Election results: Lattin, Valdez advance

Posted
Staff Writer

The primary election is in the books for Archuleta County, as well as the rest of Colorado, giving voters a better idea of who will appear on the general election ballot in November.

On the local level, Richard Valdez and Ray Lattin survived the primary.

The results listed below will remain unofficial for several more days in compliance with state statute and to allow for any additional ballots to come in under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), as well as allowing voters to sign ballots that were received unsigned or with a signature discrepancy, said June Madrid, clerk and recorder.

The unofficial results were released at around 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 24.

The only contested races appeared on the Republican ballot.

The deadline to file an unaffiliated candidate nomination petition is 3 p.m. on July 10 (117 days before the general election), meaning it is not yet clear who will appear on the November ballot in each race to challenge the winners of the primary.

The vote totals listed below are for Archuleta County unless otherwise noted.

Local races

For Archuleta County commissioner, District 3, Lattin will move on the to general election on the Republican ticket.

In the primary, Lattin garnered 1,052 votes, with Dennis Spencer following with 938 votes.

For Archuleta County sheriff, Valdez walked away with 1,485 votes, defeating Carl Smith, who tallied 660 votes, meaning Valdez will move on to the November ballot.

The following county-level Republican candidates ran unopposed.

June Madrid ran for county clerk and recorder and received 1,771 votes.

Betty Diller ran for treasurer and received 1,657 votes.

Natalie Woodruff ran for assessor and received 1,733 votes.

Dan Keuning ran for coroner and received 1,824 votes.

Each of the above candidates will now move on to the general election.

State races

Tom Tancredo was the top Republican finisher for governor in Archuleta County with 554 votes, despite being beat by Bob Beauprez at the state-level to move on to the November ballot.

In Archuleta County, Beauprez came in second with 478 votes, followed by Mike Kopp with 441 votes and Scott Gessler with 344 votes.

Running unopposed on the Democratic ballot, incumbent John Hickenlooper received 509 votes in the Archuleta County primary.

For the State Board of Education for congressional District 3, Republican Barbara Ann Smith garnered 788 votes to beat out challenger Marcia Neal, who had 657 votes. On the Democratic ballot, Henry Roman brought in 445 votes.

The three candidates for secretary of state that appeared on the primary ballots each appeared under different parties. On the Democratic ballot, Joe Neguse garnered 439 votes. On the Republican ballot, Wayne Williams notched 1,527 votes. On the American Constitutional ballot, Amanda Campbell brought in three votes.

Similarly, the two candidates for state treasurer appeared on different ballots, with Democrat Betsy Markey pulling in 459 votes and Republican Walker Stapleton pulling in 1,521 votes.

The same situation occurred for attorney general, with Republican Cynthia Coffman bringing in 1,519 votes and Democrat Don Quick tallying 446 votes.

The same was also true for state representative from District 59, with Democrat Mike McLachlan pulling in 445 votes and Republican J. Paul Brown bringing in 1,662 votes.

For state senate, Republican Ellen Roberts was the only candidate appearing in the primary, with Roberts tallying 1,626 votes.

Congressional races

For U.S. representative, District 3, incumbent Republican Scott Tipton received 1,474 votes to defeat fellow Republican David Cox, who tallied 422 votes. Tipton also beat out Cox throughout the district. On the Democratic ballot, Abel Tapia tallied 437 votes.

For U.S. senator, Democratic incumbent Mark Udall pulled in 525 votes. Republican Cory Gardner tallied 1,612 votes.

Voter turnout

According to preliminary statistics provided by Madrid Wednesday, a total of 2,728 registered electors voted in Tuesday’s primary election — 40 percent of Archuleta County’s 6,815 registered voters who are affiliated with one of the three major political parties included in the primary election.

Of that 2,728 who voted, 2,178 voted the Republican ballot (56 percent of Tuesday’s voters), 546 voted the Democratic ballot (30 percent) and four voted the American Constitutional ballot (12 percent).

From June 6 to June 24, the number of unaffiliated voters in Archuleta County decreased by 161 voters, with each of the three major political parties gaining voters in that time frame. Too, several inactive voters activated during that time.

Statewide, voter turnout was 16.5 percent of all voters for the election.

It was not yet clear by presstime Wednesday how the voter turnout compared to similar primary elections (non-presidential years with the above offices up for election).

randi@pagosasun.com