Larry Don Suckla will be the Republican candidate for House District 58 after officially winning his primary by three votes.
The race was so close that an automatic recount was required by law, but the recount did not change the margin of victory. It did result in one additional vote for each candidate, so Suckla held onto his narrow lead.
On Tuesday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced that the recount for the District 58 election had been completed, and the recount confirmed Suckla as the winner.
“The mandatory recount for House District 58 is complete and has confirmed the results of the race with just a three-vote margin,” Griswold said. “I commend the election workers in the eight counties in House District 58 for conducting this recount.”
The final vote tallies as determined by the recounts showed Suckla the winner with 6,489 votes and J. Mark Roeber with 6,486.
On Tuesday afternoon, Suckla told The Journal, “I’m glad those last three people voted.”
Suckla is a rancher, farmer and auctioneer as well as a retired firefighter and EMT. He is a former Montezuma County commissioner.
Suckla’s top issues include water and education, he told The Montrose Press.
The race also drew attention because of an error that resulted in some voters not receiving ballots.
Nearly 400 ballots didn’t reach voters in Dolores County, which is one of eight counties in the district. State officials say those ballots were likely lost by the U.S. Postal Service while in transit from the printer’s office.
Voters who did not receive ballots could still request a replacement ballot or vote in person. More than 100 voters did so in Dolores County.
Dolores County voters strongly favored Suckla. He won about 80% of the county’s votes – indicating that most of the missing votes likely would have gone his way anyway, he said.
There is no indication that the missing ballots were stolen or that anyone attempted to vote with them. It appears that a pallet containing the ballots went missing somewhere between the printer’s facility in Seattle and a mail facility.
The U.S. Postal Service said last week that it was investigating the undelivered ballots.
“Postal Management is aware of outgoing ballots arriving late to residents in Dolores County. Postal Management takes these issues very seriously and is reviewing the situation with the Colorado Secretary of State to resolve going forward. We regret any concern caused,” wrote spokesman James Boxrud in an email. “The U.S. Postal Service is fully committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail.”
Suckla will face Democratic candidate Kathleen Curry in the general election. Curry previously served in the House from 2005 to 2010. Republicans have won recent elections in the district by strong margins.
When the results became official, Suckla took to Facebook to celebrate the primary win.
“We won by a landside three votes,” Suckla said. “We are the official Rep. candidate on the ballot for November. Now we need to beat the Democrat competitor.”
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