{"id":137108,"date":"2026-06-30T21:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frizzell-cox-lead-first-round-of-unofficial-montezuma-county-primary-results\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:50:14","slug":"frizzell-cox-lead-first-round-of-unofficial-montezuma-county-primary-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frizzell-cox-lead-first-round-of-unofficial-montezuma-county-primary-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Frizzell, Cox lead first round of unofficial Montezuma County primary results"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thousands
Thousands of voters cast ballots Tuesday in Montezuma County, the last day of the Colorado primary election, which included two locally contested races and several statewide races. Election results are posted through the Montezuma County website, which links to the Colorado Secretary of State's election night reporting. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The first unofficial results in Montezuma County\u2019s Republican primary showed Rodney Cox leading the race for county commissioner and Jerri Frizzell ahead in the contest for county clerk and recorder on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

In the county commissioner race, Cox has 55% of votes as of the earliest unofficial results. His competitors Bonnie Anderson received 29% of votes and Diane Fox-Spratlen received 16%.<\/p>\n

County Clerk Kim Percell said election officials have received and counted ballots equal to 28% of the total amount of county registered voters. Percell said ballots were still arriving from drop boxes and continue to be processed.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s primary election determines which candidates advance to the November general election.<\/p>\n

Another update is expected around 9 to 9:30 p.m, Percell said. Ballots will be counted until midnight Tuesday and, if unfinished, counting will resume Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

For the clerk and recorder GOP nomination, Frizzell leads with 69% of votes, while candidate Lenetta Shull received 31% of votes.<\/p>\n

In-person polling at the county Annex on Chestnut Street closed at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"Mary
Mary Mares with her baby Liam, 7\u00bd months, check in at voter registration Tuesday with election judge Linda Smith at the Montezuma County Annex in-person polling center. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Election
Election judge Amy Phillips checks in voter Stephanie Riddell on Tuesday at the in-person voting center. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado Primary Election decides two of Montezuma County\u2019s closely watched local races for the Republicans. It caps a winter and spring election season for five GOP candidate campaigns in which Montezuma County organizations hosted debates, forums and town hall appearances.<\/p>\n

\"Lloyd
Lloyd Hunt poses for a photo Tuesday after submitting his ballot in the Annex drop box. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The \u201cI voted\u201d stickers provided to voters at the drop box located inside the clerk and recorder\u2019s office in Cortez. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democrat Rebecca Busic is running unopposed for the commissioner seat and so far has received 1,820 votes.<\/p>\n

Commissioner candidates are seeking the seat currently held by Jim Candelaria.<\/p>\n

Running uncontested on the GOP ticket is Ellen Black for county treasurer, Tyson Cox for county sheriff and George Deavers for coroner.<\/p>\n

The primary election is full of races for federal and state offices as well, with both Republicans and Democrats campaigning. Incumbent state Rep. Jeff Hurd holds an early lead over challenger Ron Hanks, with about a 30% margin, for the congressional District 3 seat. The Democratic race for the District 3 seat is slightly closer, with Alex Kelloff receiving 51% of the Montezuma County vote and Dwayne Romero receiving 49% so far.<\/p>\n

On Election Day, the three commissioners candidates reflected on the campaign experience, nothing it was a taxing but worthwhile experience that allowed them to connect with voters and better understand county government.<\/p>\n

Cox, who is a fifth-generation Montezuma County resident, said his campaign centered on representing the voice of small business owners. He is retired after owning a convenience store for three decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been kind of an eye-opening experience, but it has been really satisfied talking to business owners and getting to know their concerns talking about what a commissioner can and can\u2019t do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He expressed gratitude to all local candidates running, saying the gig takes courage to get \u201coutside your comfort zone,\u201d which Cox said is a large undertaking.<\/p>\n

Fox-Spratlen currently serves as a victim and witness specialist for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office after retiring as a police officer. During her campaign for commissioner, she emphasized strong leadership skills and highlighting herself as someone willing to engage in tough conversations and show accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gained respect for the candidates that have run and I have continued to work full-time, and it has been a fairly exhausting process,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been an informative experience and being able to connect with others and getting to know what people want Montezuma County to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson said her campaign was about advocating for greater transparency, accountability and long-term planning in county government. Her former job was county director in the Noxious Weeds program and she currently runs her own noxious weeds business, as well as leads the Colorado chapter of the National Mustang Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had a desire to be in politics, but I care deeply about Montezuma County,\u201d she said. \u201cI decided to run because I didn\u2019t agree with the direction some decisions were taking our county.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson added: \u201cWhatever the outcome of the primary, I\u2019ll be at peace with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

awatson@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This is a developing story. Check back at www.the-journal.com<\/a> for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Election officials expect additional results later Tuesday evening as ballots arrive from drop boxes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[386,21,28,308,60,29,2972,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-137108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-local-elections","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-primary","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137108"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137200,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137108\/revisions\/137200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137108"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=137108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}