Newly elected officials in La Plata County were sworn in Tuesday.
The November election brought in some new faces, as well as some old. A total of seven people were sworn in Tuesday at the La Plata County Courthouse by Judge William Herringer.
La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith, a Democrat, enters his second four-year term. Receiving 16,109 votes, he defeated Republican challenger Charles Hamby (10,449 votes) and unaffiliated candidate Dean Mize (1,573 votes).Clyde Church, a Democrat, will start his first term as a La Plata County commissioner. Church, a Falls Creek resident, beat incumbent Republican Brad Blake by a total of 23 votes. It will be the first time one party has held the entire three-member Board of County Commissioners since the 1940s.Incumbent Treasurer Allison Aichele, a Democrat, will also enter her second four-year term after beating Republican challenger Colton Black by a vote of 13,872 to 13,629, a difference of 243 votes. Aichele was first elected in 2014 after the retirement of longtime treasurer Ed Murray.Incumbent La Plata County Clerk & Recorder Tiffany Parker, a Republican who ran unopposed, will enter her third four-year term. Parker was first elected in 2010, beating Democratic candidate Karen Phelan. She has since run unopposed.Carrie Woodson will become La Plata County’s new assessor, after Craig Larson, who held the position for 32 years, retired. Woodson, a Democrat, ran unopposed and has worked at the office for more than two decades.La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith was also sworn in Tuesday. Smith was first appointed as coroner in 2012 after her predecessor, Carol Huser, left her term early. Smith, a Republican, was first elected in 2014, beating unaffiliated candidate Beverly Begay. Smith ran unopposed in November.Incumbent La Plata County Surveyor Steven McCormack was elected unopposed in November. McCormack was not in attendance Tuesday and but was previously sworn in by Parker. McCormack, a Republican, was appointed in 2015 and first elected in 2016.
