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A morning visit from Secretary of State Scott Gessler on Election Day prompted a last-minute change to the ballot verification process at the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder's Office. Gessler arrived at the Boulder office, 1750 33rd St., around 10:30 a.m. and had a closed-door meeting with Clerk Hillary Hall. His visit followed complaints from Boulder County Republicans that their party was not equally represented on bipartisan election judge teams, and a lawsuit filed — and dismissed — Monday alleging deficiencies in the oversight of ballot signature verification in the county. ...

BOULDER - Denver County election officials are taking a break from counting ballots with about 17 percent of the ballots still to go. Election workers started leaving around 5 a.m. Denver County tweeted that they were taking what they called a "pause for the cause." "We want to get our folks rested so they are sharp upon their return," Denver Elections officials said.

This one was one of the most competitive races

Fox news just called it for Cory Gardner over Mark Udall in Colorado..

Early exit polls show GOP wins in KY, AR, CO, IA, KS, GA - if those hold, GOP Senate majority is certain. Watch VA - closer than expected. Early exit polls show GOP wins in KY, AR, CO, IA, KS, GA - if those hold, GOP Senate majority is certain. Watch VA - closer than expected.— Sean Noble (@seannobledc)

A Colorado reader digests the latest early voting numbers: Dems had better get a huge turnout advantage on election day. If the election were based on the votes through yesterday afternoon, they would need to carry Independents by 65-35 to make up the difference (now, I realize that some GOP voters will go Dem, and Dem voters will go GOP, so this might not be completely accurate, but it’s close). To put this in perspective, according to the SoS numbers as of the end of October, here is what voter registration looks like: Total: 2,986,362 GOP 966,082 (32.3%) Dem: 913,246...

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and one of the most widely respected political analysts in the country, has come out with his final predictions for the 2014 midterms, and he predicts a good night for Republicans. In his “Crystal Ball” picks, Sabato see an 8-seat pick-up for Republicans in the Senate, which would give them a 2-seat majority.

WASHINGTON -- Conservatives are losing ground on the fight to keep marijuana illegal, a Republican congressman warned in dire terms at the Values Voter Summit. During a conference mostly focused on religious liberty, abolishing the IRS and promoting small government, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) delivered a full speech on the ills of decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana. Fleming, a medical doctor, warned of a "growing acceptance" of marijuana -- a fact hard to deny, considering public opinion and state laws. Colorado and Washington state have legalized recreational marijuana, and 23 states and the District of Columbia have allowed the substance for...

In a sympathetic profile just before his resignation, Politico said Eric Holder's biggest legacy may be "his quiet dismantling of the War on Drugs...." How he could have "accomplished" this without legislative authority from Congress – which is supposed to make and pass laws – is never really explained. He was an Attorney General described by President Barack Obama as "the people's lawyer." Anybody familiar with Marxist jargon knew exactly what Obama meant. At home and abroad, the Obama administration distributed weapons to America's enemies. Holder's area of expertise was facilitating weapons shipments to Mexican drug cartels, in a...

"I am not opposed to birth control," he said. After a pause, he elaborated. "That's basically what Plan B is. Plan B is taking two birth control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that." ... Another student here pressed him on "the drug war," asking if Paul would support legalizing marijuana, cocaine and heroin. He said he wasn't supportive of drug use, explaining that pot "is not that great," but said drug laws should be left up to states. Colorado and Washington are experimenting with legalized marijuana, he said, and we...

DENVER — A final Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters shows the race for governor and the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado is too close to call with Electon Day a day away. Rep. Cory Gardner leads Sen. Mark Udall 45 percent to 43 percent, the poll, which was released Monday morning, showed, well within the 3.4 percentage point margin of error. ... In the governor’s race, a Quinnipiac poll showed Republican Bob Beauprez leading Gov. John Hickenlooper 45 percent to 43 percent. “Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will have to count on an aggressive final hour ground game and a...

Colorado's governor, intensely criticized over death-row reprieve, says he'd do it again. ... Part of Hickenlooper's problem has been the ambitous liberal agenda, from gays to guns, he signed into law in 2013 after a Democratic legislative spree. Part has been his habit of thinking out loud and his seeming eagerness to please all sides of an issue; a meeting this summer with hostile sheriffs turned into a political disaster when the governor equivocated about the gun-control laws he backed, upsetting both sides. But Hickenlooper will also have someone else to blame: Nathan Dunlap. In 1993, as a 19-year-old, Dunlap...

<p>Then, finally, came the only reference to policy in Udall’s speech. “And by the way, I’m proud to stand with Colorado’s women,” he said, almost as an aside. “I’m proud to stand for reproductive freedom.”</p> <p>An angry voice from the crowd jeered: “That’s not the only thing you stand for! Jesus Christ!”</p>

This started as a top ten list.Let's face it, with President Obama's awful approval ratings and the unfortunate consequences of Obamacare felt like a sting around the country, Democrats were already vulnerable in this year's midterm elections. These gaffes certainly won't help. Let's take a look at some of the worst mistakes Dems have made on the campaign trail so far:1.) That awful/insensitive/shameful and now infamous ad from the Wendy Davis (D-TX) gubernatorial campaign. 2.) Those colorful campaign memos from Michelle Nunn’s (D-GA) campaign, in which her own campaign referred to her as a “lightweight.” 3.) Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) saying he was...

Republicans are blowing out Democrats in Colorado early voting, the secretary of State there says. ADVERTISEMENT According to the Associated Press, 104,000 more GOP voters have taken advantage of early voting in Colorado than Democrats. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is trailing his Republican opponent, Rep. Cory Gardner, in most polls. A loss by Udall would make it exceedingly difficult for Democrats to retain control of the Senate. Colorado’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, is also in a tight race as he seeks a second term. Historically Democratic voters have long been more likely to stay at home in midterm elections, and...

Democrats in Colorado have a big problem this election: women. Colorado Senator Mark Udall, the Democrat incumbent, appears to be in particular trouble going into November's elections after running a campaign with a strong focus on women. Back in 2008, Udall won his senatorial seat as a man from a political family who ran a very traditional campaign. He won the seat with ease despite being the candidate who'd had the most money spent against him. Had he utilized a similar strategy this election season, he arguably would be in much better shape now. Instead, this time around, Udall ran...

In the past week we've see votes cast on machines in Illinois' Cook County and in Maryland switch from Republican to Democrat due to "calibration errors." Watchdog.org has done phenomenal work in documenting changed votes. Now, a new report from The Weekly Standard shows that votes cast in Illinois for Republicans are being changed yet again in favor of Democrats. ... So what do we do about this? If machines in different states repeatedly changed votes from Democrat to Republican, Eric Holder would have launched a federal investigation under suspicions of fraud and I doubt "calibration error" would be accepted...

For people who live in nursing or long-term care facilities the process of casting a ballot is not always simple and can be controversial. Election teams sometimes go into the group homes to help residents cast ballots. One woman, who didn’t want to be identified, recorded a conversation with her father about his voting experience. The man, in his 90s, claimed he was confused and perhaps influenced. ... There are individual but unlocked mailboxes for each resident. That’s why they are personally given their ballot.

Eighty-eight teachers over the last decade have been permanently removed from Colorado classrooms for sexual improprieties – the vast majority violating young victims from their own schools. ... not a single teacher lost their license for simply being a weak educator of children. To get decertified, records show it usually takes felony-level criminal allegations or lying on the teaching certificate application about lesser crimes. Karla Danzeisen says she spent years teaching Spanish to Denver high school students in a fog of pain pills, cocaine and methamphetamines. She told Halsne, “I was using drugs every day. I was going to teach...

Bowie Resource Partners says it has eliminated 150 jobs at the Bowie #2 coal mine near Paonia. ... Last year the shutdown of another mine in the region caused nearly 300 people to lose their jobs. That coal mine is in Somerset. In the release, Bowie says it will provide the 150 laid off workers with 60 days of wages and benefits.