election

Unofficial election results are in for Montezuma County and the Four Corners region. In Cortez, Rhonda Tracy beat Jonathan “J.J.” Lewis in the race for District C on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board. The other three candidates, Rafe O’Brien, Leland Collins and Mike Lynch, are running unopposed for their seats on the board. In Mancos, candidates Craig Benally, Rachel McWhirter and Timothy Hunter all won seats on the Mancos RE-6 school board. On the Dolores RE-4A school board, Clay Tallmadge, Maegan Crowley, Dustin Goodall and Julia Wilson Anderson have all unofficially been elected. And a bond initiative on the ballot in Dolores that would fund renovations for the town’s secondary school campus looks like it will pass. Out of nearly 1,600 votes, the bond has received a yes from 57% of voters, while 42% voted no.

Elections are wrapping up in Montezuma County this week. Leland Collins is a candidate running unopposed for a seat on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board, and a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Collins says he was inspired to run for this seat in part because of his son, a student in the school district who is disabled. Earlier this year, the board voted unanimously to cut ties with San Juan BOCES, a service that provides special education resources and support to school districts in the area. Collins says he’s concerned about how this change will impact students like his son. And a Larimer County woman is the first person to be charged under a Colorado state law that increased punishments for dealing fentanyl if it results in someone’s death.

Three out of four open seats on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board have candidates who are running unopposed in this month’s election. A few of those candidates have said they might refuse to follow statewide education policies if they conflict with their personal values.

Early in-person voting for the 2023 election is already underway across Colorado. More than 324,000 Coloradans had voted as of Monday. Most polling places and ballot drop-boxes will be active between now and November 7. Locally, voters in the Four Corners are being asked to weigh in on several school board races and statewide ballot initiatives. Adriana Stimax is a resident of Mancos and a candidate running for one of three open seats on the Mancos RE-6 school board. Stimax, the education director for San Juan Mountains Association and a former teacher, says rural school districts like Mancos RE-6 often don’t have the same access to funding as other districts in the state, and that that can have a number of different consequences.

Elections are underway for three open seats on the Mancos RE-6 school board. Craig Benally is a resident of Mancos and a candidate vying for one of the open positions on the board. Benally, who is Navajo, grew up in southwest Colorado and previously served on the Mancos Board of Trustees for four years. If elected, he says he would focus on being a representative for Native American students in the district. Earlier this month, he spoke at a candidate forum in Mancos hosted by the school board. This week, the city of Cortez will host open house events to hear from the public as it works to update its land use code. City officials say they are trying to improve affordable housing options for those looking to move or build homes in Cortez.

Former President of the Navajo Nation Jonathan Nez has announced he’s running for Congress in Arizona’s 2nd District. The seat is currently held by freshman Republican Eli Crane, who joined with a group of far-right defectors to oust former-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month. The 2nd Congressional District is also home to 14 of Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribes. Nez, a Democrat, would be the first Native American representative from Arizona in Congress. Nez says it will likely be a tough race – the district has 30,000 more Republican voters registered than Democrats. He says he plans on focusing on issues that matter to everyday Arizonans, like inflation and lowering the cost of childcare. And Colorado voters will decide next month if the state should be allowed to keep more of the money it gets from tobacco and nicotine.

The 2022 midterm elections drew to a close in Colorado and the Four Corners in all but a few key races.

U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert is facing off against Democratic challenger Adam Frisch for Colorado's Third Congressional District.

Colorado lawmakers are meeting Thursday to edit the state’s voting guide. And Colorado Republicans trying to oust a state senator who left their party to join the Democrats are cheering a legal opinion that will likely boost their recall effort.

The Colorado Secretary of state’s office is done checking the signatures for all of the ballot initiatives submitted for the November election. And a strong monsoon season continues to bring drought relief to much of the Colorado River basin.