Democrat Faith Winter is the projected winner in the race against Republican Melody Peotter for the Colorado Senate District 25 seat.
As of 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, Winter was ahead by more than 14,000 votes:
Faith Winter (D): 37,982
Melody Peotter (R): 23,420
District 25 includes Broomfield, Northglenn, Westminster and most of Denver’s north metro area in Adams County.
Winter currently represents Senate District 24, but her term ends in early January. She has also served on the Westminster City Council and in the state house.
In her candidate profile for the Leader, Winter said her top priority is battling climate change.
“We have droughts in our state unlike we’ve ever seen that threaten our water supply, our food supply and even our ability to generate clean energy,” her profile read. “I have led on nearly every piece of climate legislation we’ve passed during my time, and we must keep up the work because our children will inherit the world we give to them and we must make it sustainable and healthy.”
Another top issue that represented Winter’s campaign platform was affordable housing.
“Our district is filled with neighborhoods that have traditionally been home to working class families, but now paying the rent or the mortgage seems further and further out of reach,” she wrote in her profile. “We need more housing that is innovative, energy efficient, and affordable.”
Winter is a member of the senate’s Finance Committee and chair of the senate’s Transportation and Energy Committee.
“Transportation is one of the hardest areas to reach consensus, but I’ve done it before and we need to do it again,” her profile read.
Winter is also an outspoken advocate of abortion rights.
“I voted to make sure Colorado law put a woman’s decision about abortion care in her own hands, but since then that right has come under attack from many sides, from the Supreme Court down,” she wrote in her candidate profile. “Women are not second-class citizens in this state, and as long as I’m Senator, they won’t be.”
As of Oct. 31, Winter’s campaign had raised more than $108,000, according to the state’s Tracer database. Peotter’s campaign had raised $3,515.
“I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of donors, and some donating as little as a dollar,” Faith told the Leader in late October. “We’ve knocked on almost 10,000 doors.”
Winter also had some large donations come in from organizations, including $10,000 from the Colorado Democratic Party and $2,900 from the environmental group Conservation Colorado.
Peotter did not respond to multiple requests for a candidate profile with the Leader, and declined an interview about campaign finances.
One of the top issues that represented her campaign platform was decreasing taxes, according to her campaign website.
“We need to cut gas tax, income tax, and other taxes as well as remove unnecessary regulations on energy and small businesses so we can change the direction of the Colorado economy to make it affordable for all!” her website read.
Peotter’s platform also included promoting “healthy debate” among lawmakers.
“The Colorado legislature is controlled by those that share a radical view of government control and with a majority has enjoyed limited checks and balances,” her website read. “We need to restore balance to the system and encourage healthy debate.”
Peotter is also an advocate of supporting quality education for students who attend all types of schools, including homeschooling.
