This extra is attached to this story, click modify to view or change it
With 60 percent of the vote reporting, Stapleton leads Kennedy 52 percent to 48 percent.
Stapleton is president and CEO of SonomaWest Holdings, a publicly traded real estate company. He had criticized Kennedy for spending most of her career with government and campaigned on the idea of bringing business experience to the Treasurer's office.
Stapleton's great grandfather was the longest-serving mayor in Denver history. He's also a second cousin to former President George H.W. Bush.
He defeated J.J. Ament in the August primary.
Kennedy began the campaign focusing on her successful efforts to grow the state's $6 billion investment portfolio that the treasurer oversees in the worst economy since the Great Depression, and her influence on efforts to help fund Colorado's schools. However, late in the campaign after polls showed she was losing, she attacked Stapleton for a DUI he had in San Francisco in 1999 and what she described as his lack of transparency in revealing it.
If you would like to comment on our political coverage or join a political discussion, click here:
(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)