From electing left-leaning voices to the Erie Town Council, to rejecting a longtime historic-preservation tax in Louisville, here’s a look at some takeaways in east Boulder County for election 2026.

Left-leaning candidates surge in Erie

Decisions made by the Erie Town Council might look a bit different going forward as more left-leaning candidates secured seats in Tuesday’s election.

Unofficial results as of Wednesday evening showed Bob Braudes, Ben Hemphill and Amy Becker winning three seats on the town council by wide margins — Hemphill by about 15 percentage points, Braudes by 14 and Becker by 25.

Braudes will represent Erie’s District 1, Hemphill will represent District 2 and Becker will represent District 3.

Mayor Andrew Moore endorsed other candidates for each of the three districts in a Facebook post leading up to the election. Moore’s post said, in part: “If they don’t all win the board majority flips back to a progressive agenda.”

The Erie Town Council has seen split 4-3 votes in high-profile instances.

Louisville voters don’t have appetite for historic-preservation tax

When asked for a third time to approve a 0.125% historic-preservation sales and use tax, Louisville voters finally said no in 2026.

Ballot Issue 2B, a measure that would have extended the tax that expires at the end of 2028, lost with 53% of votes counted against it and 47% of votes for it as of Wednesday evening.

Currently, 20% of the tax’s revenue supports the Louisville Historical Museum campus, and city staff have estimated that the tax sends roughly $200,000 annually to support the museum. With the tax now set to end after 2028, the museum’s future might be on shakier financial ground than it has been in years.

Lafayette voters say ‘yes’ to property tax for recreation

For nearby Lafayette, election results show voters gave a comfortable win to a measure to extend a property tax to support the Great Outdoors Water Park and the LaMont Does Park pool.

As of Wednesday evening, 67.2% of the votes counted have fallen in favor of the tax question, Ballot Issue 2A, with 32.8% of votes against.

The Great Outdoors Water Park, completed in 2017, was funded through a general obligation bond measure for $5.5 million, approved by voters in 2014. The debt has since been repaid through a property tax that would otherwise be expiring at the end of this year.

Using Lafayette’s 2025 assessed valuation of $864.9 million and an average home value of $712,000, city staff have estimated the tax would cost the average homeowner about $36.67 per year, or just over $3 per month.

Residents currently pay about $22 annually through the existing property tax.

No clear favorites in Superior Town Council race

None of the five candidates emerged as a runaway favorite in the Superior Town Council race.

As of Wednesday evening, each of the five candidates had received between roughly 2,600 and 3,100 votes out of about 14,200 total votes counted.

The top three vote-getters win election to four-year terms, and the next two highest vote-getters win two-year terms to fill vacancies.

Incumbent Stephanie Miller received the highest vote share with 22% followed by John Heckman at 21%, Kelly Watt at 19.4%, Adam Vonnahme at 19.1% and Debra K. Bowes at 18.6%.

Current Councilmember Neal Shah ran unopposed for Superior’s mayoral seat.

Braudes, Hemphill, Becker winning 3 Erie Town Council seats, election results show