Colorado State Senate District 3

Tue, Nov 3 · Represented by Nick Hinrichsen Democratic · Member list as of Oct 28Nick Hinrichsen isn’t on the ballot for this seat

Dana CharlesRepublican

Last result · 2022 general (different candidates): Nick Hinrichsen (D) 51.3, Stephen A. Varela (R) 48.7

Aaron GutierrezDemocratic

Earlier results: Leroy M. Garcia (Democratic) won by 47.2 points, 2018, older linesLeroy M. Garcia Jr. (Democratic) won by 9.9 points, 2014, older linesAll 15 elections

Past results

Votes for listed candidates: 65,885
Election day: November 8, 2022
District map: Same as today

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2022, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticNick HinrichsenWon	Democratic	33,79551.3%	51.3%
RepublicanStephen A. Varela	Republican	32,09048.7%	48.7%

Votes for listed candidates: 54,021
Election day: November 6, 2018
District map: Older district map (2012 to 2021)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2018, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLeroy M. GarciaWon(incumbent)	Democratic	39,76873.6%	73.6%
LibertarianJohn Pickerill	Libertarian	14,25326.4%	26.4%

Votes for listed candidates: 50,627
Election day: November 4, 2014
District map: Older district map (2012 to 2021)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2014, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLeroy M. Garcia Jr.Won	Democratic	27,81354.9%	54.9%
RepublicanGeorge Rivera	Republican	22,81445.1%	45.1%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2010, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticAngela GironWon	Democratic	24,82755.0%	55.0%
RepublicanVera Ortegon	Republican	20,31345.0%	45.0%

1970 to 2022: State Legislative Election Returns, 1967-2022 (Carl Klarner, Harvard Dataverse), retrieved Oct 28, 2026. Compiled by Carl Klarner (Harvard Dataverse) from official returns; not an official source

Only part of this chamber is up in a given cycle. Which districts vote on which date is not on file. Last contest in this district on file: 2022.

All elections (15 for this seat)

Votes for listed candidates: 65,885
Election day: November 8, 2022
District map: Same as today

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2022, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticNick HinrichsenWon	Democratic	33,79551.3%	51.3%
RepublicanStephen A. Varela	Republican	32,09048.7%	48.7%

Votes for listed candidates: 54,021
Election day: November 6, 2018
District map: Older district map (2012 to 2021)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2018, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLeroy M. GarciaWon(incumbent)	Democratic	39,76873.6%	73.6%
LibertarianJohn Pickerill	Libertarian	14,25326.4%	26.4%

Votes for listed candidates: 50,627
Election day: November 4, 2014
District map: Older district map (2012 to 2021)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2014, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLeroy M. Garcia Jr.Won	Democratic	27,81354.9%	54.9%
RepublicanGeorge Rivera	Republican	22,81445.1%	45.1%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2010, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticAngela GironWon	Democratic	24,82755.0%	55.0%
RepublicanVera Ortegon	Republican	20,31345.0%	45.0%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2006, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticAbel J. TapiaWon(incumbent)	Democratic	37,562100.0%	100.0%

Votes for listed candidates: 41,820
Election day: November 5, 2002
District map: Older district map (2002 to 2011)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 2002, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticAbel J. TapiaWon	Democratic	26,11862.5%	62.5%
RepublicanJoyce R. Lawrence	Republican	14,79235.4%	35.4%
LibertarianJoseph Towner	Libertarian	9102.2%	2.2%

Votes for listed candidates: 29,717
Election day: November 3, 1998
District map: Older district map (1992 to 2001)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1998, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticWilliam Thiebaut Jr.Won(incumbent)	Democratic	19,09864.3%	64.3%
RepublicanVera Ortegon	Republican	10,61935.7%	35.7%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1994, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticWilliam Thiebaut Jr.Won	Democratic	24,015100.0%	100.0%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1990, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLarry E. TrujilloWon(incumbent)	Democratic	21,711100.0%	100.0%

Votes for listed candidates: 28,187
Election day: November 4, 1986
District map: Older district map (1982 to 1991)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1986, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticLarry E. TrujilloWon	Democratic	17,49862.1%	62.1%
RepublicanGerald F. Caduff	Republican	10,68937.9%	37.9%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1982, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticJohn BenoWon(incumbent)	Democratic	21,322100.0%	100.0%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1980, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticRegis GroffWon(incumbent)	Democratic	13,412100.0%	100.0%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1976, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticRegis GroffWon	Democratic	13,839100.0%	100.0%

Votes for listed candidates: 19,401
Election day: November 7, 1972
District map: Older district map (1972 to 1981)

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1972, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticGeorge L. BrownWon(incumbent)	Democratic	15,04177.5%	77.5%
RepublicanBob Phillips	Republican	4,36022.5%	22.5%

Colorado Senate District 3, 1970 to 2022, 1970, every candidate
Candidate	Party	Votes and share	Share
DemocraticAllen DinesWon(incumbent)	Democratic	4,18583.2%	83.2%
OtherCarlos Santistevan	Other	84416.8%	16.8%

More about this race

Open seat

The current holder, Nick Hinrichsen, is not on the candidate list.

Source: coloradosos.gov (XLSX), dated Sep 15

District map

Democratic
Republican
Independent
Nonpartisan
More than one party
No member listed

Map settings

Labels

Color

PartyParty + pattern

Vote in Colorado

Trouble voting? Election Protection hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE. A nonpartisan coalition of civil-rights and voting-rights groups, not a government service. 866ourvote.org

Official results for Colorado

Download and cite

CC BY 4.0 State data (JSON)Share image (PNG)

Cite this page

Election Wrld. (2026). Colorado State Senate District 3, election results 1970 to 2022. https://www.electionwrld.com/co/senate/3. Retrieved October 31, 2026.

Embed this seat

<iframe src="https://www.electionwrld.com/embed/co/senate/3" title="Colorado Senate District 3" width="100%" height="400" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px">Data: <a href="https://www.electionwrld.com">Election Wrld</a>, CC BY 4.0</p>

Paste this into any web page. It shows the seat, its last result and the next election.

Sources

Sources: Census TIGERweb Legislative MapServer (120th CDs layer 0, 119th CDs layer 4, 2026 SLD upper layer 1 and lower layer 2) (US Census Bureau, public domain), retrieved Oct 28, 2026; Open Civic Data division identifiers (census_autogenerated us_sldl/us_sldu and openstates state files); also (sld-recent.json): Open Civic Data division identifiers (country-us) (CC0 (repository); also (sld-recent.json): CC0 1.0), retrieved Oct 28, 2026; Open States people (current) CSVs (CC0-1.0 (Open States people data)), retrieved Oct 28, 2026, compiled by Open States volunteers and staff (rosters from state legislature sites) from official returns, not an official source; State Legislative Election Returns, 1967-2022 (Carl Klarner, Harvard Dataverse) (CC0 1.0), retrieved Oct 28, 2026, compiled by Carl Klarner (Harvard Dataverse) from official returns, not an official source.

DataState data (JSON)Sources: State Legislative Election Returns, 1967-2022 (Carl Klarner, Harvard Dataverse)Data as of Oct 28, 2026