Tuesday, Nov. 9 with Carrie Warren-Gully, Commissioner District

A publication of

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO

EnglewoodHerald.net

VOLUME 101 | ISSUE 37

A monstrous clown welcomes vistors to Reinke Brothers.

PHOTO BY ROBERT TANN Reinke brothers bring Halloween fright

Siblings have been into haunted houses since childhood

BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

As a child, Greg Reinke hated being scared. Reinke remembers being 6 years old when a neighbor gave him a fright one Halloween night. Afterward, Reinke said, he was determined to face his fears and sat in the dark in his parents’ unfi nished basement waiting for the boogeyman.

“I was scared to death, but he never showed up,” Reinke said. “That’s when I went ‘I got it.’”

Now, more than 53 years later, Reinke and his brother, Chris, make their own boogeymen to send shivers down people’s spines.

Reinke Brothers, a year-round costume store

SEE REINKE, P4

Tri-County Health exit could mean big costs later for Arapahoe, Adams

But Arapahoe public health funding to stay stable for now

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With Douglas County setting off in its own direction on public health policy but still contracting to receive all services from Tri-County Health Department, Arapahoe County’s public health programs are likely to remain unaffected for now.

But after the end of 2022 — when Douglas County could end its agreement with TriCounty Health and when Adams County expects to move to a new health department structure — the costs of Arapahoe and Adams counties pulling away from Tri-County could be in the

SEE TRI-COUNTY, P19

Just a few days left to vote in Englewood election

Residents choosing council, school board members

BY MARK HARDEN MHARDEN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The last day to vote in the fall election is Nov. 2, just a few days away. If you want to have your ballot counted, now is the time to act.

In this year’s election, Englewood voters are selecting four council members and a municipal judge, and also are fi lling school board seats.

At stake in the city election are two at-large council seats — one a two-year term and the other a four-year position — and the seats in council districts 2 and 4, as well as the judge’s post.

As for the Englewood school board, three four-year seats and one two-year seat are being decided in the election. Residents of small parts of Englewood are instead voting in the Littleton or Cherry Creek school board elections.

Downtown-area Englewood voters also are considering Ballot Issue 6D, a fi nance measure for downtown development.

To help you decide how to vote, the Englewood Herald has information on candidates and issues online at tinyurl.com/ EnglewoodVotersGuide. There’s you’ll fi nd candidate Q&As on the issues, coverage of candidate forums, fundraising and more.

If you’re registered to vote, you should have received your ballot in the mail weeks ago. If you don’t have your ballot, contact the Arapahoe County Clerk’s offi ce at 303-795-4511 or email elections@arapahoegov.com.

By now it’s too late to mail your ballot back. You can drop it off at Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway, or at the Tri-County Health Clinic at 4857 S. Broadway. The deadline to vote is 7 p.m. Nov. 2. For more information on how to vote, go online to ArapahoeVotes.com.

Visit EnglewoodHerald.net for local election coverage and results after polls close Nov. 2.

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 23

ELECTION RESULTS ONLINE

After polls close Nov. 2, visit ColoradoCommunityMedia. com for local election coverage and results.

Move or drop out? It’s a game of political musical chairs

BY THY VO AND SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

One Democratic state senator was drawn into a district that now leans heavily in Republicans’ favor. A GOP House member, meanwhile, will run in a district that’s now solidly Democratic.

And a handful of incumbents will have to decide whether to challenge their colleagues in an awkward primary or general election contest or quickly move to a new part of the state.

While the new state House and Senate maps drawn by an independent redistricting commission and pending approval by the Colorado Supreme Court appear to favor Democrats’ maintaining their majority in the General Assembly, the proposals are forcing lawmakers to make tough choices that could alter the political fabric of the state for years to come.

“Somebody’s ox is getting gored no matter what they do,” said Rep. Perry Will, a New Castle Republican who would live in a district that would favor Democrats by 16 percentage points. “Would I prefer to represent the district I currently do? Absolutely. Can I do a good job of representing the new one? Absolutely.”

Democrats now hold a 20-15 majority in the state Senate, but at least nine seats will be competitive over the next two years. They hold a 41-24 advantage in the House, where nine seats would be considered tossups in 2022.

More competitive seats — and incumbents trying to win in districts that suddenly favor the opposite party — could lead to more spending in the 2022 election. In 2018, candidates and outside groups spent more than $15 million on fi ve highly contested Senate races, all won by Democrats. In 2020, outside groups spent $10.5 million and candidates spent $1.1 million on three key Senate and two competitive House contests. Republicans won three of those fi ve seats.

The clock is ticking

The state constitution requires candidates for the General Assembly to live for at least a year in the district they run in the next election, which will be Nov. 8, 2022. This means incumbents considering a bid in a different, potentially more favorable district will have to make that decision soon.

“It’s U-Haul time for some incumbents,” said Tyler Sandberg, co-founder of the conservative education policy and political action group Ready Colorado. “The clock … is ticking real fast to move to a place that’s winnable.”

They may have to make that choice before the Supreme Court issues a decision on the legislative maps. After hearing oral arguments on Oct. 25, the court has until Nov. 15 to either approve the maps or send them back to the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission for changes.

“I think all of us are just waiting to see what maps ultimately are fi nal, and then fi gure it out from there,” said state Sen. Brittany Pettersen, of Lakewood, who under the current maps would live in the same district as Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge, a friend and fellow Democrat.

Pettersen and Danielson will need to decide whether to challenge each other in a primary, move into another district or run for another elected offi ce. Pettersen wants to run for U.S. House but said she would not run against U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat who is up for re-election in 2022.

Whatever Pettersen and Danielson decide, they would be in a solid blue district, unlike in 2018, when both faced competitive contests with hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending.

That’s not the case for Democratic Sen. Tammy Story of Evergreen, who fi nds herself in a newly drawn 4th District that would favor Republicans, according to a competitiveness report by nonpartisan redistricting staff based on the results of eight statewide races between 2016 and 2020.

President Donald Trump won the new district by nearly 30 percentage points in 2016. The largest population base is Fremont County, followed by western Jefferson County, and Teller, Chaffee and Park counties.

Colorado state Rep. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, joins other members and guests in the House chambers as the second regular session of the 72nd Colorado General Assembly convenes at the state Capitol in January 2020. PHOTO BY KATHRYN SCOTT/SPECIAL TO THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado state Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, RHighlands Ranch, attends the unveiling of a portrait of then-President Donald Trump at the Colorado Capitol in 2019.

PHOTO BY JESSE PAUL/THE COLORADO SUN