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Garfield County commissioner candidate Mike Samson waits for election results while attending the Republican election party in Glenwood Springs Tuesday night.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Republican Mike Samson held a lead of more than 600 votes over Democrat Steve Carter in their battle for a spot on the Garfield County Board of Commissioners, the latest election results Wednesday morning show.
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, with about 500 ballots left to count, Samson, Rifle High School’s dean of students, was ahead of Carter, a former county judge and Rifle attorney, capturing about 51.6 percent of the county vote, compared to Carter’s 48.4 percent of the vote.
County voters cast 10,851 votes in favor of Samson and 10,181 votes in favor of Carter, the latest results showed.
“I am feeling pretty good,” Samson said about 11 p.m., expressing confidence that he was headed to victory. “I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks for a lot of hard work in helping me get elected. There are lot of good people out there who worked hard with me to come about. I am very thankful to them. I want to be a gracious winner, and I understand that Steve Carter worked extremely hard, too. I want to bring the county together. That is what I have always said.”
Moments later, Carter said he didn’t see a way he could capture enough votes among the mail-in ballots to push him past Samson.
“All of the (uncounted) mail-in ballots would have to go my way to turn it around,” Carter said. “I don’t think that is realistic.”
Carter said the fact that voting numbers from mail-in ballots and early voting showed him ahead early Tuesday night may indicate that a fake newspaper and another mailer attacking him in the last two days of the campaign cost him votes among county residents.
“That is the only thing that has happened in the last two days,” Carter said.
While outside groups have spent more than $50,000 in this year’s two county commissioner races, including a $7,000 mailer that attacked Carter, no major controversies flared up between Carter and Samson in this year’s race. Most of the money outside groups spent on the Carter-Samson race went in favor of Samson.
Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, with about 500 ballots left to count, Samson, Rifle High School’s dean of students, was ahead of Carter, a former county judge and Rifle attorney, capturing about 51.6 percent of the county vote, compared to Carter’s 48.4 percent of the vote.
County voters cast 10,851 votes in favor of Samson and 10,181 votes in favor of Carter, the latest results showed.
“I am feeling pretty good,” Samson said about 11 p.m., expressing confidence that he was headed to victory. “I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks for a lot of hard work in helping me get elected. There are lot of good people out there who worked hard with me to come about. I am very thankful to them. I want to be a gracious winner, and I understand that Steve Carter worked extremely hard, too. I want to bring the county together. That is what I have always said.”
Moments later, Carter said he didn’t see a way he could capture enough votes among the mail-in ballots to push him past Samson.
“All of the (uncounted) mail-in ballots would have to go my way to turn it around,” Carter said. “I don’t think that is realistic.”
Carter said the fact that voting numbers from mail-in ballots and early voting showed him ahead early Tuesday night may indicate that a fake newspaper and another mailer attacking him in the last two days of the campaign cost him votes among county residents.
“That is the only thing that has happened in the last two days,” Carter said.
While outside groups have spent more than $50,000 in this year’s two county commissioner races, including a $7,000 mailer that attacked Carter, no major controversies flared up between Carter and Samson in this year’s race. Most of the money outside groups spent on the Carter-Samson race went in favor of Samson.
Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com
Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO
Garfield County commissioner District 3 Race
Steve Carter, D-Rifle: 10,181
Mike Samson, R-Rifle: 10,851 27 of 27 precincts reporting with about 500 ballots left to count |
