The only contested primary race in La Plata County is for the Democratic candidate for treasurer, but contested races at the state level are expected to draw voters to the ballot on Tuesday.
Voters will decide between incumbent Treasurer Allison Aichele and challenger Tim Walsworth. The winner will face Republican Colton Black in the November election.
There are three Democratic candidates for the 3rd Congressional District: Diane Mitsch Bush, Karl Hanlon and Arn Menconi. There are no Republican challengers to incumbent Scott Tipton.
For governor, there are four Democratic candidates: Cary Kennedy, Jared Polis, Donna Lynne and Mike Johnston. On the Republican side, candidates include: Walker Stapleton, Greg Lopez, Doug Robinson and Victor Mitchell.
There are no contested Republican primaries in La Plata County.
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Parker said there were 35,796 ballots sent out in the county. As of Friday, about 5,700 had been returned. Of that total, 2,314 were from registered Democrats and 1,782 were from registered Republicans.
Unaffiliated voters returned 41 Democratic ballots and 14 Republican ballots.
“Unfortunately, it’s a very low turnout,” Parker said. “It’s not uncommon for a primary, though we were hoping to have a little bit higher.”
La Plata County candidates also filed another round of financial disclosures in the past few days for the time period of June 1 to June 17.
Black raised about $600 and spent about $110 on his campaign. He has about $2,100 on hand.
Walsworth didn’t raise any money and spent about $670. He has $182 on hand.
Aichele reported she raised $100 and spent $770, and had $340. However, she also submitted financial disclosures for July 26 for the campaign period of June 18 to July 21, in which she reported she had $466 on hand.
Aichele said Friday she has been working with the Colorado Secretary of State to clean up her campaign filing reports and “get to zero.”
Incumbent Republican Brad Blake didn’t raise or spend any money. He still has about $6,885 on hand.
Challenger Clyde Church, a Democrat, also didn’t raise or spend any money. He has about $147 on hand. Church amended his financial statement from June 5 to report he raised about $2,425 and spent about $2,277.
Incumbent Sheriff Sean Smith, a Democrat, reported no contributions or expenditures from June 1 to June 22. He had $1,790 cash on hand.
Republican challenger Charles Hamby raised about $800 and didn’t spend any money on his campaign. He has about $4,725 on hand.
Independent candidate Adrian Mize reported contributions of $200 and expenditures of $1,874. He received $100 contributions from Carolyn McKnight and Stephan Horner. His largest expenditure of $1,853 went to Route 550 Gifts. He had $8,518 cash on hand.
State House District 59
Candidates for House District 59 and Senate District 6 also had a new round of financial disclosures from June 18, for the time period between May 31 and June 13.
Incumbent Democrat Barbara McLachlan raised about $1,800, the largest of which was a $500 contribution from the Realtor Small Donor Committee. She spent about $1,706 mostly on a fundraising event. She has about $27,986 on hand.
Challenger Paul Jones, an independent, raised about $328 and spent $37. He has about $3,629 on hand.
Incumbent Don Coram, a Republican, raised $2,300, with a total of $1,000 of that coming from the Realtor Small Donor Committee. He spent about $217 and has about $2,984 on hand.
Challenger Guinn Unger, a Democrat, raised about $1,532 from private donors and spent about $797. He has $2,902 on hand.
Staff Writer Patrick Armijo contributed to this report. jromeo@durangoherald.com
How to vote
Primary ballots were mailed June 6 and June 19 was the deadline to return ballots by mail. Voters should now use one of four ballot drop-off boxes:
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, 98 Everett St., Suite C, Durango.
La Plata County Administration Building, 1101 East Second Ave., Durango.
Farmers Fresh Market, 535 Goddard Ave., Ignacio.
Bayfield Town Hall, 1199 Bayfield Parkway, Bayfield.
All four centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
