Just under half of Fremont County's eligible voters turned out for Tuesday's coordinated election, despite a couple of contested races and a $30 million recreation center proposal.

As of Tuesday night, of the 32,633 eligible active and inactive voters,14,788 votes were cast, which is about 45%.

According to the Colorado Secretary of State, votes cast from the three largest voter groups were 7,086 by Republicans, 4,981 by the unaffiliated voters and 2,638 by Democrats.

"I was hoping for at least 60 percent," said Fremont County Clerk & Recorder Justin Grantham. "In 2019, we had about 65 percent."

He thought more people would have turned out because of the local ballot questions. Because the statewide questions didn't deal with income tax or state sales tax, that could have spurred a lower voter percentage, he said.

When final percentages are released, they will include solely active voters, which may increase the true voter turnout.

Grantham said all results posted on the county's election website are unofficial until all overseas ballots are returned and all signature cures are received which will be in about two-and-a-half to three weeks.

Some races were within 10 to 75 votes, but for a recount to be triggered, results must be with half of a one-half percent.

"Every year is a learning experience," Grantham said. "I do wish we had a bigger turnout, but at the same time, I am glad for the turnout that we did have. Almost 50% of the county had their voice heard today. That's an amazing thing to happen versus years ago when we didn't have mail ballots and we had 20-30%. Fifty percent is a decent turnout."

For a full listing of unofficial election results, visit https://fremontco.com/clerk-and-recorder/elections.

Cañon City School Board — At Large 

Four candidates vied for two seats on the Cañon City School Board. Todd Albrecht came in first with 4,571 votes; Molly Merry came in second with 4,652; Michael 'Sean' Meagher garnered 3,899 and Graceann Pittner got 2,845.

Albrecht and Merry said they are ready to shift gears and get ready to work for kids.

"I was very grateful for the support, I think it is weird now that school board becomes so political," Albrecht said. "I wasn't anticipating that going into it, but I am really proud of our school district and all of the work that our school board members have done before. I think we have a very unique way of working in our district."

He said the teachers' associations, the classified employees' associations, the school board and the administrators all work together respectfully for the kids.

"That's always impressed me," he said. "That's why I came to this district and stayed in this district because we cared about our people. I think I am most grateful that the Cañon City community said that they like that and they care about our people, too, and our kids."

Albrecht has served the Cañon City community and the school district for more than 30 years, where he built the vocal music and musical theatre program. He has a professional teacher license in K-12 Music Education and a principal license. He ran the CCHS Vocal Music Program for more than 30 years, was the CCHS Musical Theatre Director for more than 30 years, was the CCHS Fine Arts Department Chair for more than 10 years, was the co-chair of the Solutions Committee and was active in program development.

Merry's career in education expands more than 32 years in Cañon City. Her two daughters went through school in the district, and now her two granddaughters attend school in Cañon City, as well.

"I look at our school district and my experience is that it grows people," she said. "We don't just hire people or 'just' teach kids, we grow them. It doesn't matter where you are within the school district, what kind of employee you are, what kind of student - the whole culture is about growing people to reach their greatest potential. That's why I wanted to be on the school board and come back and work with the district, I just see the great success in our district of growing people and the opportunities. It's a phenomenal culture for education."

Merry has taught grades K-6, created and founded Cañon Exploratory School, was principal at Garden Park High School and Madison Exploratory School, and worked with teachers in 12 states as adjunct faculty as they sought advanced degrees. She represented the district as Colorado Teacher of the Year in 1995.

Albrecht and Merry both based their campaigns on the motto, "Our kids, our schools, our future."

"We kept that focus all the way through," Albrecht said. "I think that's what traditionally our town has valued in our school system, is that's what we focus on. I am hoping that it was a good sign that people don't want politics to interfere with our school system."

Cañon City Council District 1

For the Cañon City Council District 1 seat, Andrea Stein garnered  2,249 votes compared to incumbent Frank Jaquez's 2,171.

Stein said she knew the end result would come down to just a few votes difference. In light of the pandemic, she chose not to campaign door to door, but she did visit individually with business owners and with a senior citizen group.

"My whole thing is I am going to listen," she said. "With all that I've been through since I became a homeowner, there have been a lot of challenges and you need someone who listens. That's my job."

For now, she plans to listen and learn from the current council members as she becomes familiar with city issues.

Stein has owned a home in Cañon City since February 2017 and has been active in the Cañon City Energy Futures group and she founded the Cañon City Water Coalition. With a background in journalism and management in the commercial printing industry, she currently writes and publishes historical fiction.

During her 30 years in the news business, she covered politics and city and county government, spending hundreds of hours on local, state and national issues at newspapers across Ohio. As a manager at a $300 million commercial printing operation, she analyzed all the equipment maintenance contracts in the pre-press division and saved $2 million a year in contracts that had expired but were still being collected by the vendors.

Jaquez was appointed by the council in January 2017 to finish out the term vacated by James Characky, Jr., and then ran for the District 1 seat unopposed in November 2017. He served as mayor from 2008 to 2009 and was unseated by Tony Greer in the November 2009 election. Before that, he served as a city councilman for more than five years.