To say Adams County “leans  left” would be a very accurate statement.  Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 11% of the electorate in the county – an advantage of nearly 25,000 people.  Despite this, the Adams County Democrats took a pretty big beating in Tuesday’s election.

Before I discuss the various county races it should be noted that once again we do not have final vote tallies from our Counter Clerk and Recorder office.  Some of these races could change when things are finally officially finished.  More on that below.

In the marquee matchup, Thornton Mayor Erik Hansen has quite easily beaten incumbent Larry Pace and will become Adams County Commissioner for District 3.  Voters wised up to the dozens of scandals in the county, the cronyism and the questionable ethics of some of the county commissioners.

The nasty letters to the editor written by Democratic operatives and the chair of the county party did little to save Pace.  To say this is a huge victory for local Republicans does not do it justice – they punched the Adco Dems right in the eye with this one.

Hansen has promised to work hard to bring jobs to the county along with fiscal responsibility and increased transparency in county government and I am hoping he can make all that happen.  Some of the things I would put on his to do list include:

• Televised commissioner meetings.   These should be available for online viewing as well.
• Board of Commissioners meetings should be held in the evening so residents can attend and participate in their county government.
• A very close look at how the county handles contracting including increasing accountability and supervision.  There have been way too many scandals in many county departments and it has cost the taxpayers dearly.
• The county needs to increase representation on the Board of Commissioners to five seats.  Many other counties in the state do this and Adams County is too big and too diverse to have a mere three people adequately represent us.
• The continued employment of County Administrator Jim Robinson should be questioned and he likely needs to be terminated.  His track record for providing adequate oversight is horrible and it is time for him to go.

Voters choose to bring fiscal responsibility to County Treasurer’s office

Less than 2,500 votes separate Republican Brigitte Grimm and Democrat Diane Christner as of this writing but Grimm appears on her way to a win.  Private sector experience won the day and Grimm will help to restore taxpayers’ confidence in county government.  As for Christner, it appears she will have to find someplace new to make her photocopies.

County Clerk fails to produce election results but wins reelection

Click for larger version. The Adams County Clerk and Recorder once again fails to provide election results. The notice promises updated results “periodically throughout the day” on Wednesday. We are still waiting.

Certainly the most disappointing result in the county was the race for County Clerk and Recorder.  Karen Long’s failures in providing timely and accurate election results are well documented.  Despite this, newcomer Dana West was not given a chance to right a faltering ship and that is a shame.

The voters deserve better from the person that is trusted with protecting their most sacred right.  While Long celebrates her reelection, the reason she should have been fired is in full evidence.

The first results on Election Night were late (as always) and sporadic from there forward.  Even 24 hours later Adams County continues to lag in producing election results.  As of this writing there is a notice on the county’s website saying, “Counting for election night has concluded.  We will resume counting Wednesday,  11-03-2010, and report periodically throughout the day.”

Amazingly enough, another report has NOT been posted at all today leaving voters wondering what is going on.  Long did however have time to talk to the Denver Post for a story posted this afternoon.

Quick hits – Sheriff, Coroner and RTD

Doug Darr won a third term as sheriff beating carpetbagger Mark Nicastle.  This was probably the nastiest local election and the outcome isn’t particularly surprising.

The race for County Coroner is separated by only 136 votes with Democrat Monica Broncucia-Jordan leading Dr. Mike Arnall.  With the County Clerk dragging her feet counting votes the outcome of this race remains up in the air.

Then we move to the race for RTD Director for District K.  Incumbent Noel Busck was absolutely trounced by union stalwart Kenneth Riley.  This was a bit like picking the lesser of two evils. Busck’s ethics issues and failures to adequately push for equity with FasTracks hurt him.  Riley is an unknown for the most part but I hope he can hold RTD accountable and get taxpayers what they were promised.  I just hope he remembers he represents more than just his union buddies.
http://www.tonysrants.com/thornton/adams-county-democrats-take-a-beating-dem-dominated-county-sees-republican-gains/