Laura Bradford

DENVER--Outgoing state Rep. Bernie Buescher - the heir apparent Speaker of the House until his surprise loss on Tuesday -- had words of caution for the House Democratic Caucus on Thursday morning.

"As you use the power of this majority, remember that there are members who are in more vulnerable state," Buescher said.

In Colorado's tightest legislative race, state Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) is down by 343 votes to Republican challenger Laura Bradford with 79 percent of precincts reporting.

However, it's worth noting that 10 precincts have not yet been counted -- including Buescher strongholds that include downtown Grand Junction, Mesa State College, and the Mesa Mall.

In a year that looks pretty good for Democrats, Republicans will be hard-pressed to make a big dent in the Democrats' 15-seat majority in the state House of Representatives.

But that doesn't mean all is lost for the GOP. House District 40 looks virtually certain to return to the Republicans, one year after state Rep. Debbie Stafford turned rogue and delivered it into Democrats' hands.

There also appear to be a number of close races shaping up, the most interesting of these being House Districts 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 37, and 56.

Other potentially interesting races include House Districts 17, 33, 39, 52, 55 and 57.

UPDATED 5:03 P.M. 10/13/2008

A pro-Republican 527 group has finally entered the state House District 55 race, as unaffiliated voters in the district received a mailer over the weekend hitting incumbent state Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) for his support of Gov. Bill Ritter's mill levy freeze.

The same voters have been receiving pro-Buescher mailers since August from the independent group Colorado Values, a Denver-based committee that supports pro-business Democrats.

According to the Grand Junction Sentinel, the mailer was sent out by Coloradans for Change, a group that's funded by the state House and Senate Republicans' political committees.

Colorado Values also sent out a new mailer to unaffiliated voters this weekend, the Sentinel reported.

As the Sentinel's Mike Saccone pointed out, Buescher's Republican opponent, Laura Bradford, wasn't mentioned in either mail piece --  thus "confirming that this race is effectively a referendum on Buescher."

State Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) is ahead of his 2006 fundraising pace as of mid-September, while Republican opponent Laura Bradford is behind where Buescher's 2006 GOP challenger was, the Grand Junction Sentinel is reporting.

As of Sept. 10, Buescher had raised $125,154 - more than double the $57,610 he had raised by the same time in 2006, according to the Sentinel's Political Notebook.

Bradford, meanwhile, had received $22,034 in contributions as of Sept. 10 - less than the $25,282 the 2006 Republican candidate Bob Caskey had raised in that time frame, the Sentinel reported.