Before we say a word about the results of the election, we want to thank you. This year, more than any other in our past, our Alliance organized “Get Out The Vote” efforts across four counties as part of this election. Thanks for hanging in there with us through our numerous emails and calls to action, but more importantly, thanks for reaching out. You canvassed doors with staff, wrote postcards to voters, sent texts, shared our social media content, and reached out to your friends and family. Together we communicated with over 10,000 West Slope voters and we’ve seen historic voter turnout. That’s something to be proud of.

We’re sure many of you were up late into the early morning hours watching the votes roll in at what felt like a snail’s pace. Differing ballot-counting regulations in some battleground states mean it could still be hours, if not days, before we can say with confidence who won the presidency, as well as what the overall makeup of Congress looks like. We’ve awoken today with uncertainty, but our collective work will go on.

While Western Colorado Alliance doesn’t take positions on candidates, we feel it’s important to acknowledge the many women who stepped up to run in local elections, from Garfield to Mesa County. For the first time in Colorado’s history, the 3rd Congressional District was a race between two female candidates. And in the early morning hours, former Colorado Representative Diane Mitsch Bush conceded the election to her Republican challenger, Lauren Boebert. And with Governor John Hickenlooper soundly defeating Senator Cory Gardner, we have a dramatically changed makeup in representation we are sending to Washington D.C. We hope you can join us Thursday morning to discuss what this means for Western Colorado and the work of our Alliance.

Although we’re still awaiting results both nationally and locally, with 11 statewide issues on the ballot, we knew that before the evening was over there were going to be wins and losses for Colorado and our West Slope communities. We don’t have all the answers, but we do know where Colorado stands on the issues. (Check out our handy run-down of ballot issues results below.)

You have given so much, and perhaps the wait feels unbearable. No matter the outcome, we know with certainty that, starting tomorrow, we have work to do, because in order to build healthy, just and self-reliant communities for all, the president was never the answer. We are.