With unofficial results showing challenger Will Furse ahead of incumbent District Attorney Russell Wasley by just 9 votes, the unsigned ballots sitting in the county clerk’s office could play a role in deciding the outcome.
Montezuma County Clerk Carol Tullis said Tuesday night there were 30 to 40 of the ballots in this mail-in election that came in unsigned. Those voters are contacted by the clerk’s office and have until July 5 to come in and sign the envelopes holding their ballots in order to have them counted. They would have the potential to change the outcome if those voters favored Wasley heavily.
Tullis said 4,632 ballots were counted Tuesday, a turnout of 44.5 percent. She said there was not an unusual number of people changing party affiliations to vote in the Republican primary, which had by far the most races, but there were many unaffiliated voters who declared a Republican affiliation in order to vote.
Unofficial results in the DA’s race, which includes both Montezuma and Dolores counties, had Furse at 1,917 votes and Wasley at 1,908.
In one of the other two races, Keenan Ertel trounced his two opponents to win the county commission seat in District 2. He nabbed 61 percent of the vote, while the other two candidates managed 39 percent between them. Creston “Bud” Garner of the 9-12 Project had 25 percent and Pat DeGagne-Rule, former chair of the local Republican Party, had 14 percent.
In District 3, former commissioner Dewayne Findley defeated 9-12 Project favorite Casey McClellan 59 to 41 percent.
