Supporters of the $37.2 million Bayfield school bond were caught off guard Tuesday night when the preliminary results "yes" results came in 16 votes behind the "no" votes.
"I don't know what else we could have done," said Terri Will, a Bayfield resident who helped lead the "Yes on 3B" campaign.
But when the second round of results were released at 9:20 p.m., supporters gathered at a local Mexican restaurant cheered.
The second round of results reported 2,331 yes votes, or 50.47 percent of the 4,619 votes cast.
La Plata County voters who said no to the bond issue were 2,288 voters, or 49.53 percent. A few dozen votes also need to be counted for school district residents who live in Archuleta County. Results there had not been reported by 10 p.m.
About 20 bond issue supporters were gathered at Chavolo's Mexican Restaurant in Bayfield, hoping for a celebratory gathering.
They were hopeful, however, that they could make up the 16 vote differential.
"You'll get a new school," Bayfield voter Jenna Stumpf said to Jettie Lyons, who attends second grade at Bayfield Elementary School. Her mom, Amy Lyons, is the school district's finance director.
"I know," the eight-year-old confidently replied.
The first round of results showed 2,093 yes votes, for 49.81 percent of the vote, and 2,109 no votes, or 50.19 percent
Durango's school bond was winning by a large margin Tuesday night, with 61.58 percent of 19,610 voters casting a yes vote.
Other preliminary county results are showing that county voters are not opening up their pocketbooks this year. Both the county road and bridge tax and the La Plata County airport expansion are facing no votes.
In the county commission races, incumbents are ahead, with Julie Westendorff ahead of Kayla Patterson and Gwen Lachelt garnering more votes than Lyle McKnight.
