Seven votes now separate Colorado Democrats from hold on to their vast majority at the State House.

That’s the margin in Colorado Springs’ District 16, where Republican challenger Rebecca Keltie appears to have narrowly unseated Democratic Rep. Stephanie Vigil, according to the final vote totals published Thursday evening. Given the small margin, out of more than 41,000 votes cast, this ballot will now be subject to a recount in the coming weeks.

Heading into the Nov. 5 election, Republicans had to flip three seats in the House Democrats’ seismic 46-seat caucus to break their majority control of the House, which Democrats won — surpassing the threshold by two third party – in the 2022 blue wave election.

Republican candidates have now picked up two seats, and barring a surprise change in the District 16 recount, Keltie’s victory will be enough to push Democrats down.

Democratic Rep. Mary Young lost her seat last week in Greeley-based District 50. The race in House District 19, which straddles the Boulder and Weld county line, also settled into recount territory in Thursday night’s results, with former Republican Rep. Dan Woog running. leading Democrat Jillaire McMillan by 123 votes.

But on Friday afternoon, McMillan conceded the race to Woog, who will now return to the Legislature after losing her seat in 2022. McMillan had entered the race less than 100 days ago after the district’s current representative , Democrat Jennifer Parenti, announced that she would not do so. seek re-election.

Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, a Republican from Colorado Springs and the party’s top House official, celebrated the results Thursday evening.

“Colorado voters have spoken loud and clear, supporting two common-sense leaders, Dan Woog and Rebecca Keltie,” she said in a statement. “After seeing the people of Colorado defeating Prop HH last year and now that three House districts are going to Republicans, the message is clear: Coloradans want a lower cost of living and a thriving economy. Democratic policies that push for higher taxes and fees are not the way forward for Coloradans across the state.

To be sure, Democrats still hold the lion’s share of power on Capitol Hill. Even if they lose three seats in the House, the chamber will still have 43 Democrats to 22 Republicans. In the Senate, Democrats are also one seat away from a supermajority: Democrats and Republicans each flipped a seat last week to maintain the 23-12 status quo in the House.

“While we will miss our colleagues who worked tirelessly for their constituents, let us be clear: The priorities of the MAGA wing of the GOP will be stopped dead in their tracks by the voters who overwhelmingly elected legislative Democrats, the second-most major democratic party. majority since the 1960s,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie said in a statement Friday. She added that “Republicans’ self-congratulations ring hollow as they again head to Capitol Hill without any voter support for their extreme agenda.”

She said her door “will always be open for members of the minority party to collaborate where we agree.”

In a statement, Vigil, the District 16 incumbent, said she would honor the final results of the recount.

“I proudly ran a positive, people-centered campaign, and while we ultimately fell short by a few votes, we did so while battling a wave of dark money attacks and an opposition that relied on conspiracy theories, fear and division,” she said. said.

House Democrats also defended other at-risk seats last week, including Rep. Bob Marshall in Douglas County and Rep. Tammy Story in a rural district southwest of the Denver metro area. Both won close races.

Yet winning three House seats was the Republican goal heading into Election Day, after years of steady decline. They may still be far from the majority, but these reversals give Republicans a boost in a Capitol – and a state – that has become bluer in a decade.

Achieving two-thirds control in the House or Senate theoretically makes it easier for a party to override a governor’s veto — even if it requires several layers of improbable political maneuvering. The margin also makes it easier to pass constitutional amendments directly to voters.

Last year, Senate Republicans were able to block a constitutional amendment this would have been the first step in allowing victims of years-old sexual abuse to file lawsuits.