La Plata County will have a new sheriff and county treasurer in January.
In the hard-fought sheriff's race, deputy Sean Smith beat out longtime sheriff Duke Schirard by a vote of 12,303 to 9,869. Smith held the lead from the start of the Tuesday night tally.
Schirard has been sheriff since January 1995. Before that he was the Bayfield marshal.
Allison Morrissey beat out Bobby Lieb Jr. for the treasurer seat being vacated by longtime treasurer Ed Murray. Morrissey knocked on thousands of doors around the county to introduce herself. She touted her accounting background.
Lieb is finishing his first term as a La Plata County Commissioner. He opted to run for treasurer instead of seeking re-election as a commissioner.
Republican Brad Blake and Democrat Cynthia Roebuck competed for Lieb's commission seat. The unofficial final tally Tuesday night had Blake ahead by 144 votes out of more than 20,000 cast - 10,858 votes for Blake, 10,714 for Roebuck.
There were 224 outstanding votes that will be tallied if those voters correct deficiencies such as failure to sign their ballot envelope or provide a proper ID. The County Clerk's Office will contact them, and they will have until Nov. 12 to "cure" the deficiency.
There also could be some military or overseas ballots coming in. Those had to be postmarked by Nov. 4. Out of 22,993 ballots cast, there was only one ballot listed as provisional, County Clerk Tiffany Parker said.
The official vote canvas where results become official will be Nov. 18.
In the county coroner race, incumbent Jann Smith easily beat newcomer Beverly Begay 11,982 to 7,529.
County Clerk Parker, assessor Craig Larson, and surveyor Larry Connolly were re-elected without opposition, as was State Sen. Ellen Roberts.
Parker looked frazzled but pleased with the turnout as voters came into the clerk's office right up to 7 p.m. Tuesday to vote, and in some cases to register and vote. She said more than 500 people voted at the clerk's office Tuesday, and more than 400 voted at the county fairgrounds that day.
The county has 42,814 active and inactive registered voters. The voter turnout was 53.7 percent.
La Plata County bucked several state vote results.
As of Wednesday, Ignacio-area sheep rancher J. Paul Brown appeared to be reclaiming the 59th District State Representative seat from Durango attorney Mike McLachlan with a margin of just under 300 votes as of Wednesday afternoon - 16,934 for Brown versus 16,642 for McLachlan according to the Secretary of State website.
But in La Plata County, McLachlan got 11,809 votes versus 10,547 for Brown.
McLachlan took the seat from Brown in 2012, also by a very tight margin. He angered gun rights advocates in 2013 with his support for expanded background checks for gun purchases and a ban on magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
County voters also bucked statewide results by picking Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall over Republican U.S. Rep Cory Gardner, with 11,721 for Udall to 10,099 for Gardner. Gardner won handily statewide to take the Senate seat from Udall.
The very tight Colorado Governor's race had Republican challenger Bob Beauprez ahead of incumbent Democrat John Hickenlooper Tuesday night, but as of Wednesday afternoon, the Secretary of State website showed Hickenlooper ahead 914,913 to 887,091. In La Plata County, Hickenlooper got 11,894 votes versus 9,585 for Beauprez.
County voters also picked Democrat Joe Neguse with 10,141 votes over Republican Wayne W. Williams with 9,532 votes for the open Secretary of State position, but Williams won the state vote.
County and statewide voters rejected state constitutional amendments 67 (personhood for the unborn) and 68 (casino at racetrack in Aurora) by substantial margins.
Proposition 104 requiring school district labor negotiations to be held in open sessions won easily in the county and statewide. The county vote was 14,867 yes to 6,687 no.
The county went contrary to the state vote on Proposition 105 requiring labeling of some foods that contain GMO ingredients. It lost big statewide, but county voters favored it 12,268 yes to 9,998 no.
Incumbent Third District Congressman Scott Tipton from Cortez easily beat out challenger Abel Tapia from Pueblo both in La Plata County and district-wide. The county vote was 11,630 for Tipton and 9,433 for Tapia.
Other county results included:
State Treasurer - Republican incumbent Walker Stapleton 10,083, Democrat Betsy Markey 9,957. Stapleton won statewide.
State Attorney General open seat - Republican Cynthia Coffman 10,148, Democrat Don Quick 9,803. Coffman won statewide.
State Board of Education - incumbent Republican Marcia Neal 10,476, Democrat Henry Roman 9,971. Neal won district-wide.
Retention vote for District Court Judge Suzanne Carlson, 12,514 yes, 4,597 no.
Retention for County Court Judge Martha Minot, 14,429 yes, 4,153 no.
