While SD-26 ballots are counted, Newell and her daughter take a break from politics

While the Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder's office finishes counting more than 17,000 mail-in and provisional ballots in the extremely tight state Senate District 26 race, Democratic nominee Linda Newell and her daughter are taking a break from politics.

Newell's daughter Kate said she and her mom - who's down by 99 votes against Republican Lauri Clapp - planned to get a movie, make some pasta, and "chill out" Wednesday evening.

"We can't think about (the race) 24/7 -- we have to do something else for a couple minutes," Kate Newell said.

For the record, Kate Newell said they weren't planning on renting  "Swing Vote," as that was the last movie she and her mother had seen together several months ago, before the campaign kicked into high gear.

The Newells had scheduled post-election massages for today, Kate Newell said, but that appointment was canceled as elections officials continued tallying ballots Wednesday.