After claiming 63 percent of the vote in the Nov. 6 general election, Republican Roger Partridge is ready to begin serving as Douglas County’s newest commissioner.

The Sedalia resident, who narrowly defeated former Castle Rock Mayor Randy Reed in the District 2 primary, handily defeated Democrat Terry Krow (31 percent) and Libertarian Matthew Hess (6 percent). Partridge joins incumbents Jack Hilbert and Jill Repella on the board of county commissioners. All three are Republicans.

“I’m certainly excited and pleased for our results,” Partridge said. “On a national level I would like to have seen a different result, but there is no doubt we are a great country and we’ll all work together and hopefully continue to see our economy grow.”

Partridge, a former two-term board member and chairman of the Douglas County Planning Commission, commended Repella and Hilbert for their recent work in helping to grow Douglas County’s economy, while at the same time maintaining a high quality of life for residents.

“I’ve known both of them for a long time, and they have been very welcoming to me,” he said. “I look forward to continuing a positive working relationship with them as we continue to move this county forward.

“We have a very good county staff that works very hard, they are very personable people and they take their jobs serious. I think it is nice to come into a position where you already have such a great group of people working for the county.”

A longtime Castle Rock business owner, Partridge said that as a planning commissioner he gained valuable experience in making decisions involving water rights, transportation, law enforcement, special districts and rezoning. None of those issues, he added, are bigger right now than those pertaining to water.

“Getting more dependent upon aquifers is a concern for us all,” he said, pointing to the continued growth of the county and the importance of having a sufficient renewable water supply available to new developments.

“We’re seeing some great possibilities with projects such as the Chatfield Reallocation Project that are hopefully coming to fruition here in a little bit.”

Partridge, who has called Douglas County home for 17 years, takes over for the term-limited Steve Boand, who had represented the district since 2004. The district encompasses Castle Rock, Castle Pines and some unincorporated parts of the county.