November 13, 2020
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
ParkerChronicle.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | SPORTS: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15
VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 52
County remains red, but hints of blue emerge While Republicans dominated Nov. 3 election, Democrats say inroads are being made BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Republicans from Douglas County again defeated their opponents in all races for the board of county commissioners and state Legislature this year, with most contests being decided by more than 10 percentage
points. But margins of some of those victories were significantly smaller than in the past, and voters from one part of the county narrowly chose a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. House. The county is still clearly red, but to some, the Nov. 3 election offers rays of hope for Democrats amid a
slowly shifting political landscape. “We’re eating away at their lead,” said Dana Torpey-Newman, the head of the Douglas County Democrats. Andy Jones, vice Torpeypresident of the DougNewman las County Republican Party, said the droves of people moving into the county are contributing to a shift in the county’s political makeup. But overall,
Toborg sets sights on grocery tax, RTD Parker’s seventh mayor promises change at town hall BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Parker electorate voted for change in the town’s elected leadership on Nov. 3, starting with the mayor. Jeff Toborg, 50, the IT executive and now-former town councilmember who ran as the candidate for “change” at town hall, will be sworn in as the seventh mayor of Parker on Dec. 14. Toborg defeated two rivals in the race for mayor: two-term Councilmember Joshua Rivero and Jonathan Bollefer. Toborg won 43.1% of the vote for mayor, edging out Rivero by more than 2 percentage points (40.7%). Bollefer, a corporate security executive and self-described outsider candidate, won 16.2% of the vote. Parker, like the rest of Colorado and the country, saw record voter turnout this year for the mayoral and town council races. SEE MAYOR, P6
the community is still firmly conservative, he said. “We had an incredibly difficult and very uphill battle against candidates that were funded by outside dollars,” Jones Jones said. “The citizens of Douglas County said ‘no that’s not us. That’s not who we are.’” SEE COUNTY, P17
DCSD may switch back to full remote Interim superintendent warns of worsening COVID-19 trends BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Parker Mayor-elect Jeff Toborg received about 43% of the vote in a three-way race. COURTESY PHOTO
The Douglas County School District is bracing for a switch back to remote education. In a Nov. 6 letter, interim Superintendent Corey Wise warned the community that the district could soon consider a transition back to remote learning if current COVID-19 trends continue going “in the wrong direction.” The district garnered a worse score on its “Decision Dashboard,” which scores the district based on a number of COVID-19 metrics, for two weeks in a row as of Nov. 6. The district’s elementary students remain in full in-person learning, SEE DCSD, P11