Three-term incumbent Kathleen Curry finally threw in the towel in her write-in state House bid Wednesday afternoon, conceding to Democrat Roger Wilson but vowing to keep fighting to represent independent voters.
Curry on her website said that after clerks in five counties hand tallied more than 2,000 under votes in House District 61 – as ordered by a district court judge — the final count was 9,660 for Democrat Roger Wilson and 9,368. She said she felt the count was fair and she would not pursue a full recount of more than 30,000 ballots cast.
Her concession to Wilson ends a long and twisted legal battle that began when Curry dropped out of the Democratic Party late last year, troubled by fiscal matters and the political process that led to new oil and gas regulations in 2009.
According to state law, Curry changed her affiliation too late in the process to be included on the ballot, forcing her to run as a write-in candidate, but she fought hard to show a path forward for other independents outside of the state’s two-party system. Unaffiliated voters make up about a third of the electorate in Colorado, with the GOP and the Dems roughly splitting the other two-thirds.
The race does no impact the balance of power in the Colorado state House, which is now controlled by a very slim margin by Republicans.
“I don’t know what the future will bring,” Curry wrote to supporters, “but I do know that I will continue to pursue public service in a non-partisan manner. I believe that losing this race is just a temporary setback. I will keep trying!”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post indicated Secretary of State Bernie Buescher was solely responsible for Curry not having her name on the ballot. In fact, Buescher was enforcing state law, which was confirmed by a judge.
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