“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” (Quote is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but has not been found in his writings.)
Thomas Jefferson may not have said it, but that doesn’t make it wrong. On the national level, less than 10% of eligible voters decide which names end up on the ballot. It’s like letting the family member with the bizarre diet habits decide the entire Thanksgiving menu and then wondering why no one wants to eat.
Campaign signs sprouting in yards like so many spring flowers are a reminder that it’s almost time for us to participate in our system of government. For those who are new around here, most of our local elections at the county level are decided at the primary election in June. Don’t assume you have until November to vote on a local elected office.
There are many uncontested election cycles for various elected officials — one name on the ballot for that position. Other elections — town trustees, school board, hospital board, rec district board, etc. — often have multiple candidates and those elections fall at various times throughout the year.
For county offices (commissioner, sheriff, clerk and recorder, assessor, treasurer, coroner), candidates are selected by members of their chosen political party via the precinct caucus and county assembly process. Those names go on the June primary ballot, which includes various statewide and regional races (district attorneys, state house representatives and senators, and U.S. reps and senators). For example, as members of the Third Congressional District vote to fill the seat vacated by Lauren Boebert, there will be six Republicans and one Democrat to choose from on the primary ballot. Democrat Adam Frisch, uncontested, will go on to the general election along with whichever Republican wins the primary.
Locally, we have one contested election at the county level this go-round. Regas Halandras and Callie Scritchfield are running as Republican candidates for Rio Blanco County Commissioner. The one who wins the primary in June is almost guaranteed to be our next commissioner.
Because Colorado has an open primary, if you’re Unaffiliated, Democrat or Republican, you choose which primary ballot to complete when it arrives in the mail. For Rio Blanco County residents, that means if you want to have a say in local representation, you’ll need to choose the Republican ballot.
The county Republican Party is hosting candidate forums on May 22 in Rangely and May 23 in Meeker (see Community Calendar for time and location).
For our part, the HT plans to publish candidate Q&As in the coming weeks, as we have in the past, and to do that we need your help. What questions do you have for the candidates? What do you want to know about them, their plans, their vision for the county, etc.? Email your candidate questions to [email protected] and we’ll work to get as many of them answered as possible before primary ballots go out in the mail in early June.
UPDATED TO CORRECT LAST NAME OF CANDIDATE SCRITCHFIELD
