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Most recent results for Colorado’s House District 57 race show incumbent Rep. Elizabeth Velasco (D-Glenwood Springs) leading by 54.86% of the vote over challenger Caleb Waller (R-Silt) as of 10:00 p.m. Tuesday.
Roughly 34,774 ballots have been counted with Garfield, Pitkin and Eagle counties still reporting. Velasco leads by nearly 10% with 19,077 votes to Waller’s 15,697.
Velasco took to social media shortly after 9:30 p.m. to call the race, thanking voters for their support.
Before the district boundaries were redrawn in 2021, voters in House District 57 had a 40-year history of electing Republican representatives. The new maps gave Democrats a 16% tilt during the 2022 election.
Velasco won her seat in 2022 after beating former incumbent Rep. Perry Will, making her the first Mexican-born representative in Colorado. During her first term, Velasco helped protect the rights of mobile home owners, collaborated in creating grants for organizations supporting migrants, improved water quality in mobile home parks and assisted communities in applying for wildfire grant funding.
Her voting history was slightly more progressive than neighboring representatives in her party, during which she voted yes on the final floor vote for roughly 523 bills in the Democrat-controlled House during the 2024 legislative session and was the prime sponsor on 33 bills that became law.
Waller is a real estate business owner and former organic farmer. He announced his candidacy for House District 57 after he lost the Republican nomination for November’s Garfield County commissioner race to Will. A win on Nov. 5 would make this Waller’s first time serving in elected office.
His platform has largely focused on promoting free-market housing solutions, prioritizing core subjects and school choice in education and reducing regulations on oil and gas production, particularly due to its economic heft in Garfield County.
Waller considers himself a moderate Republican and said he has received criticism from state Republicans for saying he would not support a statewide abortion ban.
Housing costs have been a major issue for several Colorado races in this election cycle. Garfield County, one of three counties encompassing House District 57, was ranked as the most difficult county in the United States for homebuyers in NBC News’ April 2024 Home Buyer Index.
Waller’s solution proposes moving away from government-subsidized housing and toward a free-market approach, as well as eliminating development regulations like the Construction Defect Reform Act that he said have driven up the cost of building affordable housing.
This is a developing story that will be updated.