Incumbents breeze to victory in primary election

Incumbents breeze to victory in primary election

Aug. 9, 2000

Journal Staff Report

Local incumbents convincingly won the day in Tuesday¹s primary election, with Republican Kent Lindsay and Democrat Kelly Wilson earning the chance to face more challengers seeking their positions on the Montezuma County Commission in the November general election.

In District 3, Wilson beat out challenger Lyle Rice by a vote of 378 to 169, or 69 percent to 31 percent. Among Republicans, Lindsay was the preferred choice for District 2, overcoming challenger Ray Gallacher by a vote of 545 to 327 (62.5 percent to 37.5 percent).

Lindsay now faces Democratic hopeful Tony Valdez, and Wilson is up against unaffiliated challenger Darrell Veach in November. "Time to take a deep breath and move on," said a satisfied Wilson shortly after learning of his victory.

Candidates, their wives and children mingled with reporters awaiting election results at the county clerk's office Tuesday night. The small gathering paralleled overall voter turnout, which was dismally low in the county. A mere 14 percent of registered voters bothered to participate in the primary, the clerk¹s office reported.

"Of course, those that don¹t vote are usually the ones that complain the most about what the people in office do," one man was overheard saying. Out of 10,819 registered voters in the county, 1,453 came to the polls. The Republicans had a stronger showing in every precinct except two. Overall, 893 Republicans voted; Democrats numbered 560.

The Towaoc area and Mancos precincts (6 and 11 respectively) proved more liberal, according to voter turnout numbers. In Mancos 60 Democrats cast votes for party candidates, while 49 Republicans did the same.

Out of the nine voters who showed up at the polls in Towaoc, six were Democrats and three Republican.

A lack of contested races was part of the reason for the low turnout. The commission races were the only actual contests, except on the Republican ballot, for a member of the Colorado State Board of Education. In that race, Ben Alexander overcame challenger Sandra Panetta by a vote of 668 to 151.