Larry Don Suckla got off to a big early lead in Montezuma County for the Republican primary election for State House Representative for District 58 in the early round of results.
The lead didn’t last for long, though. As of 9 p.m., Suckla was behind in the districtwide vote, with less than 49% of the votes. J. Mark Roeber was ahead with 51.44% of votes for the Republican Party, securing 5,643 votes. Democrat Kathleen Curry had 5,506 votes.
In Montezuma County, the Republican race for the Colorado 3rd Congressional District appeared to be between Ron Hanks and Jeff Hurd.
But The Associated Press called the race for Hurd at 8:15. He had secured 42% of the 75,000 ballots counted across the district. Former state Rep. Ron Hanks, the most far right of the six candidates, was in second with 28% of the votes.
Hurd, the winner in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, will face Democrat Adam Frisch for the U.S. House seat in November.
Hurd said his focus will be on the United States’ southern border, economic improvement, and water and agricultural protections in response to questions drawn from a Voters Voices 2024 survey.
Hanks did not respond to the questions posed to the six candidates last week.
According to Frisch’s website, his priorities include border security and immigration, water, energy, and reproductive rights, among others.
Jeff Hurd received a total of $1.067 million in individual contributions as of June 5. His total disbursements were reported at $847,969, according to the Federal Election Commission’s website.
The FEC reported Hanks’ receipts as $22,910 in individual contributions. His total disbursements were $7,438.
The FEC reported Hurd’s receipts as $1.067,662 in individual contributions. His total disbursements were reported at $847,969.
Frisch received a total of $13,174,631 in individual contributions, according to the FEC His disbursements total at $9,769,839.
As of 8:15 p.m., Suckla has won 78% of the vote with 914 votes counted against opponent J. Mark Roeber, who had 258 votes.
As of 9:00 p.m., Suckla is behind both his Republican and Democrat opponents with only 5,328 votes cast for him in District 58.
Suckla, from Montezuma County, is running for State House in District 58. According to his Facebook page, his name made it on the ballot with a 59.5% vote from the Colorado State Assembly in Pueblo in April.
Suckla served two terms as Montezuma County Commissioner from 2012 to 2020. He told a Journal reporter that his experience serving will aid him in running and if he is elected.
One reason for his run, Suckla said, is his daughter Delta, who recently graduated high school.
“I don’t like the trajectory of the way that Colorado politics are going, and I want to try to change that,” Suckla said.
“What I’m seeing is the chipping away at freedoms,” Suckla said. “I believe that when I was my daughter’s age, 30 years ago, I had a lot more freedoms than she has right now.”
Suckla is also a retired volunteer firefighter and EMT from Lewis Arriola, and an auctioneer. He also has experience in logging, building and landscaping.
Other issues that remain at the forefront of Suckla’s campaign are Colorado water rights, private property rights, agriculture and the Second Amendment.
“My Number 1 priority is to defend our rural values, regardless of party affiliation,” Suckla said.
Suckla also wants to focus on easing business regulations and creating a community where young people want to continue living.
“I want our kids to stay here,” Suckla said. “I understand they go to college, but then I want them to come back and live in Cortez, and I want them to raise their families here.”
As of 8:15 p.m., Democrat Christian Hatfield has secured 1,280 votes in Montezuma County. His opponent, Republican Jeremy Reed, has 2,403 votes in the county.
Districtwide, Reed led with 2,707 votes as of 9:40 p.m. Hatfield was behind with 1,324 votes.
Gov. Jared Polis appointed Christian Hatfield as the District Attorney for 22nd Judicial District in Dolores and Montezuma counties in April 2023.
According to a news release at the time, Hatfield owns Hatfield & Eley Law Firm in Durango, a position he has held since 2018. He also serves part-time as the municipal prosecutor for the city of Durango, and has 28 years of experience as a litigation attorney and a government attorney.
During his short time in office, he has cleared several of the district’s homicide cases. He also was proud of staff hiring and retention, he told a Journal reporter in April.
“So for about six months, there were only two real attorneys in the office and they didn’t have the capacity to try serious felony cases, so the Attorney General’s Office was running the office,” Hatfield told The Journal.
He is running against former Deputy DA Jeremy Reed, who was let go from the District Attorney’s office after informing his opponent of his intention to run.
Reed moved to Cortez in 2016 from Aurora, where he ran a law firm focusing on family law and criminal defense. In the time since, he has fallen “in love” with the area, and wants to continue serving the community.
“I spent those seven years building relationships with all of the people involved in criminal justice process, law enforcement, other attorneys and the defense bar. I think I got positioned to do well in the position and marshal those relationships, making sure we’re doing the absolute best we can to protect our community and make it safer every day,” he said.
Sherri Wright has 2,436 votes cast for her in the race for Colorado’s State Board of Education for District 3 as of 8:15 p.m. in Montezuma County. Her opponent, Democrat Ellen Angeles, has secured 1,312 votes. Wright is the incumbent to the position.
The race for the Democrat at large Regent of the University of Colorado is close, with Elliot Hood securing 57.18% of the votes in Montezuma County. Charles “CJ” Johnson has 42.82% as of 8:15 p.m. Republican Eric Rinard has 2,260 votes.
As for the regent of Colorado District 3, Democrat Robert B. Logan has 1,255 votes. His opponent, Republican Ray Scott, has 1,897 votes.
Republican candidate Cleave Simpson is ahead of Democrat Vivian Smotherman with 2,363 votes to Smotherman’s 1,287 as of 8:15 p.m.
As of 8:15 p.m., Kent Lindsay has 2,612 votes in the Montezuma County Commissioners race. He is running in District 2 unopposed.
Gerald Koppenhafer is running in District 3, and has received 2,719 votes. He is also running unopposed.
Lindsay served two terms as commissioner from 1997-2005. He was elected in 2020 for District 2. This will be his last term until he reaches term limit.
Koppenhafer succeeded late Commissioner Joel Stevenson in 2022 after Stevenson passed from a COVID-19-related illness. He previously served two terms as commissioner. He was reelected in the general elections in November 2022.
According to Colorado’s TRACER, Koppenhafer did not file financial information for this race. Lindsay’s filing from June 21 reported no expenditures.
As of 8:15 p.m., Montezuma County is at 25.29% of voter turnout, according to Colorado Secretary of State website. Dolores County is at 37.44% of voter turnout.
