Democrats likely to hang onto state legislature

DENVER - Democrats appear likely to hang onto control of both the state House and Senate following the election, but Republicans are still hoping to score an important upset in Mesa County.

With 89 percent of the projected vote counted, Democratic Rep. Bernie Buescher was trailing his Republican challenger, Laura Bradford, by 583 votes.

Buescher has been in the running to replace Andrew Romanoff as House speaker and is a member of the influential budget committee. But Bradford criticized him, in part, for voting for Gov. Bill Ritter's mill levy freeze plan to raise more money for schools. It prevents automatic decreases in tax rates when property values go up, leaving the owners of those properties with higher tax bills.

Republicans also appeared poised to regain the seat they lost when Rep. Debbie Stafford of Aurora defected to the Democratic Party. With 89 percent of the projected vote counted, Republican Cindy Acree led Democrat Karen Wilde 59-41 percent.

In Summit County, Democratic Rep. Christine Scanlan held on to her seat, beating newcomer Ali Hasan 54-46 percent.

In Colorado Springs, Republican Mark Waller, best known for defeating Rep. Doug Bruce in the primary, led Democrat Michelle Maksimowicz. With 43 percent of the projected vote counted, Waller led Maksimowicz 66-34 percent.

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the House 40-25, but if both Bradford and Acree win, Republicans would close the gap to 38-27.

In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Bob Bacon of Fort Collins defeated Republican challenger Matt Fries, 63 percent to 37.

In northwestern Colorado, Republican Rep. Al White made the jump to the Senate by beating Democrat Ken Brenner to replace the term-limited Jack Taylor.

In Arvada's Senate District 19, Democrat Evie Hudak led Republican Libby Szabo 51 percent to 49 percent. It's open because Democratic Sen. Sue Windels is term-limited.

Democrats currently control the Senate by 20-15.