Live Blogging: Six-Ring Circus in CD5

Editor’s Note: Cara will be updating this thread throughout the evening with news from CD5.

In this night on pins and needles, the joke that got the most laughs was a print-out copy of an early online Rocky Mountain News report being passed around the celebration party. The headline? “Crank Triumphant in 5th.” A true “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment.

Wendy is reporting in for Cara since she is unable to access a wireless point. Her phoned in report follows:

BREAKING – 10:48pm
The El Paso Clerk and Recorders Office released the absentee vote tally and Lamborn has surged into the lead.

With 99% of the votes tallied:

Lamborn – 27.32%
Crank – 21.94%
Rayburn – 18.43%
Rivera – 13.73%
Anderson – 12.41%
Bremer – 6.18%The mood was tense at the Lamborn party until the new vote count was announced. The crowd erupted in cheers after ‘Shermie at the Piano” played Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”.

Said Rep. Dave Schultheis, “I am so happy. Doug is going to be so good in Washington. He’s so rock solid with the conservative vote”.

10:23 p.m.
Doug Lamborn’s campaign party is stifing hot at the City Auditorium. One of the 100+ supporters grumbled “We could use some air conditioning in here.”

The glum mood is matched by the sad display on the banquet table – a couple of errant slices of burnt pizza, bottled water and Pepsi, and piles of hard candy.

State Reps. Dave Schultheis and Mark Cloer, El Paso County Commissioners Doug Bruce and Wayne Williams were notables in the crowd.

Lamborn’s supporters are hopeful that the absentee ballots which could make up nearly 18 percent of the vote and tend to be cast by more conservative voters can help make up the difference between his tally and Crank’s.

Results from the Clerk and Recorders office on absentee voting is expected any minute now.

9:48 p.m.
Lionel Rivera’s campaign party is in full swing – though the 100 or so supporters are looking a bit anxious and as of a half hour ago the candidate had not yet arrived.

And the food? Good God. Chips ‘n’ salsa, an empty container of once was chicken tenders, cubes of cheese and crackers, and that’s about it. Hardly representative of what what this downtown Colorado Springs institution is capable of. No offense intended, but somebody went the el-cheapo route with this one.

Rivera supporters City Councilwoman Margaret Radford and  county treasurer Sandra Damron were eating dinner at the bar. “Notice what we’re drinking,” Damron pointed out, to their iced waters.

Among the crowd included other Rivera’s city council colleagues Larry Small, Scott Hente and Jerry Heimlicher.

“I’m just waiting for them to declare Lionel the winner and then I’m going home,” says Heimlicher.

9:34 p.m.

This just in from the headquarters of the El Paso County Clerk & Recorder’s office, which is deserted save for four policemen and the ballot counters, who are out of sight.

The Republican results are in from Fremont, Lake and Teller counties, with Crank leading the pack. In addition, in El Paso County, 287 of 386 counties reporting, Crank is ahead, by a slim margin over Lamborn and Rayburn, with the other three trailing.

“We always know that Jeff Crank would win up the hill,” Balink says. Crank, a former aide to Rep. Joel Hefley, was previously the 5th Congressional District representative, meaning he of the six candidates has had the most exposure to other counties.

But don’t call him Congressman Crank just yet, as the absentee ballots – which aren’t posted yet, could tilt this six-man race.

El Paso County: 285 of 386 precincts in:
Jeff Crank – 24.22 %
Doug Lamborn – 22.05 %
Duncan Bremer – 6.09 %
Bentley Rayburn – 21.85 %
John Anderson – 13.14 %
Lionel Rivera – 12.64 %

Lake County – total votes
Jeff Crank

Comments are closed.