On Tuesday night voters overwhelmingly backed Republican Ryan Armagost for Colorado State House District 64 which includes Berthoud. Armagost soundly defeated Democrat Richard Webster of Greeley by a 61 to 39 percent margin. Both Armagost and Webster were first-time candidates for political office and leaned on their community experience in their respective campaigns.

“I’ve learned more about politics in the last year, than I have in my 44 years of being alive,” said Armagost after results were announced at his election watch party in Greeley. “It was definitely eye-opening. I mean it was like nothing I ever would have expected,” he said recalling his entry into politics. Over the past year he has made a lot of new friends and gained valuable mentors. “All in all, it was a very positive experience, but very stressful at the same time.”

Armagost built his campaign around his military background and over a decade of law enforcement experience. Addressing mental health and addiction problems is one of the main platforms Armagost ran his campaign on. He said these are “issues that have not been addressed to the degree that they need to be addressed.” He said bringing more attention to the mental illness and addiction crisis in the state will also help bring down crime and recidivism.

But one of his first tasks is going to be building rapport and relationships at the state house. “I think the biggest issue we have in our state house, state senate, US House, US senate is just the dividing lines we have between parties. Everyone’s so stuck on their agendas that they aren’t willing to bring those conversations to the table and compromise and collaborate,” he said.

Previously Berthoud was a part of a house district that stretched west to Rocky Mountain National Park and north to include all of unincorporated Larimer County up to the Wyoming border. Redistricting and a booming population in Northern Colorado led to the creation of a more compact district including the smaller communities straddling I-25 in Larimer and Weld County.

Berthoud is now a part of House District 64 along with Mead, Milliken, Johnstown, and parts of West Greeley. The district leans heavily Republican with the last eight statewide elections in the district resulting in an average of a 25 percent margin towards Republican candidates. This is also reflected by the registered voters in the district, 23,345 of whom are Republicans compared to 12,222 Democrats.

The election seemed destined to send Armagost to the state capitol, especially in campaign finances. According to filings with the Secretary of State’s office, through the end of October Armagost had raised $32,134 for his campaign. In comparison, his opponent, Webster, only raised $990 during his campaign.

Despite Armagost’s win, Republicans will still be in the minority in the State House this coming session. With results still being finalized for all 65 seats, Democrats are poised to hold a majority with 46 seats, compared to 19 for Republicans. The 35-member State Senate is a similar story where Democrats have kept their majority, 23 to 12 over Republicans.

Regardless of being in the minority, Armagost wants to work across the aisle with Democrats. It’s something his late friend, and former House minority leader, Hugh McKean had always been held in high regard for. “He is that perfect person that can show anyone that there has to be compromise, there has to be that collaboration,” Armagost said recalling McKean. “He worked for the people that voted for him, he worked for the constituents that didn’t vote for him but had issues he could address.” If there is one piece of advice Armagost wants to share it is to “be more like Hugh.”

Excited for the opportunity to represent the people of House District 64, Armagost was ready to get to work. “I would just say expect to see a lot of me, I’m going to be in every community as often as I can in the district.”