Durango School District 9-R board member Katie Stewart has been declared the winner of Colorado’s House District 59 election against Ignacio Mayor Clark Craig, according to a report Friday morning from The Associated Press.
“I’m very excited. A lot of hard work over many years building up to this,” Stewart said, adding she felt confident about her chances by Wednesday night.
As of 12:30 p.m. Friday, Stewart tallied 19,082 votes (56.1%) in La Plata County, 4,592 votes (43.1%) in Montezuma County and 3,645 votes (41.3%) in Archuleta County, according to data on the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office website. As of Friday morning, Stewart led Craig by a margin of 51.2% to 48.8% for the district.
Craig tallied 14,936 votes (43.9%) in La Plata County, 6,075 votes (57%) in Montezuma County and 5,175 votes (58.7%) in Archuleta County.
Craig did not respond to requests for comment Friday. As of midday Friday, Stewart said she had not received a phone call, text or email from Craig.
Stewart said she believes access to health care in rural Colorado, including reproductive health care, resonated with voters in the district. Voters expressed worries over the uncertainty surrounding abortion rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade, but also expressed optimism with state Amendment 79, which enshrines abortion rights into the state constitution, according to Stewart. Amendment 79 was voted into state law by a margin of 23.6 percentage points during this latest election cycle.
Although state abortion rights were codified, Stewart said access to such care is still lacking in Southwest Colorado, citing Mercy Hospital discontinuing tubal ligation procedures, in which a woman has her tubes tied, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
She said it goes beyond abortion. Medical services like testing for sexually transmitted infections and birth control access were also impacted, she said.
“Access to health care in rural Colorado is still a very big issue,” she said.
Stewart’s campaign focused on areas like affordable housing and protecting reproductive rights. In 2021, she was appointed to the Durango School District 9-R Board of Education District D after another board member, Andrea Parmenter, had to vacate her position because she had moved out of the district zoning. In 2023, Stewart was elected to the position again after running unopposed.
Craig has served as mayor of Ignacio since 2022, after joining the town’s Planning Commission in 2017. His campaign focused on improving cost of living, HD-59’s fiscal challenges and reducing regulations for land developers.
The House District 59 seat is currently held by Barbara McLachlan, who is term-limited.
mhollinshead@durangoherld.com
