Recount expected in House District 19 with Woog leading McMillan by razor-thin margin
More than a week after the election, Republican Dan Woog appeared to win election to state House District 19 by 123 votes, but the race does appear headed for a recount.
As of Friday morning, Woog had 50.1% of the 56,711 votes, while Democrat Jillaire McMillan had 49.9% of the votes. House District 19 encompasses Dacono, Erie, Frederick, Firestone, east Longmont and surrounding areas, and it includes parts of both Boulder and Weld counties.
Because the margin between the candidates is less than 0.5% of the leading candidate's votes, the race is expected to go to an automatic recount.
The District 19 race has remained tight practically since the first results were posted on election night. The earliest batch of results released at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 showed Woog with an eight percentage-point lead over McMillan, but by 9:20 p.m., McMillan had pulled into a four-point lead, with 52% of the vote to Woog's 48%. And by mid-day on Nov. 6, McMillan still held her lead .
Woog formerly served in the state Legislature as a representative for House District 63. He also previously ran in House District 19 but lost to current Rep. Jennifer Lea Parenti, a Democrat. He said this race had been a long one, but barring an unexpected change, it appears to be over. Woog also said his previous loss in District 19 taught him a lot about the "purple" district.
"I think I just learned a lot from losing ... (having) that time to sit back and really listen to the voters and analyze my time as a legislator and see really what people want as a district. I think that gave me a little bit of an advantage this time, to really know and understand that with Boulder County and Weld County, there could be some definite differences in what people are looking for in their legislator," he said.
McMillan could not immediately be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Democrats appear poised to lose their supermajority in the Colorado House. The Denver Post reported that if Woog's lead holds after the recount, and if Republican Rebecca Keltie maintains her seven-vote lead over Democratic Rep. Stephanie Vigil in House District 16 after a recount, the Democratic majority in the House will go from 46-19 to 43-22. Democrats would need a two-thirds majority in the House to maintain their supermajority status, which allows them to override governor vetoes and put constitutional amendments before voters without Republican support.
On Thursday night, the Boulder County Clerk's office posted on X that results for the District 19 race, along with several other contests, will likely be recounted on the week of Dec. 2, after the election results are certified. The post said the county has released its last batch of unofficial election results.
