Six months ago, Bernie Herpin assumed his best political days were behind him. He had lost his reelection bid for Colorado Springs city council and he was approaching his 70th birthday. “I just figured I was done with politics,” said Herpin. It turns out he was wrong. On Thursday, Republicans Herpin and George Rivera were sworn in as the newest members of the Colorado state Senate, replacing the two Democrats ousted in last month’s historic recall elections. ... Pro-Democrat groups outspent the recallers by at least 6 to 1, which resulted in a few tense moments for the GOP campaigns....