Jeff Crank, Larry Liston, Stan VanderWerf, Bill Wysong and Michael Allen appeared to be some of the Colorado Springs-area winners based on early, unofficial results as Colorado voters cast ballots in primary election contests Tuesday.

Republican Jeff Crank took a step toward replacing retiring U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn when the political operative and former talk radio host defeated Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams in the 5th Congressional District’s GOP primary.

The Associated Press declared Crank the winner at 8:01 p.m.

Crank will face the winner of a Democratic primary between educator River Gassen and military veteran Joe Reagan, both first-time candidates. In early results, Reagan held a narrow lead over Gassen.

Crank was leading Williams with 67.42% of the vote (46,317-22,387) late into the evening. Reagan held a slim margin over Gassen with 50.48% of the vote (16,598-16,285). Read more here.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: Overnight, educator River Gassen overtook her opponent Joe Reagan, a military veteran, in Tuesday’s 5th Congressional District Democratic primary election.

Unofficial returns from the Secretary of State’s Office last updated just before 1:15 a.m. showed Gassen leading Reagan by 459 votes, earning 20,639 votes, or 50.6%, to Reagan’s 20,180, or 49.4%. Reagan had maintained a narrow lead throughout much of the evening after results were first posted around 7:25 p.m. Tuesday.

Click or tap here for complete results.

Meanwhile, Lauren Boebert, currently the representative from District 3, led in the GOP’s 4th Congressional District race with 43.29% of the early vote. Trisha Calvarese leads among the Democrats with 50.21% of the vote. Boebert in recent months decided to move out of CD3. Read more here.

El Paso County Commission

Colorado Springs neighborhood advocate Bill Wysong and state Rep. Don Wilson were within a fraction of a point to earn the Republican nomination in the race for El Paso County District 3 commissioner, according to early results. Wysong was carrying 32.11% of the vote, followed by Wilson (30.96%), Brandy Williams (19.24%) and David Leinweber, currently a member of the Colorado Springs City Council (17.69%). Read more here.

The crowded field of Republican candidates for the District 4 nomination saw Fountain city councilman Cory Applegate claim the greatest portion of votes as polls closed, while incumbent Carrie Geitner was in the lead Tuesday evening for the El Paso County Commissioner District 2. Read more here.

State Senate

In races for state Senate seats in Colorado Springs, early vote tallies showed an incumbent, and a current El Paso County commissioner, with sizable leads over their respective opponents in the hours after polls closed.

State Sen. Larry Liston had secured more than 62% of the vote in early returns in the three-candidate District 10 race. County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf had slightly more than 60% of the vote in the District 12 contest, vying against a former schoolteacher to replace outgoing state Sen. Bob Gardner. Read more here.

State House

Establishment Republican candidates for the state House of Representatives, Mary Bradfield and Jarvis Caldwell, enjoyed large early leads Tuesday night.

Air Force veteran Caldwell (67.6% of the vote) appeared poised to win the House District 20 Republican primary over local business owner Jason Lupo, according to early returns from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Caldwell and Lupo are running for the seat vacated by Rep. Don Wilson, who is running for the El Paso County Board of Commissioners.

In the House District 21 vote, incumbent Bradfield held a comfortable 17-point lead over challenger Bill Garlington, 49% to 32%. Read more here.

4th Judicial District Attorney

Incumbent Michael Allen took a commanding lead in the race for 4th Judicial District Attorney among both El Paso and Teller county voters in Tuesday’s Republican primary election. Allen is seeking re-election to a second term as the 4th Judicial District Attorney. The office oversees criminal prosecutions in El Paso and Teller counties.

Allen will face Jeremy Dowell, an attorney who represents Colorado Springs-area children in the juvenile justice system and the only Democrat in the race, in the Nov. 5 general election. Read more here.

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7:35 p.m.: In CD5’s GOP race, Jeff Crank is leading Dave Williams with 67.89% of the vote. Crank has 43,571 votes while Williams has 20,609. For the Democrats, Joe Reagan leads River Gassen with 50.67% of the vote (15,704-15,289).

Click or tap here for complete results.

Meanwhile, in the El Paso County Board of Commissioners, Bill Wysong leads a group of four in District 3. The early results show:

Wysong – 31.83% (4,969)

Don Wilson – 31.18% (4,868)

Brandy Williams – 19.47% (3,039)

David Leinweber – 17.52% (2,735)

In District 2 of the County Commission, Carrie Geitner leads Kristopher Guido with 64.41% of the vote (8,649-4,778).

In the GOP’s state Senate District 10 race, Larry Liston leads the way with 62.62% followed by David Stiver (21.57%) and Rex Tonkins (15.81%).

In the GOP’s state Senate District 12 race, Stan VanderWerf has 60.98% to Adriana Cuvu with 39.02%.

Incumbent Michael Allen took an early commanding lead in the race for 4th Judicial District Attorney among both El Paso and Teller county voters.

Early results posted by the Secretary of State’s Office showed Allen had between a 36- and 38-point lead in both counties. He was earning a solid 68.3% of the vote in El Paso County and 69.3% of the vote in Teller County.

Allen is seeking re-election to a second term as the 4th Judicial District Attorney. The office oversees criminal prosecutions in El Paso and Teller counties.

7:15 p.m.: The first batch of results are in from the Secretary of State’s office.

Lauren Boebert, currently the representative from District 3, leads in the GOP’s 4th Congressional District race with 43.14% of the early vote. Trisha Calvarese leads among the Democrats with 46.35% of the vote. Boebert in recent months decided to move out of CD3.

As of 7:25 p.m., no results from El Paso County were listed.

Noon: Democrats slightly outpace Republicans in ballot turnout

Voters have returned 622,000 ballots, with Democrats slightly outpacing Republicans but both lagging their respective turnout rates at the same point in previous cycles. That’s a turnout rate of roughly 16% of Colorado’s nearly 3.9 million active, registered voters, compared to the 18.5% turnout on the day before the state’s 2022 primary election.

The majority of ballots received so far were from voters age 55 and up. So far, women have been more likely to cast Democratic ballots, while men have been more likely to vote in the Republican primary.

5th Congressional District: Hopefuls in the El Paso County-based district seeking to replace longtime Lamborn, a Republican, include Republicans Jeff Crank and state Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, and Democrats River Gassen and Joe Reagan.

El Paso County Commission: El Paso County voters will select new representatives in three of the five commissioner districts, Districts 2, 3 and 4. Twelve candidates total, Republican and Democrat, are running for election to the three seats. Just one incumbent — Republican El Paso County commissioner Carrie Geitner in District 2 — is running for reelection.

The contested races are on the Republican ballots. One Democrat each is running in the three El Paso County district races, and will shore up their party’s nominations. The Democrats will face the Republican victors in Tuesday’s races for their respective seats in the Nov. 5 General Election.

El Paso County has not had a Democratic commissioner in about 50 years. Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker’s office previously said District 3 is now the most competitive, with a deviation from zero — or “even” competitiveness — of just under 1% in favor of Republicans.

In Teller County, incumbent Republican Commissioners Dan Williams and Erik Stone are running unopposed in Districts 1 and 3, respectively. Krystal Brown, who was formerly the county’s clerk and recorder and whom Teller County commissioners appointed Jan. 2 to serve as county treasurer, is running unopposed on the Republican ballot for the role as treasurer.

All three candidates will be reelected or elected to their seats because they have no Democratic challengers.

El Paso and Teller county voters will also cast votes for the 4th Judicial District Attorney. Incumbent Michael Allen faces Republican challenger and attorney David Willson in the Republican primary. The victor will face the sole Democrat in the race, attorney Jeremy Dowell, in November.

Ballot count: About 81,552 active, registered El Paso County voters have returned ballots at voter and service polling centers and by mail as of 11:59 p.m. Sunday night, according to data provided Monday afternoon by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. That includes 21,822 Democratic ballots and 46,108 Republican ballots, with another 13,602 ballots being processed, according to secretary of state data.

In primary elections, unaffiliated voters receive a ballot packet containing a Republican candidate ballot and a Democratic candidate ballot — but they may only vote and return one ballot. If unaffiliated voters return both ballots voted, neither ballot will be counted.

In El Paso County, unaffiliated voters have returned 5,728 Democratic ballots and 8,738 Republican ballots, with another 13,596 unaffiliated ballots being processed, data show.