(The Center Square) – Three votes.
Out of 12,977 votes cast in the Republican primary in Colorado’s House District 58 race, a recount found each candidate gained one vote, but the three-vote margin of victory remained for Larry Don Suckla.
“We won by a landslide three votes,” Suckla posted on X on Monday, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “There has not been a state representative from Montezuma County for 35 years. Now we have to beat the competitor for the general election.”
Suckla received 6,490 votes and J. Mark Roeber received 6,487. Suckla, a rancher, farmer and auctioneer, will face Kathleen Curry, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination for the seat and received 6,550 votes in the primary.
Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold ordered a recount, required under state law, on July 15. A recount is mandated by state law when the vote differential in the race is within 0.5% of the winner’s total. That amount in this Republican primary race in District 58 was 33 votes. The law required the recount to be completed by July 26.
“The mandatory recount for House District 58 is complete and has confirmed the results of the race with just a three-vote margin,” Griswold said in a statement. “I commend the election workers in the eight counties in House District 58 for conducting this recount.”
Roeber was endorsed by Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, who represents the 54th District in Delta and Mesa Counties. Roeber is a fourth-generation cattle rancher from Paonia and serves on the National Public Lands Council, the Colorado River District and the Southwest Resources Advisory Council for the federal Bureau of Land Management, according to his campaign website.
Several media outlets reported approximately 400 voters – 25% of active voters – in Dolores County didn’t receive a ballot in the mail for the primary. The 58th district includes six counties – Dolores, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel – and parts of Delta and Montezuma County. Roeber resides in Delta County.