Democratic incumbent Meghan Lukens was re-elected to represent Colorado’s House District 26.

The Associated Press called the race in her favor at around 10:15 p.m. on Election Night.

Lukens was running against Republican Nathan Butler for the seat representing Routt, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties and the majority of Eagle County.

The unofficial results early Wednesday morning showed Lukens leading by over 7,500 votes. AP estimates that around 91% of the votes for the race have been counted so far. Around 43,500 ballots across all four counties in the district were counted by 3 a.m.

Lukens spent Tuesday night with friends, families and supporters at the Routt County Democrats Election Night party. Just after 9 p.m., Lukens said she was feeling good about the results.

“Based on our numbers and our projections, we feel confident that I have won my bid for reelection for House District 26,” she said. “I grew up in House District 26, and I’m honored to work hard on behalf of the many people in Eagle, Routt, Moffat, Rio Blanco counties that live here and represent all of our community at the state Capitol.”

The race was projected to be one of the most competitive in the state, giving only a 2.7% advantage to the Democratic candidate. Wednesday’s unofficial results showed Lukens leading by 25 percentage points.

Lukens, a Steamboat Springs social studies teacher, was first elected to the seat in 2022, winning by 7 percentage points over Republican candidate Savannah Wolfson. She was the first representative elected to House District 26 after 2021 redistricting brought the historically red-swinging counties of Rio Blanco and Moffat into the district with the predominantly blue counties of Routt and Eagle. Rio Blanco and Moffat counties were previously represented in House District 57. 

In Tuesday’s election, the less populous Rio Blanco and Moffat counties overwhelmingly voted for Butler, an Army Veteran and former Criag Town Council member. However, Lukens led significantly in the more populous Routt and Eagle counties.

“This is a competitive district; we have diverse views,” Lukens said. “I operate in a bipartisan manner working to represent everyone in House District 26.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday morning, Butler congratulated Lukens on her victory.

“Our communities need strong leadership to tackle the impact of job losses, rising costs, and the energy transition,” Butler wrote. “I look forward to seeing Meghan work on behalf of (House District 26) to find real solutions to these issues, and I hope to continue to see support for efforts that strengthen and uplift Northwest Colorado.”

Issues such as clean energy transition, abortion access, economic development and gun regulations dominated the campaign to represent Colorado’s House District 26. 

Butler ran a leaner campaign than the Democratic incumbent, bringing in just over $18,000 in donations and spending around $12,600 as of the final filing deadline before Election Day. Lukens brought in around $183,000 and spent $176,000. 

“Despite being outspent approximately 30 to 1, we built a grassroots movement that I believe reflected the voices and concerns of Northwest Colorado,” Butler wrote on Facebook. “This wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, and I know that it is disappointing. Please remember not to lose heart; there are greater plans for all of us, and this particular outcome is part of that journey.”

Lukens also received support from several independent expenditure committees including Colorado Way Forward, Coloradans for Housing Affordability and Voces Unidas. Mailers from Colorado Way Forward, the biggest spender, became a point of contention late in the campaign with Butler and Lukens disagreeing over their messages. 

Similar to her first campaign, Lukens sought reelection on a platform centered on “the three E’s”: economy, education and the environment. 

In a second term, Lukens has said she will work to address affordability concerns and workforce shortages, increase affordable housing and access to child care, protect the environment and support public education. 

Butler, who considers himself a Constitutional Libertarian, was encouraged to run for the House seat over the expedited closure of the Craig power plant. On the campaign trail, Butler expressed concerns that the community was provided with inadequate resources and support to transition away from coal for the timeframe given. 

Economic development, “tackling illegal and unvetted immigration,” health care, altering abortion access laws, gun rights and safety, redefining bipartisanship and election integrity were among the issues topping Butler’s campaign platform.