Ballot counting resumed in Adams County Friday morning, where control of the Colorado Senate hangs in the balance. Republican candidate Beth Martinez Humenik holds an 852-vote lead over Democrat Judy Solano, with about 5,000 ballots left to count.

Based on preliminary results, Democrats and Republicans appear to have won 17 seats apiece in the Senate, putting the focus on Adams County and Senate District 24.

The tallying process is taking unusually long because there is a write-in candidate for county surveyor, so election judges have to check each ballot. County spokesman Jim Siedlecki said the clerk’s office hopes to have all ballots tallied by Friday evening.

So far in Adams County, results show Republican candidates for sheriff, clerk, assessor and all three county commissioners leading their Democratic opponents — even though 35 percent of the county’s registered voters are Democrats and 25 percent are Republicans. Unaffiliated voters account for another 38 percent.

Voters in the county also put Cynthia Coffman, a Republican, in the lead for attorney general over Don Quick, formerly the county’s district attorney.

That made Republican analyst Dick Wadhams optimistic about Humenik’s chances of maintaining her lead.

He said the potential that Republicans will lead the Senate for the first time in a decade means Colorado has restored its “truly purple competitive status,” where the state isn’t dominated by any one party.

Democrats had an 18-17 edge in the Senate over the last session.

On Friday morning, Republican officials conceded that they wouldn’t be able to gain enough seats in the House to take control of that chamber. They scheduled elections for Friday afternoon to choose members for minority leadership positions.

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In the House, outgoing Speaker Mark Ferrandino said Democrats won 33 seats, giving them the majority, although it will be slimmer than last session’s 37-28 edge.

“The ultimate thing is every vote needs to be counted, but given where we are today with Democrats leading in 33 seats, and outside the margin of recounts, we feel very good … that Democrats will be maintaining their majority in the state House,” he said.

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Reps. Daniel Kagan and Su Ryden maintained slim leads over their Republican challengers in Arapahoe County, with most of the county’s ballots now tallied. Kagan increased his edge over challenger Candice Benge from 90 votes to 416 votes.

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Caucus leaders from both parties have delayed picking next session’s caucus leaders until next week because of the uncertainty from Tuesday.

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Outgoing Democratic Speaker Mark Ferrandino acknowledged Thursday that some races were more competitive than initially thought, in part because of a “national wave much bigger than anyone expected.”

In Adams County, two House races have been led by Republican candidates, but only one had the edge by Thursday evening.

Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, took a 56-vote lead over GOP contender Carol Beckler. Salazar had trailed by 51 votes at the start of the day and had narrowed the gap to five votes before grabbing the lead. In the other race, Republican JoAnn Windholz has a 237-vote lead over Democrat Rep. Jenise May. May had also narrowed that gap throughout the day.

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Ferrandino dismissed the notion that the Democratic-led legislature’s agenda in 2013 made the party’s candidates more vulnerable.

“If there was that sentiment, we wouldn’t have fared as well as we have,” he said.

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Wadhams said his party has made “extraordinary gains” statewide by winning two recall elections in the Senate last year — even though those seats went back to Democrats on Tuesday — and then narrowing the Democratic advantage in the House.

“Neither party has any room for error in their respective houses,” Wadhams said.

Military and overseas ballots still need to be counted, which could affect unofficial results or trigger a recount in districts where the margin of victory was especially narrow. Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, for example, leads her GOP opponent Larry Queen by 196 votes out of more than 69,000 ballots counted.

All counts have to be certified by Nov. 21, and any recounts would have to be finished by Dec. 11.

John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold

Staff writers John Frank and Lynn Bartels contributed to this report.