Coloradoan staff

Colorado voters denied a $25 billion proposal to establish the nation's first universal health care system on Tuesday.

Early returns showing more than 1.7 million votes cast have the issue receiving approximately 20 percent support among statewide voters. The Coloradoan's news partners 9News KUSA called the race shortly after 8 p.m.

Backers of creating the proposed "ColoradoCare" system argued that bold change is needed to battle mounting health care costs, while opponents said that the proposal left too many questions unanswered to merit serious consideration.

A similar proposal failed in Vermont in 2014, when Gov. Peter Shumlin cited high cost to taxpayers and risk to the state's economy in scrapping his signature issue. Opposition to the Colorado proposal mirrored those themes, with small-business owners decrying the planned income tax that would support the system's costs and some doctors pledging to leave the state if ColoradoCare passed.