Live updates: Colorado votes in 2022 primary election

DENVER — It’s primary election day, Colorado!

Voters will be deciding the party nominees for Colorado’s statewide offices, the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, CU regents and the state House and Senate in the 2022 primaries. Many of the races are uncontested, however. But several incumbents also face primary challengers in some of the races we are watching.

MORE: Colorado Primary Election Results

Coloradans have until 7 p.m., when polls will close, to drop off their mail ballots or be in line to vote in person. Find more info here on where to drop your ballot or vote in person.

Colorado voter guide: Everything you need to know about voting in the 2022 primary election

We’ll be updating this story through the afternoon and night on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning as votes are counted and races decided. You can also watch live election coverage all night long on the Denver7+ streaming app and on Denver7, and in the player embedded below.

Find election updates below. Refresh the page for the latest. All times Mountain.

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5:02 p.m.
The newly updated Denver Elections results shows Elisabeth Epps has taken a lead of 373 votes over Katie March – the first time she has led in the House District 6 race.
1:35 p.m.
Denver7’s Jason Gruenauer and Blair Miller break down the results from Tuesday’s Colorado primary election and what to look for as we head toward the November midterm.

10:44 a.m.
Adam Frisch, a former Aspen City Council member, wins the 3^rd Congressional District Democratic primary and will face Rep. Lauren Boebert in November. He gets 43.4% of the vote to Sol Sandoval’s 40.7% and Alex Walker’s 15.8%.
11:18 p.m.
We're calling it a night here! We'll be back in the morning with more coverage of the outstanding races and where we go from here toward the General Election in November. See you then! You'll be able to stream all that coverage starting at 4:30 a.m. on Denver7+.

11:08 p.m.
As of 10 p.m., the race in House District 6 in Denver has narrowed. There is currently a gap of 225 votes between Katie March and Elisabeth Epps:

Epps 5,540 votes (49%)
March 5,765 votes (51%)
10:46 p.m.
All four of Colorado’s incumbent members of Congress who faced primary challengers won their respective races in Tuesday’s primary election. Click here to read our full story.

Watch our full wrap of the primary election from Denver7 News at 10 in the player embedded below:

10 p.m.
Most of the major races in Colorado’s primary elections have already been called but we’re following a few that are still outstanding. Watch Denver7 News at 10 for a full primary breakdown:

9:53 p.m.
Heidi Ganahl will get another chance to win a statewide election as a Republican when she faces Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in November after winning the GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday. Click here to read the full story.
9:22 p.m.
Currently in the House District 6 race in Denver:

Elisabeth Epps 5,105 votes (48.2%)
Katie March 5,438 votes (51.6%)
9:08 p.m.
David Torres wins the 5^th Congressional District Democratic primary and will face incumbent Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn in November.
9:06 p.m.
Here's our full rundown of called races and victory speeches from the 8 p.m. hour, with analysis from Denver7's Meghan Lopez and the University of Denver's Seth Masket:

9:02 p.m.
Watch Heidi Ganahl's victory speech in the player below:

9:01 p.m.
Colorado voters rejected indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in the Republican Secretary of State primary, choosing former county clerk Pam Anderson as the nominee who will face Jena Griswold in November. Click here to read more.
8:45 p.m.
We have a new story up on Joe O'Dea's victory in the GOP U.S. Senate primary. He defeated Rep. Ron Hanks, currently leading him 55%-45%. Watch his victory speech in the player below.

8:23 p.m.
Erik Aadland wins the 7^th Congressional District Republican primary and will face Democratic state Sen. Brittany Pettersen in November.

8:17 p.m.
Barbara Kirkmeyer, the Brighton state senator, will be the Republican on the ballot in Colorado’s new 8^th Congressional District and face Democrat Dr. Yadira Caraveo in November.

Kirkmeyer currently leads with 41% of the vote, followed by Jan Kulmann (23%), Lori Saine (20%) and Tyler Allcorn (17%).
7:54 p.m.
The Associated Press has called the 5^th Congressional District GOP primary for Rep. Doug Lamborn, who defeats Dave Williams, Rebecca Keltie and Andrew Heaton.

Rep. Ken Buck wins his primary in the 4^th Congressional District, defeating Robert Lewis.

Heidi Ganahl defeats Greg Lopez for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

And the AP calls the GOP Secretary of State race for Pam Anderson, who defeats Mike O’Donnell and Tina Peters.

More election results here.

7:49 p.m.
Joe O'Dea is expected to speak soon after winning the GOP U.S. Senate primary. He will face Sen. Michael Bennet in November.

7:44 p.m.
Rep. Diana DeGette wins her primary in the 1st Congressional District, defeating Neal Walia.
7:38 p.m.
The Associated Press has called the Republican 3^rd Congressional District race for incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert, who defeated Don Coram.

The AP also called the Republican U.S. Senate primary for businessman Joe O’Dea, who defeats state Rep. Ron Hanks.

7:15 p.m.
With 288K votes counted, a quick look at where some of the major races stand:

• Joe O’Dea leads Ron Hanks 59%-41% in the GOP U.S. Senate primary
• Adam Frisch (51%) leads Sol Sandoval (32%) and Alex Walker (17%) in the Democratic 3^rd Congressional District primary
• Lauren Boebert (64%) leads Don Coram (36%) in the GOP 3^rd Congressional District primary
• Ken Buck (76%) leads Robert Lewis (24%) in the GOP 4^th Congressional District primary
• Erik Aadland (50%) leads Tim Reichert (35%) and Laurel Imer (15%) in the GOP 7^th Congressional District primary
• Barbara Kirmeyer (50%) leads Lori Saine (21%), Jan Kulmann (15%) and Tyler Allcorn (14%) in the GOP 8^th Congressional District primary
• Heidi Ganahl (56%) leads Greg Lopez (44%) in the GOP gubernatorial primary
• Pam Anderson (44%) leads Mike O’Donnell (30%) and Tina Peters (26%) in the GOP Sec. of State primary
• Katie March (52%) leads Elisabeth Epps (48%) in the Democratic House District 6 primary

Initial analysis from Meghan Lopez and Seth Masket below.

7 p.m.
Polls are now closed in Colorado. Follow along with our live blog and on the Denver7+ streaming app through the night for the latest election results in this year’s primaries.

Denver7 Election Results page: http://bit.ly/2ty6Y57
Colorado Secretary of State's results page: https://bit.ly/3noMKWN

Watch live in the player embedded below or by clicking here.

6:25 p.m.
Denver7 politics reporter Meghan Lopez breaks down the races she’ll be watching in Tuesday’s Colorado primary election. She'll have analysis all through the night on Denver7 and the free Denver7+ streaming app.

6:07 p.m.
There's less than an hour left to drop your ballot off or vote in person, Colorado! If your ballot is in a dropbox by 7 p.m. it will be counted.
5:56 p.m.
After the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Colorado voters are among the first to vote in a primary for the midterms. In the U.S. Senate primary, Joe O’Dea backs a ban on late-term abortions, while Ron Hanks supports an outright ban on abortions. Read more from the Associated Press.
5:47 p.m.
The Associated Press has a primer up on the primary challenges faced by Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn in the 3^rd and 5^th congressional districts tonight.
5:20 p.m.
The Secretary of State’s Office just put out updated ballot return numbers as of 3:30 p.m.

We’re up to 972,188 ballots returned out of 3,740,330 active voters for a turnout of 26% as of 3:30 p.m.

About 34% of those ballots have come from unaffiliated voters (331,197 of 972,188) as of 3:30. Those voters returned 140,939 Republican primary ballots and 104,162 Democratic ballots. Another 86,095 were still being processed.

In total, 67.3% of the ballots returned so far have come from Coloradans ages 55+.

Colorado Secretary of State's Office

Seth Masket, the Director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, will join the Denver7 crew for analysis once the polls close. Watch live all night by clicking here.

3:30 p.m.

Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez said in a news conference earlier this afternoon and said the election is going smoothly so far, urging people who have not yet voted to do so this afternoon.

Lopez said Denver’s turnout was about 16% to start the day Tuesday – somewhat low, but there are few contested races in Denver this year.

“Democracy requires our participation no matter if there’s uncontested elections,” Lopez said. “Fill out that ballot, sign that ballot and send that ballot back.”

The two reiterated once again that Colorado’s elections are safe, secure and fair and have bipartisan oversight.

Griswold said turnout was tracking closely with the last midterm primary election in 2018 – the first year that unaffiliated voters could cast a ballot in the Democratic and Republican primaries.

Turnout in the 2018 primary election ended up being 35.1% among active voters (1,161,574 ballots cast out of 3,307,516 voters).

As of 11:45 a.m., turnout was about 23.5% (878,553 ballots cast out of 3,739,865 active voters).

More Republican ballots (429,968) Republican ballots had been processed by then compared to Democratic ballots (371,372).

As of 11:45 a.m., just 6,879 of the ballots cast (0.8%) had been cast in person – the rest were cast on mail ballots.

Colorado Secretary of State's Office

A total of 298,091 ballots have come from unaffiliated voters (33.9% of ballots so far). A greater share of unaffiliated voters so far have returned Republican ballots (127,657) than Democratic ballots (93,284), and 77,149 were still being processed, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

There are more contested Republican races than Democratic races in this year’s primary and some unaffiliated voters have decided to vote in those contested races rather than in the mostly uncontested Democratic primaries.

Unaffiliated voters may cast either a Republican or Democratic ballot if they do not specify a ballot preference. There are 1.71 million unaffiliated voters in Colorado, the largest bloc in the state.

Sixty-nine percent of the ballots returned as of 11:45 a.m. came from voters age 55 and up.

Colorado Secretary of State's Office

3 p.m.
Denver7's Jason Gruenauer caught up with Secretary of State Jena Griswold this morning to talk Election Day and this year's primary.

PRIOR PRIMARY ELECTION STORIES —
Primary 2022: Meet the Republican candidates for governor
Primary 2022: Meet the two Republican U.S. Senate candidates
Election supervisors overseeing primaries in some Colorado counties
With so many uncontested state races, what's the point of voting in the Colorado primaries?