U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who would be the first avowed Democratic socialist to run for president under a major party label, was cruising to victory Tuesday in the Democratic Primary Election in La Plata County.
Based on unofficial results at 10 p.m., with most of the ballots counted in the county, Sanders had 4,337 votes, or 39.94%, well ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden, who had 2,622 votes, or 24.15% of the vote.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was in third with 2,032 votes, or 18.71%, and former New York City mayor and billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg was fourth with 1,573 votes, or 14.49%.
In the Republican Primary Election, President Donald Trump had 6,588 votes, or 92.55% of the vote. His nearest rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, had 260 votes, or 3.65%.
In Montezuma County, as of 9:50 p.m. with partial, unofficial results, Sanders led the Democratic race with 740 votes, 42.48%. Bloomberg had 337 votes, or 19.35%, Biden had 319 votes, or 18.31%, and Warren had 254 votes, or 14.58%.
La Plata County mirrored Democrats’ top choice statewide.
As of 9:35 p.m. with early, unofficial results in Colorado and only one county fully reported, Sanders had 237,329 votes, 36%.
A battle emerged for second place with Biden tallying 146,659 votes, or 22.18%, compared, with Bloomberg’s count of 146,076 votes, or 22.1%.
Warren was in fourth place with 113,311 votes, or 17.14%.
The Associated Press called the race for Sanders moments after polls closed at 7 p.m. in Colorado.
In Durango, it appeared many Democrats waited to turn in their mail-in ballots – looking to avoid voting for a candidate who had left the race after the primary Saturday in South Carolina.
“I wanted to hear who dropped out; that was important to me,” said Charlie Burns, a Durango Democrat. “It was unfortunate that Pete Buttigieg dropped out. I think people were interested in voting for him.”
Burns, who plans to leave the country in a few months to teach in northeastern China, said after Buttigieg dropped out, his choice came down to Warren, Biden and Sanders. He opted for Biden.
“I like his experience,” he said, adding he thought Biden would be the Democrat with the best chance to defeat Trump in November.
“If Trump wins, I’ll appreciate not being in the country,” he said.
As of Tuesday, the county had 11,661 registered Democrats, 10,109 registered Republicans and 15,235 unaffiliated voters, for a total of 37,005 registered active voters, La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Parker said. The county has 44,559 total active and inactive registered voters, she said.
Scott Wallace, a Durango Democrat, was among the steady stream of voters dropping off his ballot at the drive-thru drop-off box at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
He wanted to wait until weaker candidates dropped out. Eventually, he, too, cast his vote for Biden.
“He has the best chance to take on Trump and reset the course of the country, and we need that,” he said.
Caroline Kilgore, an unaffiliated voter, cast her ballot on the last day of the Colorado primary for Sanders. She said she didn’t realize until Tuesday morning that unaffiliated voters could participate in either the Democratic or Republican primaries.
“I thought you had to be registered either as a Democrat or a Republican. When I found out I could vote, I thought, I better get down here to vote.”
Her choice for Sanders, she said, was guided by his stand on social issues, which most closely aligned with her own views.
As of 6 p.m., Parker said 86 unaffiliated voters had spoiled their ballots by casting ballots in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. It was the first year unaffiliated voters could vote in a primary in Colorado, but they had to choose to vote in either the Republican or the Democratic primary. If they returned ballots for both parties, their ballots were not counted.
Waiting until the last day was probably a smart move for Democrats.
Within 36 hours of the deadline for voting in Colorado, Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., both formally withdrew from the Colorado primary, which means any votes they receive will not be reported.
Two other candidates have formally withdrawn with the Secretary of State’s Office in Denver – home-state Sen. Michael Bennet and Maryland businessman and politician John Delaney.
Parker said votes for candidates who formally withdraw from the Colorado primary will be “suppressed,” which means the votes will be recorded but not reported.
Other Democratic candidates who have withdrawn or suspended their campaigns but have not formally withdrawn from the Colorado Democratic primary – like best-selling author and spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson and New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang – will have their votes reported in the Colorado primary.
The presidential primary in Colorado is the first one the state has held in 20 years, and it occurs on the day dubbed “Super Tuesday” because more delegates are at stake today in both the Democratic and Republican primaries than any other single day on the 2020 primary schedule.
About one-third of the Democratic delegates were awarded Tuesday.
Colorado Democrats will send 67 delegates to the Democratic National Convention and 14 so-called super delegates – delegates who are unpledged to any candidate and will vote for a presidential candidate only if the Democrats fail to select a presidential nominee on the first round of voting at the national convention. The 3rd Congressional District will send five delegates going to the convention.
Sen. Bennet, D-Colo., will be among Colorado’s super delegates to the national convention.
Bennet withdrew from the race Feb. 11, after the New Hampshire primary. He received 981 votes in New Hampshire or 0.3% of the vote, behind 10 other candidates. Sanders won the New Hampshire primary with 76,324 votes, or 25.7% of the vote.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
