Kamala Harris (D) has been in the second most powerful executive seat in Washington for four years, where inflation, immigration, cultural issues, Ukraine, Russia and China have been weekly, if not daily, challenges. She knows the tasks and the needed steps forward. And since Joe Biden said “no” to a second term, she has led an energetic and engaged campaign traversing the country to connect with voters. She will be a strong and determined leader as president.
Donald Trump (R) has descended in recent weeks, expanding his slurs and threats to more individuals and nationalities and promised retribution to the many he views as his enemies from within. His positions are based on what he judges to be most personally beneficial at the moment, reducing taxes, doubling down on tariffs and sweeping cities of immigrants. He has depicted a nation in chaos, with a future only he can correct. Nonsense, and extremely dangerous.
Vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. The alternatives will be extraordinarily destructive. Not just for our country, but the world.
Election information
2024 GENERAL ELECTION (From the Montezuma Clerk & Recorder’s Election Office Website: https://montezumacounty.org/elections-office/)
The Nov. 5, 2024, Montezuma County General Election is an all-mail ballot delivery. Ballots were mailed to all active eligible registered electors starting October 11. If you did not receive your ballot, see Polling Locations below. To be counted, mail ballots must be returned no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. Postmarks do not count.
Important Dates & Voting Location Information
Until 7 p.m. on Election Day, eligible individuals may also visit a Voter Service and Polling Center and register to vote for the first time, update their existing voter registration records, request the issuance of original or replacement mail ballot, or vote in-person on accessible voting devices, at the following locations:
Montezuma County Annex 1
107 N. Chestnut, Cortez
Monday-Friday, through Nov. 4, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 5 (Election Day) 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Ute Mountain Ute Community Center
485 Sunset Blvd., Towaoc
Monday, Nov. 4, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 5 (Election Day) 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Mancos Public Library
211 W. 1st St., Mancos
Tuesday, Nov. 5 (Election Day) 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Dolores Public Library
1002 Railroad Ave., Dolores
Tuesday, Nov. 5 (Election Day) 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
24/7 Dropbox Locations
Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder’s Office: 140 W. Main St. Ste 1 Cortez
Dolores Town Hall: 601 Central Ave., Dolores
Mancos Town Hall: 117 N. Main St., Mancos
Cortez City Hall: 123 Roger Smith Ave., Cortez
Lewis Post Office: 18794 Hwy 491, Lewis
Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Headquarters: 125 Mike Wash Road, Towaoc
Election Resources
The Journal’s editorial board did not weigh in on all issues or candidates. This year it is an incredibly long, double-sided ballot.
Please visit:
https://www.the-journal.com/tags/election/for news stories on candidates and ballot issues
https://www.the-journal.com/opinion/ for editorial board endorsements, guest columns and letters to the editor.
The Journal’s election guide: https://tinyurl.com/BCI-Election-Guide
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Blue Book: https://tinyurl.com/CO-Blue-Book
The Colorado League of Women Voters Quick Reference Guide: https://tinyurl.com/CO-LWV-Voter-Guide
Jeff Hurd (R) is a native Coloradan who as a lawyer has represented rural electric co-ops, water, fire and school districts. That has given him insights into the challenges of critical community service organizations in and near Grand Junction and what they need to be successful, and how a member of Congress can help. Hurd has said he’ll work for compromises and won’t be on the extremes. He wants a southern border that’s under control.
Adam Frisch (D) has put a lot of effort into getting to know the district after coming very close to winning the seat two years ago. He’s thoughtful and articulate. Frisch is also concerned about the border, expressing a need for a “tall wall and a big gate.”
Frisch would represent his constituents well, but the Herald’s editorial board favors Jeff Hurd because of his legal, and local, work on the Western Slope.
No endorsement
No endorsement
No endorsement
Cleave Simpson (R), a fourth generation farmer in the San Luis Valley, has been representing the southwest corner of the state for two years. Simpson has been a water conservancy executive and led successful efforts to implement improved water management. Through his committee assignments, he’s been introduced to social services’ needs, and worked to improve rural health care delivery. He points to numerous legislative successes working across the aisle with the majority party.
Vivian Smotherman (D) of Durango has worked overseas including a career in the energy field, wireless communications and nonprofit advocacy. She says that the diversity of people that come with working overseas has given her the ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds.
It’s Cleave Simpson, however, the Herald’s editorial board believes deserves another four-year term. He’s shown his breadth of skills and leadership as a member of the minority party and will continue to be good for the residents of Southwest Colorado, and beyond.
Clark Craig (R) has been a member of most of the community boards in Ignacio, including serving as the tri-ethnic town’s mayor, and is looking for more mountains to climb. He knows planning because of his time on the county planning board, and has worked for additional affordable housing.
Katie Stewart (D) is a School District 9-R board member, enthusiastic about the importance of good education, expanded health care access, particularly reproductive care, small business and workforce training. She points to the length of time her family has been involved in Durango.
Craig Clark has shown in the breadth of his community involvement that he is better suited to represent the 59th to succeed term-limited Barbara McLachlan.
Larry Don Suckla has extensive experience working the land and raising cattle, and is of course very familiar with Montezuma County’s needs. He was elected to two terms as county commissioner, and earned commissioner of the year recognition from Colorado Counties, Inc.
For strong advocacy for agriculture and for property rights, Suckla is the person.
Kathleen Curry hopes to return to the Legislature after three terms a decade ago. She and her husband raise cattle and hay, and she was the director of a water district. She has consulted on water uses. Suckla will be the choice in Montezuma County, but that Curry knows legislative workings and has had a breadth of experiences makes it more likely she will be successful in advocating for multiple interests. That’s why the Journal’s editorial board gives a nod to Kathleen Curry for the 58th.
No endorsement
J. Kent Lindsay is unopposed. Being a county commissioner may be one of the most difficult positions in elected office. Give him a vote of approval.
Gerald W. Koppenhafer is also unopposed. See above.
No endorsement
No endorsement
No endorsement.
No endorsement
Yes, to give military veterans who do not have a 100% service-connected disability but do have individual unemployability status the same property tax relief that fully disabled veterans receive.
Yes, to establish an independent adjudicative board made up of citizens, lawyers and judges to oversee the judicial disciplinary process and allow more information to be made public earlier.
Yes, judges should be able to deny bail to a person charged with first degree murder when a judge determines the proof is evident and presumption is great. This corrects an unintended consequence of a 2020 decision by the state legislature abolishing the death penalty, without which all defendants, including those charged with first degree murder, are eligible for bail, even those deemed dangerous to society and at risk of committing additional violent crimes.
Yes, the ban on same-sex marriage should be removed from the state constitution. It’s moot. Federal law allows it, and in 2014, U.S. District and 10th Circuit courts in Colorado allowed same sex marriage, while the prohibition remained in the constitution.
Yes to giving county clerks an additional week to process materials related to special elections, and to judges an extra week to file a declaration of intent to seek another term.
Yes, the right to abortion should be added to the state’s constitution, making abortion a constitutional right, disallowing state and local governments from impeding that right, and repealing the current constitutional ban on public (Medicaid) funding for abortion services. The current statute discriminates against economically disadvantaged women and women who have health insurance through their employment. A woman has a right to make her own reproductive health care decisions privately free of government interference and mandates, and an employer should not be able to prohibit health insurance coverage for abortion.
No, there is no need to add the right to school choice to the state constitution. School choice is well established in Colorado – Colorado was a leader in establishing charter schools – and it does not need that protection.
Yes, the state ought to be able to retain gambling tax proceeds exceeding a voter-approved amount and spend it on water conservation and protection projects rather than return it to the casinos. These funds are not included in what might be returned to taxpayers under TABOR, as critics wrongly claim.
Yes, it’s appropriate to add a 6.5% tax on weapons and ammunition to be used to fund mental health services for veterans and at-risk youth, school safety programs and support for the victims of domestic violence.
No to banning the hunting of lions, lynx and bobcats. Let the professionals do their job, continuing to regulate and make management decisions. Hunting lynx is already illegal under state and federal law.
No. Continue to let judges make the decision as to how long a sentence an individual convicted of a very serious crime must serve. Increasing discretionary parole eligibility from seventy-five to eighty-five percent of a served sentence is arbitrary and there is no known evidence of longer prison terms reducing violent crimes.
No. This new level of veterinary care lowers the standard of care for pets and does not offer any true benefits.
No. While appealing to those who believe additional support for local law enforcement is needed, a one-time funding of $350 million for the training, salaries and a death benefit would not provide continuous long-term improvements, and it would put a large hole in a state budget that’s already going to be in the red.
Yes. A strong yes. One primary ballot and ranked choice balloting for general elections would exclude candidates on each party’s extremes, giving the middle 60% of voters an opportunity to shape the direction of the state. Colorado has been a leader in smart election reform – asking voters before raising taxes, mail-in ballots, a higher threshold to amend the constitution – and this would add to that better-government march. Political parties will still be able to put forward their candidates, they’ll just have to promote a possible winner in November, not only at the primary.
A “yes” vote will create a 1 percent sales tax beginning Jan. 1 that will support the Montezuma County Sheriff’s office, the Montezuma County jail and the Drug Task Force with an estimated first year revenue of $8.2 million. Only farm equipment will be exempted from the tax. If passed, the existing funding for the sheriff’s office of $6.0 million in 2023 will be added to the county’s general fund. And, the commissioners have promised, if county general fund spending is less than its tax receipts, the difference will be a credit against a homeowner’s property tax bill.
Vote “yes.” This is an imaginative effort to increase badly needed sheriff’s department support and to increase the general fund, and a portion of a sales tax is paid by visitors.
Montezuma-Cortez School District has shown improved student scores in the past year, an assessment up from 39 to 52 percent in two years. A mill levy override of 3.9 would add to teacher and paraprofessional salaries, allowing stronger retention and hiring opportunities.
Vote “yes.” Quality schools are critical for a community.
The fire protection district is struggling with expensive equipment maintenance costs and the need for new equipment, and with fewer firefighters than is needed. A sales tax of .54 percent which would raise $3.3 million in its first year would go a long way in bringing the district up to the proper level of support needed to respond to emergencies.
This is not a mill levy which would impact property owners, but a sales tax a portion of which is paid by visitors. Exemptions would be for food and energy for domestic use, prescriptions, machinery, farm equipment and school supplies.
The need is there, and the district has sharply crafted its request. It deserves a “yes.”
A “yes” vote will extend the current mill levy that was approved by voters in 2008 that is being used to support the district in numerous ways, including salaries, supplies and technology. The extension will generate $360,000, a reduction of $30,000 from what was initially raised. The amount is about 4 percent of the district’s budget, small but important.
The almost 700 preschool through high school students and the teachers in the district need the academic support. Vote “yes” to affirm continuing the mill levy.
