Rocky Mountain news calls it for Ritter

[Oreo]

Buh-bye Both Ways Bob!
Add another Dem governor and color COlorado a darker shade of blue

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5116409,00.html

The Rocky Mountain News has declared Bill Ritter the winner in the governor's race by a wide margin, based on unofficial returns.

The once-improbable gubernatorial campaign of the Democrat overwhelmed Republican challenger Bob Beauprez, an early favorite who saw his campaign collapse after a bitter primary.

Ritter, 50, a longtime Denver district attorney whose mostly upbeat campaign focused on bolstering education and health care and making Colorado a center for alternative energy development, inspired only tepid interest from party activists in the early going, but surged ahead in the polls in recent months.

His opponent, a two-term congressman and successful dairy farmer, developer and banker, had once seemed the heir apparent to Republican Gov. Bill Owens. But Beauprez, 58, angered many Republicans with his opposition to an Owens-backed measure to boost state funding last year. In recent months, he was likely also hurt by the national souring toward the Republican-led Congress, the war in Iraq and President Bush, analysts said.