Boulder 2020 Election Results: Neguse, Rennison Projected Winners

BOULDER, CO — In the U.S. House District 2 race, Democrat incumbent Joe Neguse is the projected winner against Republican Charles Winn.

While most eyes were on the presidential and senate races in Colorado's general election, there are many important local races as well. Boulder County voters have decided the outcomes of state representative, senate and University of Colorado Board of Regents seats. There are also a number of local ballot measures.

In the district's CU Board of Regents race, Democrat Callie Rennison is the projected winner.

Our state has a 6-year history of successful mail-in voting, and Coloradans returned their ballots in record-breaking numbers in the general election. Many Boulder County voters returned their ballots early and tracked them with the state's new online tracing tool.

Boulder general election results

• Trump vs. Biden — view race results here
• Hickenlooper vs. Gardner — view race results here

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U.S. House Colorado District 2

• Joe Neguse (D) - i: 284,996
• Charles Winn (R): 157,576
• Thom Atkinson (L): 10,310
• Gary Swing (U): 1,930

CU Board of Regents District 2

• Callie Rennison (D): 267,305
• Dick Murphy (R): 157,100
• Christian Vernaza (L): 16,075

State Senator - District 18

• Steve Fenberg (D): 62,536
• Peg Cage (R): 10,844

State Representative - District 10

• Edie Hooton (D): 32,201
• Kenneth Stickney (R): 4,513

State Representative - District 13

• Kevin Sipple (R): 11,185
• Judy Amabile (D): 29,257
• James "Jed" Gilman (L): 1,186

County Commissioner - District 1

• Cinda Kochen (R): 35,906
• Claire Levy (D): 115,745

County Commissioner - District 2

• Marta Loachamin (D): 116,718
• James Crowder (R): 34,633

Boulder Ballot Measures

No Evictions Without Representation - this question asked voters to allow the city to increase taxes in an effort to combat the housing crisis caused by the pandemic.

• Yes: 27,054
• No: 18,847

Public Service Company Franchise - voters were asked whether the city can enter into a new, 20-year franchise with Xcel Energy and end the city's efforts to create a local, city-run electric utility.

• Yes: 23,834
• No: 20,677

Repurpose the Utility Occupation Tax - voters were asked whether the tax on electricity bills — which raises around $2 million per year and currently funds municipalization — can be repurposed and extended to allow funding for the city's efforts to meet climate, racial equity and energy goals in partnership with Xcel Energy.

• Yes: 25,180
• No: 19,749

Direct Election of the Mayor - Boulder is the largest city in the state that doesn't directly elect its mayor — instead, the seat is selected by City Council members. This measure asked voters whether they should be able to directly elect their mayor.

• Yes: 35,834
• No: 9,522

Charter Amendment Related to the Boulder Arts Commission - This question asked voters whether the Boulder Arts Commission should increase from five to seven members.

• Yes: 37,967
• No: 6,122

>> View statewide ballot measure results here.

U.S. House District 2 Race

Republican Charles Winn campaigned to unseat Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), who was elected in 2019, but Neguse has held onto his seat, according to Associated Press projected results.

Neguse previously served on the CU Board of Regents from 2008 to 2015, and in his earlier career, worked as an assistant for former Rep. Andrew Romanoff. Neguse ran for Colorado Secretary of State in 2014, and lost to Wayne Williams in a tight race — 47.5 percent to 44.9 percent.

Neguse then served as executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies until 2017, when he resigned to run in the 2018 elections for the 2nd congressional district. Upon election, he became the first African-American to represent Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Some of Neguse's top priorities include protecting the environment, improving healthcare, ensuring wage equity and protecting "all Americans from discrimination," he said.

Neguse has introduced 30 bills in the 116th Congress, and has seen four of his public lands and school funding bills signed into law.

Neguse's opponent, Republican Charlie Winn, has spent more than four decades working as a physician. Like Neguse, one of Winn's top priorities is improving healthcare, however Winn said he believes in providing a local healthcare system.

"A large bureaucracy in Washington will not improve care," Winn said in his Patch candidate profile.

"The system must be centered on the patient and allow the patient and their doctor to make choices on care. A market based system with HSA's and price transparency are a must. Direct patient care will promote the patient-physician interaction while improving patient outcomes."

Some of Winn's top campaign issues also included providing all children with access to a quality education and protecting the environment "while providing the energy needed to supply nearly 8B people with clean water, food and the myriad of other needs requiring energy," Winn said.

"We have the technological options and must use all of them."

CU Board of Regents District 2 Race

Democrat Callie Rennison went up against Republican Dick Murphy and Libertarian Christian Vernaza for the CU Board of Regents District 2 seat, and Rennison is the projected winner.

The board, which includes nine members, oversees the four University of Colorado campuses, which combined are the third largest employer in the state. One board member is elected from each of the state's seven congressional districts.

Rennison is a tenured professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. She earned a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in Political Science, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Houston.

After completing her PhD, Rennison moved to Washington, D.C., and served as a statistician in the Department of Justice during the Clinton and Bush administrations. She started her career at UCD as an instructor, and later a clinical research professor.

Rennison has also served at UCD as associate dean of faculty affairs in the UCD School of Public Affairs, and later as the director of equity and title IX coordinator at the UCD Anschutz Medical Campuses.

In her Patch candidate profile, Rennison said she believes that funding for higher education is one of the most pressing issues in Colorado.

"I intend to work with the Board to educate the public of the problems with Tabor and Gallagher so we can again fund higher education," Rennison said.

"Most are unaware that currently our state funding is near 2 percent — one of the lowest in the nation. This poor funding of this social good is appalling given the value our populace puts on education, and the need for an educated work force in the future."

Rennison also said she wants to remove "unnecessary costs associated with attending the university," such as admission fees, and SAT, ACT and GRE requirements.

"The burden of funding an education should not be almost solely carried on the shoulders of the families and students that attend CU," Rennison said. "We can do better."

Neither of Rennison's opponents, Murphy nor Vernaza, responded to Patch profile requests.

Murphy, a longtime Boulder County resident, has worked as an economist and chief financial officer for the Boulder Valley School District. He also served as Colorado's interim deputy treasurer in 2003 when the then-deputy treasurer Ben Stein was deployed overseas, and he has served on the Boulder County Treasurer’s Investment Advisory Committee.

Murphy created an investment advisory firm, Dick R. Murphy & Company, Inc., where he worked for several decades before his retirement in 2010.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and many county elections officials said that one of their top concerns for the general election is cybersecurity.

"Foreign adversaries are conducting influence operations to try to undermine Americans' confidence in the electoral process, and states must act," Griswold said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security agency issued warnings in September about foreign actors that spread misinformation on fake websites, alter existing legitimate websites, send fraudulent emails and release articles in fake online journals.

Griswold's office launched social media campaigns and a new website to combat misinformation. Her office also created the Rapid Response Election Security Cyber Unit to help combat emerging cyber threats.

"Colorado is considered the safest state in which to cast a ballot, and we continually innovate to maintain our leading cyber preparedness," Griswold said.