Hagan falls to Tipton in District 58 race

MONTROSE  — Like many of his fellow Republicans in Montrose County, Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, beat his democratic opponent and will fill the Colorado House District 58 seat.

“It’s really a humbling thing,” Tipton said at the Republican gathering in Montrose on Election Night.

Tipton was running against Noelle Hagan, D-Montrose, for the seat that is determined by the votes of six counties.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, Tipton was ahead of Hagan by more than 4,300 votes in Montrose County; more than 1,500 votes in Montezuma County; more than 170 votes in Dolores County; and more than 1,000 votes in Delta County.

Though not all votes were in and no results were available for Ouray and San Miguel counties, Hagan called Tipton to concede.

“I knew it would be a tough row to hoe ... but I was surprised how stark it is,” Hagan said. “I do wish my opponent the best and I know he wants to do the best for his district.”

Tipton said he’ll head to Denver today. Thursday, he has a reorganization meeting were he’ll cast his first votes for leadership roles.

He said he’s going to be working on a lot of the issues he discussed during his campaign, including being fiscally responsible at the state level, his three-point program and legislation on Jessica’s Law. He is also going to get aquatinted with the workings at the legislative level.

In October, Tipton outlined a specific three-point plan to promote fiscal discipline at the state capitol in the face of the growing economic crisis.

The plan specifies creating a “rainy day” fund for tough economic times. He calls the fund “simple common sense.”

The plan also enforces expiration dates on government programs to verify if they’ve meet goals.

The plan implements an “efficiency ratio” that calculates how much of the money programs spend actually go toward helping people or providing valuable services.

Colorado is one of several states that does not have Jessica’s Law. The law was named after Jessica Lunsford who was abducted, sexually assaulted and then brutally murdered. The first Jessica Act was passed in Florida, after which many other states have adopted similar acts, and mandates a minimum sentence of 25 years and maximum of life in prison for first-time child sex offenders.

Tipton said his “door is open.” When in session, he hopes to conduct “teleforums” where people can call in, listen to legislative updates, ask questions of Tipton and give feedback and opinions.

He said he’ll hold town hall meetings in the six counties he represents.

For Hagan, she said she doesn’t see more politics in her future, just time off. She said she was proud of her fight and wouldn’t do anything different, but it “was not to be.”

 “I think what was reinforce for me is that this (Montrose County) is a one-party county and that’s the way it is,” she said.

Montrose County Republicans won every local race.

“You see some cracks in this ... but really, for better or for worse, and I think worse, it’s a one-party county. ... We’ll not have the benefits that comes from two viable parties and I don’t view this as a positive thing.”