9NEWS Called Brauchler at 11:00 pm Tuesday

There were few surprises in an election that was mostly called by 8:30 pm Election Night. When Secretary of State Wayne Williams began the night behind, it was the first indicator that the surge of new midterm voters was sending a message, not sorting through the qualifications of candidates.

The only race that remained close, although still with the Democrat ahead, was for Attorney General. At 11:00 pm, as the 9NEWS election team reviewed the night’s show, a voter refresh from the Secretary of State website showed the race separating by another 10,000 votes (George Brauchler was more than 40,000 behind), and  knowing that Denver and Boulder were still counting ballots and that Brauchler lost his home county, I called the race. Indeed, final votes trended Democratic, and he lost by 148,000.

Phil Weiser immediately announced his victory. Brauchler held out hope, but conceded Wednesday morning. Weiser had a narrow win in his primary, which I called for 9NEWS. He picked a good year and is a lucky politician.

Colorado attorney general Democrat candidate Phil Weiser and his wife, Dr. Heidi
Wald, take the stage after his win during the Democratic watch party in downtown Denver, Nov. 6, 2018 | AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

Colorado attorney general Republican candidate George Brauchler at the
Colorado GOP watch party, Nov. 6, 2018 | Jesse Paul/The Colorado Sun

Read:
The Buzz: How Phil Weiser and the AG race was called
Colorado Politics: Election 2018: Democrats win all statewide offices
9News: Democrat Phil Weiser has defeated George Brauchler to become Colorado’s next attorney general