Brief by Central Staff
Politics – November 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
This is a presidential election year, but it’s sort of an off-year election for state and local governments. The state governor, attorney-general, and treasurer, as well as county clerks, treasurers, and assessors, are elected in the other even years, like 2002 and 2006.
As for commissioners, most counties have three. One gets elected in the “other even years,” and two come up in presidential election years, like this one.
We’re in Chaffee County, so we’ll start there. In District One, the north end of the county, Democratic incumbent Jim Thompson has to leave on account of term limits. Vying to replace him are Democrat Jim Osborne and Republican Nelson Fleming.
Osborne, a former instructor at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility. has run a quiet campaign. But perhaps he doesn’t need to do much, since it came out in late September that Fleming, an accountant, has some jail time from 1983 (he said it was because he refused to report his then-wife’s embezzlement of $360,000) as well as a drunken-driving conviction in 2003.
Until the rumors started, Fleming was much less than forthright or honest about his past. That makes us even more sure that Osborne is the man for the job.
The District Two race could be seen as pitting the “old economy” (rancher Frank McMurry, who served as commissioner from 1993 to 2001) versus “new economy (Democrat Jerry Mallett, a former river outfitter who’s active with adventure tourism). McMurry’s signs say “Now more than ever,” but we think “once was enough.”
The traditional two-party system seems to be disintegrating in Lake County which usually votes Democratic. District Two has four candidates, and only one, Democrat Todd Norris, is from a party. Mike Hickman and former Leadville Mayor Chet Gaede are running as independent, and Mike Shermann is running as a write-in.
The District Three race, between Republican Dale Wibbenmeyer and Democrat Carl Schaefer, is more traditional.
The hardest contests might be in Gunnison County, where the Times is overwhelmed by letters, but can afford to add pages since there’s plenty of advertising, too. Republican Perry Anderson is seeking another term in District One; he’s being challenged by Democrat Paula Swenson. In District Two, Democrat Hap Channell is running against Republican incumbent Fred Field. If there are any write-ins, independents, or minor-party candidates, they didn’t make the paper.
In Custer and Park counties, the Republican nomination is pretty much the election, so the primary tends to be more important than the general election. No Democrat is running in Park County District One, but there is an unaffiliated candidate, Phillip Morse. Republican Kit Shy beat his opponent, Randy Rusk, in the primary, but there’s a write-in candidate Marguerite Kaminski, for the commission seat.
Saguache County is more competitive, but its politics are often beyond our understanding from Salida. It does have a Libertarian, Jack Wetherell, running for District One Commissioner. And we note that Jack Woehr of Golden, a subscriber and occasional correspondent, is the Libertarian candidate for Congress from Colorado’s Sixth District.
