Jack Turner is ready for a second round: After a narrow loss in 2020, Turner announced Tuesday he is running for La Plata County commissioner – again – in 2022.
Turner, a longtime La Plata County resident, ran as an unaffiliated candidate against Democrat Marsha Porter-Norton in 2020. The race was nearly too close to call, with a difference of only 114 votes on Election Day. After the final count, Porter-Norton ultimately won by 166 votes. The close race only left Turner feeling more encouraged, he said.
“We did so well last time. I was energized the day after,” Turner said. “I wish we would have won, but I was so happy with how we did considering the resources we had and the experience we had.”
The 2020 race was for the District 2 seat, which represents the city of Durango and a portion of the Animas Valley. District 3 represents the eastern portion of the county.
The next county commissioner seat to open up is currently held by Clyde Church, who represents District 1, or approximately the western half of La Plata County. Church’s term ends in 2022.
To run for District 1, Turner left his rental house in Durango and moved into a rental in District 1 in the Animas Valley, he said.
“I moved in order to be able to run,” Turner said.
Church, a Democrat and Falls Creek resident, said he has not decided yet whether he will run for re-election in 2022.
“I’m working on it. Jack would be a good opponent, so we’ll just see how this works out,” Church said.
Turner, a fifth-generation La Plata County resident, has worked as vice president of marketing and sales at Purgatory Resort, and most recently, in film and television scouting and management.
Turner announced his run for county commissioner a year and four months before the November 2022 election – which is becoming more common, said Tiffany Lee, La Plata County clerk and recorder.
Once candidates are registered with the Colorado Secretary of State, they can start receiving and spending money, Lee said.
Because Turner is running as an independent candidate, he has to gather 2% of the total votes, or about 555 signatures, to earn a spot on the ballot. He can start asking for signatures in May 2022, she said.
Turner said he decided to announce early so he can learn more and talk to more people about what’s going on in the county.
Porter-Norton announced her bid for county commissioner in February 2019, about a year and eight months before the 2020 election, Turner said.
“You want to get ahead of the game if you know you’re going to do it and start building a rapport with people,” he said. “I made it a big part of my campaign to be learning about the county and the people in it, even though I grew up here. It’s really easy to start thinking you know everything and you don’t.”
He plans to keep attending public meetings around the county to keep learning about communities, he said.
In 2020, Turner cast himself as a longtime local with deep roots who can bridge the gap between residents in more urban-like areas around Durango and more rural parts of La Plata County. He also advocated for making the county more business-friendly and streamlining development.
On Tuesday, he said he can bring a different perspective to a board that frequently casts unanimous votes. Certain areas of the county government have “too much autonomy,” he said, referring to the legal team and community development/planning teams that have large budgets.
He wants residents to be able to meet with county commissioners earlier in the land-use code process, instead of at the final approval stage.
“The first time I ran, I was a rookie politician,” Turner said. “There’s not enough people saying, ‘I’m willing to step forward and get involved.’ ... I think I’m going to have some interesting challenges to put forward in terms of what I think would be healthy for local politics.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
