Romanoff beats Bennet at county Democratic assembly

Former Colorado House speaker Andrew Romanoff beat U.S. Senate incumbent Michael Bennet in today's delegate vote at the El Paso County Democratic Party assembly, a reversal of the results in caucus voting last month.

Romanoff received 307 votes, or about 53 percent of the 579 votes cast, compared with 251 votes for Bennet. Twenty-one delegates were uncommitted.

That was a turnaround from a straw poll conducted at county caucus meetings in March, when Bennet got 568 votes and Romanoff received 456.

Today's vote primarily gives bragging rights to the candidates, because delegates going to the state convention in May aren't bound to support Romanoff.

The U.S. Senate race was the only contest that delegates had to decide at the assembly. In a county where Republicans rule, Democrats rarely have contests that force a primary. Candidates who automatically advance to run against Republican candidates in local races are:

El Paso County Clerk & Recorder: Tom Mowle

House District 15: Marcus Cimino

House District 16: Jan Tanner

House District 17: Dennis Apuan

House District 18: Pete Lee

Senate District 9: Nicholas Werle

Senate District 11: John Morse

County Commissioner District 1: Steve Knojaas

County Commissioner District 5: Michael Merrifield