In the middle of this Summer, our election fields lie fallow. 2017 is an off-off year in Colorado politics, so the only electoral action is local. And in my County, that means I may not even get a ballot for the 2017 election—it will be up to my local School District to give me anything to vote on. I called my trusted & beloved local County Clerk to confirm, and she tells me that if I lived within Durango Town Limits, in 2017 I would vote in a City Council election (non-partisan), a Fire District election (a bond issue actually, and also non-partisan), and a School District election (non-partisan)—provided more than one person runs for an open seat, which is a 50-50 proposition anywhere in my County. When I say “non-partisan”, I mean that neither political Party is allowed to be active; neither Party may endorse or support a candidate. Certainly that doesn’t mean that individuals—whether a Party Chair, Officer, or simply a Dem or Repub voter may not be involved, only that the Party itself may not endorse or financially support a particular candidate. In a small town, certainly everyone knows what the Party affiliation of any given candidate is—but we also know that they are not receiving financial help or support from their Party. Do partisan voters vote in a non-partisan election based on their knowledge of the candidates affiliation? Of course! Maybe not 100% Party-line, but, sure they do. Also, if a well-known member of a Party runs in a non-Partisan race, you can expect mostly members of their own Party to knock doors & make contributions for them. That is understood here, and I think is also vastly approved of here.
As I do not live within the Durango City Limits, I only get to vote in County-wide elections, local School District elections, Judicial District elections, and of course, State & Federal elections. In 2017, my County considered putting some sort of marijuana issue on the ballot, but decided not to. I have no idea what the issue was, but if I had to guess, it would be either increasing the tax on marijuana, or creating or changing regulations of grow facilities. At any rate, the County decided that they did not want to go to the ballot with whatever it was, so—no County-wide election items for this Fella.
My local School District is having a Board election--however, if only one person files to run for a seat & is not challenged—no ballot is mailed (all elections are conducted by mail in Colorado) since we know who will win—the only person running. The candidates themselves have a few time-sensitive hoops to jump through, but since no political Party may be involved, the things a School Board candidate must do are somewhat hidden from voters. Well, not hidden, just that no one cares so it isn’t publicized unless they blow a filing deadline (AND someone else files a complaint about it with the State—nearly unheard of, but it does happen). These are things that matter to the County Clerk & State S.O.S., such as filing deadlines & financial disclosures. For a voter, all they know is who filed (if they bother to investigate & 99% of voters do not), and if the candidate is not opposed, that they will assume the School Board seat. In the instance of a complacent voter, when only one candidate files per seat, the only way they hear about their new School Board member is if they attend a School Board meeting or the newspaper has an article. Sadly, in my local School District, it is a true rarity that 2 people file to run for one seat. If I were considering running for higher office (and I am most assuredly not), my local School Board would most likely be a shoe-in for me (or anyone else).
My County Clerk also advised me that last week was the deadline for School Districts to file with the County Clerk that they intend to have an issue on the ballot. All 3 Districts in my County have advised her that they intend to have Ballot issues—however, the Districts have another month or so to advise the Clerk exactly what that issue is. So to say—my local School District is having a Board election. They need to let the Clerk know this is so, as it may need to be included on the printed Ballot. But at this point—no one knows who will file to run for those seats. If only one person per seat files to run, they will not be on the Ballot. A School District may also decide to float a bond, say for new school construction or library funding, that must go before the voters. The District has advised the Clerk—“we have Ballot issues” “What are they?” “We don’t know yet”. It is up to the School District to make their Bond Issue conform to election Laws and I guess the State Constitution & then decide to place it on the Ballot. The only way to know if this is happening to to attend a School Board meeting or check the State S.O.S. website. Maybe one side of the issue will advertise. Or wait to see your Ballot I suppose. I’m waiting on that one…
Ah, but 2018 will be a large State Ballot as well as a large local/County Ballot, with a Federal portion as well. We’ll be voting on one (of 3) County Commissioner seat, County Treasurer, County Sheriff, Coroner, Surveyor, and County Clerk. State District-wise, we’ll be voting for D.A. for the 6th Judicial District, the 59th House District, & 6th District State Senate. State-wide elections will include the Governor, State A.G., State S.O.S., and State Treasurer (and possibly State University Regents, something I do not follow at all). I am learning that my CO-3 election is a Federal election. In fact, the only elected positions we won’t vote on are U.S. Senator (so we have plenty of time to work on the Cory Gardner problem), and President. 2018 will be a huge election here in Colorado!
Dailykos Elections has already called the 2018 CO-3 Congressional election in favor of incumbent Scott Tipton (R), stating in essence that no one can beat him. I will heed their wisdom, and not bother to involve myself in the next Congressional race here. Why spend my time or money on a lost cause, right? Candidates for Statewide races will come through my town once or twice between now & November 2018, but besides mailers & newspaper ads, there will be no other campaigning here—or extremely little. Since a vast majority of voters in the State are concentrated in the greater Denver & Colorado Springs metroplexes & they are 300 miles from here, candidates rarely come to town, and if they do, you can guarantee it’ll be for a fund raiser—not a free event or a Town Hall. If they have no name recognition, they may come to my County to introduce themselves—but they’ll hit you hard for a contribution, bank on it.
As far as the 2018 election, the only local candidate to have filed & announced is a person running for Sheriff. I doubt he has much of a chance to unseat our current Dem Sheriff, as the incumbent just recently announced an arrest in the long-stalled, 5½ yr old murder case of local child Dylan Redwine. Our current Sheriff, elected in 2014, displaced a drunken, throw-back redneck who fumbled that case for 2 yrs. The challenger for Sheriff was a member of that old Sheriff’s Command Staff—so he’s toting some large, smelly baggage. I will work hard for my current local Dem Sheriff—he is a good Sheriff who has much improved his Dept & keeps them out of the newspaper for f ups, which in a small town only happens if there are none—something the previous guy hard a hard time doing…
So how is it in your neck of the woods? Will you be voting in any elections in your local & State juristictions in 2017? Care to add anything about your local election climate? I’m all ears.
**Also!! I am looking to form AND FUND a local, rural PAC or SuperPac. Any help you may provide would be sincerely appreciated, by me as well as any Dem candidate who’s election said PAC could influence. Thank you!