stated nothing’s been reported that’s risen to the level of a security threat or even hot tempers displayed at a polling place. He said in both politicking instances, the party involved was simply asked to remove the offending article of clothing or turn it inside out.

Johnson said the PCSO has activated the Emergency Operations Center on Election Day for the past two election cycles, however, this year they activated it for an extra day.

“Given our current political climate and people getting extra polarized, we just felt it was prudent to help ensure a free and fair election, to just kind of monitor the tempo around the county to make sure nothing untoward happened,” he said.

– Justin Reutter

According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, more than 2.5 million ballots had been returned as of 9 a.m. on Election Day.

Of those ballots, 64,754 came from voters in Pueblo County.

-Zach Hillstrom

The polls close at 7 p.m., so make sure to submit your ballot by that time. If you find yourself in line at a local voter service polling center as the clock ticks 7, don’t worry, all voters who are in line at their polling location by 7 p.m. are allowed to vote, “no matter how long it takes for each person to cast his or her ballot,” according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

As for local results, the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder’s Office says results will be released “as close as possible to 7 p.m., 9 p.m., and prior to leaving on Election night.”

The Chieftain will bring you those results as soon as they come in.

-Zach Hillstrom

5 a.m.: What’s at stake in the 2024 election?

The biggest national race taking place in 2024 is undoubtedly the presidential election between Harris and Trump, which determines who will replace incumbent President Joe Biden after he opted not to run for a second term earlier this year.

A majority of Pueblo County voters cast their ballots for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, for Trump in 2016, and for Biden in 2020. Will Pueblo County swing back to the Republican candidate in 2024? Or will Harris mark the fourth time in the past five elections a Democratic presidential candidate gets the nod from county voters?

Who will replace Lauren Boebert in CO-3?

Another big race in which Pueblo County voters will play a significant role is the 3rd Congressional District race between Democrat Adam Frisch and Republican Jeff Hurd.

Frisch shocked much of the country in 2022 when he came within 546 votes of Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in a strongly red-leaning district, but a highly anticipated rematch was not to be: the congresswoman from Silt swapped districts to run in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, which leans even stronger Republican than CO-3, following the retirement of former CO-4 Rep. Ken Buck.

Will Frisch’s 2022 momentum propel him to be CO-3’s next representative in Congress, and the first Democrat to win the seat since John Salazar was ousted in 2010? Or will the district return to the Republican stronghold it was before Boebert?

If 2024 is at all reminiscent of the 2022 midterms, Pueblo could play a big part in determining the outcome of the race.

Four seats in the Colorado House of Representatives up for grabs

In the Colorado House of Representatives, four seats with constituencies that include parts of Pueblo County are up for grabs.

In Colorado House District 46, Democratic incumbent Tisha Mauro is competing for a second term against Republican Kim Swearingen.

In Colorado House District 47, Republican incumbent Ty Winter is also seeking a second term and will need to defeat Democrat Elizabeth Bulthuis to get it.

In Colorado House District 60, Republican incumbent Stephanie Luck faces a rematch with Democrat Kathryn Green after Luck bested Green in the same race in 2022.

In Colorado House District 62, Democratic incumbent Matthew Martinez will again face Republican Carol Riggenbach in another rematch from the 2022 election.

Pueblo may have two new county commissioners, or zero

With two of the three seats on the Pueblo Board of County Commissioners up for election this year and the incumbents for those seats running in this year’s race, the board may or may not be welcoming some new faces after Nov. 5.

In District 1, incumbent Commissioner Eppie Griego is seeking another term but is running as an independent this time after leaving the Pueblo Democratic Party in October 2023.

To win reelection, Griego will need to best Republican candidate Steven Rodriguez, as well as Democrat Miles Lucero.

Democrat Daneya Esgar is taking on Republican challenger Paula McPheeters for the District 1 seat Esgar has filled since shortly after former BOCC Chair Garrison Ortiz left the board to take a job as the chief financial officer at Colorado State University Pueblo in May 2023.

Pueblo will pick a new DA for the first time since 2012

In another county-wide race, Pueblo will select a new district attorney for the first time in 12 years after current 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner opted against running for reelection following three terms as Pueblo’s DA.

Republican Kala Beauvais and Democrat Kyle Aber will compete to succeed Chostner as the county’s top prosecutor for a four-year term.

Four ballot measures for the city, one for the county are also on the ballot

This year’s election also features five total ballot measures, four for the city of Pueblo seeking to change and update parts of the city charter, and one county measure seeking to increase funding for Pueblo County School District 70 by raising the mill levy.

Other races on the 2024 ballot

Other races on the ballot in Pueblo County in 2024 include a Colorado Board of Education member for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, an at-large University of Colorado regent, and a CU Regent for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

-Zach Hillstrom

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