Democrat Clyde Church beat out two challengers for his seat on the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners, securing another four years representing District 1.
Ballot returns posted just before midnight Tuesday handed Church the win with a 1,039-vote victory over Republican Brad Blake. Church captured 41% of the vote, while Blake captured 37%.
After a long and boisterous campaign, independent candidate Jack Turner fell disappointingly short on Election Day. He churned the race into a state of disarray early on, but captured just 6,396 votes, or 22% of the overall count on Election Day.
“I’m disappointed, obviously,” Turner said Wednesday. “I am surprised. I thought we’d do better than that, otherwise I wouldn’t have even entered the race.”
Early numbers gave Church a 1,700 vote edge over Blake – something he did not expect either.
“I’m surprised – I’m thrilled,” Church said when told of the early numbers. “I’ve got so many things I want to finish up, and some things to get started. The work is not done.”
Seventy-three percent of the county’s active voters participated in the election, exceeding the goal of 70% that County Clerk Tiffany Lee set in October. None of the three candidates did any significant campaigning in the hours before the polls closed.
“Landslide Clyde is not dead,” Church said of the early numbers, which showed him enjoying a more significant lead than the one by which he ultimately achieved victory.
Over the last year and a half, the candidates shied away from attacking one another and instead focused primarily on issues and personal accomplishments. All three candidates recognized the lack of affordable housing as the most dire issue facing the county and proposed their own solutions.
Turner and Blake each focused on deregulation, taking aim at the county’s land-use code, which was approved by the BoCC in 2020. Both called for a need to expedite projects, particularly those that could create more workforce housing. Turner also called for a common-sense first approach, pledging to bring a voice of reason to the BoCC.
Church, in contrast, tried to downplay the issue. The incumbent previously said that the 2020 land-use code was not perfect, but that it was written with the intention that the board would revise it. He said changes are already underway, emphasizing the value of his intimate familiarity with the code.
Turner had hoped to court moderates from both parties, pitching himself as a sensible moderate. Instead, he stands defeated behind his two party-affiliated opponents by a significant margin.
Church managed to emerge victorious despite having raised significantly less money than his opponents.
Blake and Turner both trounced Church in terms of fundraising. Blake raised $61,864 in contributions and Turner followed, gathering $45,318. Church’s campaign raised a mere $11,805.
“I think overall my race went well, I only lost by 900 votes and at one point in the night it was closer than that,” Blake said. “Nonetheless, a lot of people showed up to vote. It was definitely disappointing, I was looking forward to helping the county.”
The last two county commissioner races have both been decided by infinitesimal margins. Turner, who ran against Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton in the District 2 race two years ago, lost by 166 votes. Church snatched a victory over Blake by just 23 votes in 2018, making this 979-vote victory significantly more decisive than those in the last two elections.
“If I hadn’t tried a second time, I would always regret saying, ‘What if I would've just tried a little bit harder?’” Turner said. “I can honestly say I don’t think we could’ve tried any harder. I didn’t do this as a lark or to create a disturbance or do anything negative. It was an opportunity to present what I thought was going to work.”
A significant plurality of the county’s voters – 49% – are unaffiliated with a political party. The remaining 51% are roughly split evenly between the Democratic and Republican parties. Since Turner’s 2020 loss, the number of unaffiliated voters in the county has risen by 19.9%, while the Republican and the Democratic parties have declined by 11.7% and 18.5%, respectively.
Turner frequently lamented his opponents’ attempts to qualify him as either a closeted Democrat or Republican, insisting that he was instead a true independent.
The split, however, indicates that Turner appealed to Republican voters enough to hobble Blake’s campaign while paving a path to victory for Church.
“I’m really confident that anyone who voted for us made a conscious choice to say, ‘This is who I want to vote for,’” Turner said. “Those were our votes and I’m really proud for the ones we got and I don’t have any regrets.”
Church’s victory was also in rhythm with what turned out to be a disappointing night for Republicans around the country. The GOP did not ride a “red wave” as many had anticipated. Some La Plata County voters, including some unaffiliated voters, said they would be voting for Democrats down the ballot in the interest of preserving democracy.
“I think it’s a vote for Democracy, which they know,” Church said of his supporters decision early in the night. “It is a vote not for chaos. I wouldn’t say it’s against, but it’s just not supporting the direction of chaos in government.”
Blake said he was not sure whether Turner’s campaign or the disappointing results for Republicans nationwide had more to do with his loss.
“It obviously had some impact but who knows if there would’ve been just two, what the outcome might’ve been,” Blake said of Turner. “Obviously, Democrats and those leaning more to the left showed up to vote.”
Turner enthusiastically expressed his optimism that Church would serve the county dutifully.
“When someone wins an election, everyone needs to pull for them because it means that the people benefit,” Turner said.
“Clyde will do fine,’ Blake said in a more reserved show of support. “I don’t know what his plans are but I think he’ll do fine.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
