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Clapp concedes District 26 race

Democrat Newell wins Senate seat by margin of 191

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 19, 2008 at 12:03 p.m.
Updated November 19, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.

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Linda Newell

Linda Newell

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Democrat Linda Newell is finally the winner in the state Senate District 26 race.

Republican Lauri Clapp conceded the contest late Wednesday afternoon after a final count of provisional ballots gave Newell, a Democrat, a 191-vote lead. The final tally - 30,405 votes to 30,214 - is just outside the threshold needed for an automatic recount, and Clapp said she did not want to drag taxpayers through a lengthy and divisive process.

Newell, a business consultant and first-time office-seeker, was not even on many election watchers' radar when the race for the Arapahoe County-centered seat began.

GOP Sen. Steve Ward gave up the seat in the district, where Republicans hold more than a 4,000-voter registration advantage. Clapp, a state representative from 1999 to 2006, knew the district well.

But Newell showed up at nearly every public event in late summer and early fall, while Clapp missed many. Clapp picked up her campaign over the final month of the race, but by then Newell had built a lead that she would not relinquish.

"I worked around my work schedule," Newell said when asked Wednesday how she pulled off the upset. "I made sure that it became a priority for me. When I went, I made sure to listen rather than only talk."

Newell is the first Democrat to hold the seat since Martha Ezzard in 1987. With her victory, Democrats hold a 21-14 edge in Senate seats.

Clapp said she was looking forward to spending time with her three children.

"A race like this demonstrates the fact that every vote matters," she said in a news release.

sealovere@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438