In every race on Tuesday’s ballot, Democrats garnered more votes than their Republican and unaffiliated opponents in La Plata County.
While the race to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District between Republican incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch remains undecided districtwide, Frisch won by 26 percentage points in La Plata County.
Voter turnout in the Nov. 8 midterms soared to 73% of active voters in La Plata County, exceeding even county Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee’s optimistic goal of a 70% turnout.
Lee said her office received 8,478 votes on Election Day, which comprised 28.5% of the total votes cast.
While some voters have expressed doubts to her about the integrity of the election, Lee said there were no reports to law enforcement or instances of intimidation.
Lee’s office received a rush of ballots at the end of the night as a result of messaging from the national, state and county GOP encouraging voters to cast ballots at the last minute, thereby reducing the chases of election tampering – a movement rooted in conspiracy theorist thinking.
“I always say, ‘Don’t do that please, don’t do that!’” Lee said. “My worry is that, what if you get in a car accident, what if your child gets sick, what if you get a flat tire? Everything is treated the exact same regardless of if you voted three weeks ago or you voted the day of the election.”
Lee said she encourages voters who are skeptical of the process to contact her office for a tour of the facility. She has given up to 10 such tours since the primary elections in June and said visitors have always left assured in the integrity of the process.
Nationwide, Republicans were disappointed when the anticipated “red wave” did not come to fruition. As Colorado has begun to look increasingly blue in recent elections, La Plata County has been moving in that direction for some time.
“We’re delighted with the results here in La Plata County,” said Anne Markward, chairwoman of the La Plata County Democrats. “We worked really hard and really on-target to turnout the vote, and we did it.”
Dave Peters, chairman of the La Plata County Republican Central Committee, said he had “no comment,” before adding, “we were disappointed locally, state and nationwide.”
Travis Oliger, the former chairman of the county’s GOP, predicted in 2019 that Republican candidates were a lost cause in the county. Peters declined to comment when asked whether the GOP would change its strategy going forward.
However, Markward said the county is not yet a Democratic stronghold.
“I wouldn’t dare say we’re not purple, especially for local races,” Markward said.
In recent years, an increasing number of the county’s voters have unaffiliated themselves from a political party.
“Those are the most politically active people,” Markward said. “... We didn’t lose their progressive position, we just lost the letter behind their name.”
Seventy-three percent of the county’s active registered Democrats voted, while 70% of active Republicans cast a ballot. Sixty-one percent of unaffiliated voters showed up to the 2022 midterms.
Paul DeBell, an assistant professor of political science at Fort Lewis College, concurred that the county’s voters, 49% of whom are now independent, appear to be highly educated and make nuanced decisions when they fill out the ballot.
Measure 122, which legalized psilocybin mushrooms, was decisively endorsed by the county’s voters, while measures 124, 125 and 126, which would have loosened laws surrounding liquor licenses and take-out drinks, were all rejected.
“If you look at (ballot measure) 122 versus 124, 125 and 126, you’re not seeing something like people saying, ‘No, we don’t want more open substance laws,’” DeBell said. “That was not the message. ... It was going to be big businesses lobbying and harming small business, and that mattered a lot to voters.”
DeBell said Tuesday’s surprising results were likely the result of cross-pressures that disrupted the standard framework that political scientists used to predict the “red wave.” Disillusionment with the ineffectual, anger-fulled politics of Trumpism may have repelled independent voters from candidates who got in line behind the former president, while threats to democracy and abortion rights activated new voters.
“The Dobbs decision is really waking up people,” DeBell said. “... Things can really surprise you when new portions of the population vote that haven’t really been activated before.”
Despite the large swath of unaffiliated voters in the county, the election did not deliver decisive victories to either of the two independent candidates who ran in competitive races for local positions. Jack Turner lost decisively in his second race for a seat on the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners to incumbent Democrat Clyde Church. Turner trailed Brad Blake, the runner-up, by 4,263 votes – or 15 percentage points.
Turner came within 166 votes of victory when the vote was split just two ways between himself and Democrat Marsha Porter-Norton in 2020. But with a Republican and a Democrat on the ballot, both of whom have served one term as commissioner, voters clearly opted for a candidate with experience in the job.
“I believe Jack is incredibly good at marketing,” Markward said. “He is creative, he is a great campaigner, he is out there amongst people and he did a really nice job with that. I think the difficulty is people who have known him for years as vice president of marketing at Purgatory (Resort) or head of his own video company, etc., don’t necessarily see Jack as being a policy wonk. I think that’s why a lot of voters chose to go with people who have held office before.”
In the race for county treasurer, Democratic incumbent Allison Aichele won by just 320 votes.
Aichele’s opponent, independent Erin Hutchins, raised over $11,000 and campaigned for the position. Aichele, in contrast, relied on her reputation and the power of incumbency. Markward confirmed that Aichele did not ask the local Democratic Party for any money.
Despite significantly outspending an opponent who effectively ran no campaign, Hutchins still could not overtake Aichele.
Given the disparity in the campaigns run by each candidate, Aichele’s victory could indicate voters simply opted for Democratic candidates all the way down the ballot. Several voters contacted Tuesday morning said they felt democracy was at stake and were therefore voting a straight Democratic ticket.
Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, governor, secretary of state and treasurer were all reelected and enjoyed double-digit leads among La Plata County voters.
“We’re happy that voters supported elected officials that have been working hard for them,” Markward said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of votes by which Turner lost to Marsha Porter-Norton. He lost by 166 votes.
