There’s one week to go in Colorado’s statewide primary. In the Roaring Fork Valley area, voters are largely choosing between congressional candidates and county commissioners.
Garfield County has seen the most ballots returned, with about 1,900 reported by the Secretary of State’s office on Monday. Most were from Republican voters, who are choosing between longtime county commissioner John Martin and challenger Aron Diaz.
Diaz campaigned in Glenwood Springs this past weekend, during the annual Strawberry Days Festival. He’s running on a platform of diversifying Garfield County’s economy, which now largely depends on oil and gas development. According to the last campaign finance report, submitted in early June, Diaz has raised about $1,900.
Twenty-year incumbent John Martin plans on meeting with neighborhood groups during this final week of the primary election. He also believes that doing his best at work is a good idea.
“First I better fulfill all my obligations to the citizens, and uphold the constitution,” he explained by phone Monday. “Next, do my job on a daily basis, which is somewhere between 10 and twelve hours a day.”
Martin has raised $8,960, with $7,000 of his own money.
In Pitkin County, 1,072 people have cast ballots in the primary. Three candidates are vying for a seat on the board of commissioners. As reported by Aspen Public Radio, Greg Poschman had raised nearly $8,000 as of early June, with Hawk Greenway coming in second at just over $1,500. Scott Writer had reported not spending any money.
Twenty-seven-year-old Carbondale resident Alex Beinstein is challenging Congressional incumbent Scott Tipton on the Republican side of the primary. During this final week, Beinstein
is trying to meet as many people as possible to share his platform, which is mostly about ISIS and other foreign policy.
“Over the weekend I’m going to be in Gunnison and Delta, doing what they call Lincoln Day dinners,” said Beinstein on Monday.
He’s raised about $14,000 dollars overall. Congressman Tipton has been in office since early 2011, and, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, he’s raised at least nearly a half of a million dollars since January.
Tipton appears to be largely ignoring Beinstein during the primary campaign. Democrat and former Snowmass resident Gail Schwartz is gunning for the seat in the fall election. Republicans in Pitkin and Garfield counties are also choosing between multiple candidates for the U.S. Senate Race — against incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet.
