Election season is upon us, and Montezuma County Democrats had a full agenda at this year’s caucuses.
Although in Colorado, presidential candidates are now selected through a statewide primary, caucuses are still held by the two major political parties, deciding issues like the upcoming U.S. Senate race. It’s a chance for Democrats and Republicans to elect delegates to the county assembly and set their party platforms.
On Saturday, community members from both parties dispersed throughout Montezuma County to caucus, heading to different locations based on voters’ precincts or voting districts.
Four locations were set up for Montezuma Democrats: M.B. McAfee’s home in Lewis for Precinct 1, the Dolores High School gym for precincts 2 and 3, the Montezuma County Annex for precincts 4 to 10, and the Mancos Community Center for Precinct 11. Participants had to be registered to vote in Montezuma County no later than Feb. 14.
At the caucuses, each precinct’s participants gather at their respective locations and elect a caucus chairperson and secretary along with two precinct organizers. They then conduct a straw poll and a preference poll for the U.S. Senate candidates – candidates must receive a certain threshold percentage in order to move on to the county assembly.
After the preference polls, participants elect and certify delegates to the assembly, which, for Montezuma County Democrats, will be on March 21 at the Montezuma County Annex.
“The delegates are chosen by the members in their precinct,” said Mary Dodd, a caucus organizer. “And for the most part, I would say it’s probably people who are pretty persuasive that they would be a good representative from that precinct for a particular Senate candidate.”
The number of delegates parties can send is based on the number of voters in a recent election. This year, Montezuma County Democrats can send 62 delegates from the 11 precincts to the county assembly, with 12 then going on to the state level, Dodd said.
The five candidates who hope to replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in November are John Hickenlooper, Andrew Romanoff, Stephanie Rose Spaulding, Erik Underwood and Trish Zornio.
Along with deciding on delegates, the party leaders write resolutions for the county party platform, Dodd said.
“We’ll be writing resolutions that will then be ratified – or not – at our county assembly,” she said. “Resolutions that kind of become part of our platform.” Those resolutions are then sent to the Colorado Democratic Party to be considered for their platform.
Montezuma Democrats won’t release their local caucus results before the state does, Dodd said.
The Montezuma County Annex was an energetic hub on Saturday, as the place where the majority of the Democrats’ precincts would happen. About 50 people showed up to the annex at 2 p.m., listening to Dodd read aloud the rules, procedures and candidate statements, before turning into their respective precinct clusters for election business.
Silverton House-Whitehorse, a Ute Mountain Ute tribal member, was the lone caucusgoer for Precinct 6, which includes Towaoc. House-Whitehorse said that both Democrats and Republicans needed to do more outreach with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe.
“Especially the youth,” House-Whitehorse said. “I believe the youth are going to be leading the tribe. If we could get them to register, or even think about becoming an unaffiliated voter – because their voices do matter, especially living on the reservation.”
It was House-Whitehorse’s second time caucusing.
“Every individual that is an American has the right to voice their opinion, especially when it comes to voting,” House-Whitehorse said. “And I believe it’s our civil right and our civic duty to participate in elections and make our voices heard.”
ealvero@the-journal.com