Montezuma County candidates Keenan Ertel, Larry Don Suckla and Will Furse were re-elected Tuesday night after running unopposed for commissioner and district attorney positions.
Ertel and Suckla will both be entering their second terms as county commissioners, serving alongside James Lambert. Suckla received 7,764 votes out of 13,028 votes cast overall. He ran as an unaffiliated candidate, just as he did when first elected in 2012.
Ertel received 7,943 votes. Although Ertel originally ran as a Republican, and still has strong ties to the party, he also became an unaffiliated candidate this year.
“I’m grateful that the people of Montezuma County gave me another chance to run as county commissioner,” Ertel said on Wednesday morning.
Will Furse, who retained his Republican affiliation, will also be entering a second four-year term. He received 8,713 votes.
Some of the biggest issues facing the commissioners as they go into the next term include chip-and-seal paving projects on about 14 miles of county roads, expansion of the Phil’s World bike trail and the ongoing effort to make broadband Internet and Denver TV available to county residents. They are also working to get jurisdiction of the historic Dolores-Norwood Road in order to pave it.
Not all of Ertel and Suckla’s actions have been popular among county residents. Their reluctance to approve recreational marijuana sales in unincorporated areas and their difficulties in working with the Bureau of Land Management, among other things, have occasionally caused controversy. But overall they have kept up a good relationship with the county, and many voters are clearly ready to welcome them back for another term.
Suckla promised to “double his efforts” on behalf of the county in his second term.
“I have more energy now than I did last time I was elected,” he said.
Likewise, Will Furse goes into his second term as the 22nd Judicial District Attorney with several positive achievements under his belt, although he also has his share of detractors. He has successfully prosecuted several major cases in Montezuma County, most recently in the case of Daniel Sopiwnik, who was convicted on three counts of felony sexual assault in October after several incidents that took place at Dunton Hot Springs in 2015.
“I’m extremely excited to serve for another term,” Furse said.
Because of the district attorney position’s term limits, though, this will be his last election.
