{"id":53002,"date":"2020-06-30T16:03:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T22:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coronavirus-latest-victim-colorados-election-night-watch-parties\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:02:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:02:36","slug":"coronavirus-latest-victim-colorados-election-night-watch-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/coronavirus-latest-victim-colorados-election-night-watch-parties\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus\u2019 latest victim: Colorado\u2019s election night watch parties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bernie
Bernie Sanders fans gather at Colorado\u2019s Bernie Sanders Campaign Headquarters in Denver on Super Tuesday.<\/span>Moe Clark\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The mixed drinks. The cocktail wieners. The small talk. The joy of victory. The agony of defeat.<\/p>\n

Election night watch parties are a rite of passage for any candidate, an often-anxiety-filled exercise in thanking your supporters in celebration or, in the worst case, conceding that you came up short.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus, the indiscriminate thief, has stolen \u2013 or at the very least changed \u2013 the time-tested ritual simultaneously loved and loathed by the political world.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, as results roll in from Colorado\u2019s primaries, bars and restaurants and hotel ballrooms that serve as frequent haunts for the festivities will not be packed. Instead, candidates, for the most part, are turning to virtual watch parties or not holding events at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is invited to my backyard over Zoom,\u201d said state Rep. Jonathan Singer, who is running to be a Boulder County commissioner. \u201c We will be able to fit as many people as my internet will allow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People
People watch results stream in at the Colorado GOP&#x2019;s election night watch party in Lone Tree on Nov. 6, 2018.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For most candidates, the risk of exposing their friends and backers to the virus isn\u2019t worth it. And right now gatherings in most of Colorado are required to be small.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting all of your strongest supporters who helped you win your election in the same room and hoping that they don\u2019t get COVID is not a very good way to thank them for their work,\u201d said state Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat who will be camping on election night. He doesn\u2019t have a primary race to worry about, but likely would otherwise be attending a watch party.<\/p>\n

In the marquee Democratic U.S. Senate primary, former Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff will be gathering their supporters virtually on the video conference application Zoom.<\/p>\n

Romanoff\u2019s campaign says he will make remarks once the outcome of the race is announced.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if Hickenlooper will take a similar approach in offering remarks over video conference \u2013 win or lose.<\/p>\n

Rep. Colin Larson, a Littleton Republican who is locked in a tense primary contest, said he wasn\u2019t going to host a watch party anyway, so he\u2019s not fazed by the coronavirus keeping candidates at home.<\/p>\n

\"Republican
Republican George Brauchler takes a picture of the crowd at the Colorado GOP watch party on Nov. 6, 2018.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ll be at my house with Annie and Cora clicking refresh on the Jefferson County elections homepage until the results post,\u201d he said of his wife and daughter.<\/p>\n

His plan, if he wins, is to breathe a sigh of relief and then cook dinner for his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t win,\u201d he said, \u201cI will do probably pretty much the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one campaign that told The Colorado Sun they are hosting an in-person primary watch party is that of Lauren Boebert, a Republican running to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez. Boebert\u2019s campaign says supporters will be gathering to watch the results roll in at a restaurant and bar in Grand Junction.<\/p>\n

Boebert\u2019s own restaurant, Shooter\u2019s Grill in Rifle, was shut down by Garfield County health officials after she reopened in defiance of coronavirus safety orders.<\/p>\n

\"A
A few empty tables and chairs sit outside of the Shooters Grill in Rifle, which has had its license suspended by Garfield County after owner Lauren Boebert opened the restaurant for business in defiance of the county&#x2019;s emergency coronavirus closure orders.<\/span>Gretel Daugherty\/Special to the Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Her campaign didn\u2019t respond to a question about why she decided to host an in-person watch party.<\/p>\n

Political strategists say it\u2019s important that the candidates dress up, even if they plan to stay home and host virtual watch parties. They don\u2019t want to be caught off guard if they\u2019re needed for a television interview or must record a speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour appearance counts,\u201d said Laura Chapin, a Democratic strategist.<\/p>\n

\"Democrat
Democrat Joe Neguse addresses supporters after his victory in November 2018.<\/span>John Frank\/The Colorado Sun file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Chapin is someone who would likely be at a watch party on Tuesday night if it weren\u2019t for the pandemic. Where will she be as the results pour in?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be hanging out with my phone,\u201d she said, \u201cand a glass of wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Supporters will be glued to computer screens at home \u2013 still dressed up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[981,233,28,1509,1566],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-53002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines","tag-state-elections","tag-u-s-senate"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88194,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53002\/revisions\/88194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53002"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=53002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}