Election Day on Nov. 4 delivered many predictable results and, locally, more than a few that suggested La Plata County voters are a particularly engaged group who ponder each candidate’s merits individually, unafraid to buck party lines – to a degree. This thoughtful voting occurs within the bounds of historical voting patterns, though. Make no mistake: The city of Durango is solidly, deeply blue, while county precincts largely choose Republican candidates.
It is the exceptions to this quasi-rule that are noteworthy. The La Plata County treasurer race, between Republican Bobby Lieb, a current county commissioner, and Democrat Allison Morrissey, drew atypical results from at least one rural precinct. South of Ignacio to the New Mexico state line – Precinct 24, a typical Republican stronghold – favored Morrissey, who won the race handily, countywide. Morrissey ran an energetic campaign wherein she visited 7,000 county residents, by her count. She also recruited dozens of supporters to write letters to the editor endorsing her candidacy and effectively worked to educate voters about the treasurer’s role and her qualifications for the position. Lieb’s campaign was much quieter and, against a less-driven candidate, would likely have produced a victory. Because the position is largely apolitical, the treasurer’s race was virtually nonpartisan, despite Lieb’s and Morrissey’s respective affiliations. That left voters room to get to know the candidates as individuals and consider their qualifications accordingly. Morrissey worked hard to give as many voters as possible the chance to do so, and it worked. The shoe leather she burned in rural areas of the county was a sound investment, as Precinct 24’s results suggest, and the overall outcome confirms.
The La Plata County Sheriff race also yielded a few anomalous results. Sheriff Duke Schirard, the Republican incumbent, lost to Democratic challenger Sean Smith in a contentious election. In this case, though, the outlying precinct was in northern La Plata County. Stretching from the mid-Animas Valley to the San Juan County line, Precinct 29 typically leans Republican and stayed true to form in all other contests on Nov. 4. Given the heated tone of the sheriff’s race, it is not surprising that a precinct swung counter-trend. Conversations surrounding the contest turned personal when Schirard’s decades-old domestic violence charges re-emerged and he attempted to stifle discussion of the matter. Those discussions elevated the campaign’s temperature and almost certainly affected loyalties on all sides.
As in the treasurer race, though, these atypical outcomes are not necessarily a function of party or partisanship, but instead could reflect that La Plata County voters – an engaged group that voted at levels higher than the state average in this midterm election – weigh factors beyond a candidate’s red or blue affiliation. Comparing the sheriff and treasurer outcomes to the county commissioner race between Republican Brad Blake and Cynthia Roebuck is telling. This contest produced razor-thin margins that gave Blake 50.2 percent to Roebuck’s 49.8. While there are distinct ideological differences between the two, neither was a particularly involved campaigner, nor were their supporters altogether vocal. Given the race’s timbre, the close outcome reinforces the notion that county voters will consider information beyond party, but if little such data exists, then historical voting patterns will endure. This opens opportunities for candidates locally to change the election climate from one of ideology and partisanship to a forum of ideas and qualifications. Democracy and La Plata County residents will benefit.
