Fort Collins City Council member Bob Overbeck will be the next Larimer County assessor.
Alexis Smith, his Republican opponent, conceded the race Wednesday night. It was the final Larimer County race to be decided, due to a close margin.
With 182,596 ballots counted as of 3 p.m. Thursday, Overbeck had 50.97 percent of the vote, and Smith had 49.03 percent.
The race was even more tight in initial results Tuesday evening, when less than 1 percentage point separated the two. Overbeck’s lead strengthened in results released Wednesday and Thursday.
Smith, a Republican, entered the race as deputy assessor. She has been in that role since 2010.
Overbeck, a Democrat, has a City Council term that ends in 2021. With his election to county office, City Council must appoint a new person to serve until the next election, which is in April. At that time, voters will select a council member to serve through the remainder of Overbeck’s term.
Overbeck replaces Steve Miller, who has been assessor for most of the past 34 years. He served two stints of three consecutive terms and was first appointed in 1984.
Turnout estimate
About 182,000 ballots were received in this election, Angela Myers, Larimer County clerk and recorder, said Wednesday. That means turnout was in the range of 78 percent, based on the number of active registered voters, which was 232,588 as of Oct. 31, according to the clerk and recorder’s website.
More than 40,000 ballots were dropped off on Election Day, and Myers said she planned to count only 20,000 instead of sending workers home after midnight.
Turnout in Larimer County was strong, but not as robust as 2016, when 201,000 ballots were cast in the presidential election year. In the last midterm election, 2014, about 148,000 ballots were cast.