“Please vote by selecting the green checkmark. All those opposed vote by selecting the red ‘x’,” said Russell Taylor, chair of the Montezuma County Democrats.
During the virtual caucus and county assembly meeting Saturday morning, the party approved delegates for state and district assemblies and nominated its only Democratic county commissioner candidate for the primary ballot.
Democrats attending the Zoom meeting, a smaller gathering compared with the Republicans’ traditional in‑person meetings Thursday night, needed just 20 minutes to approve county assembly delegates, and the following assembly lasted a little more than an hour.
The Republican assembly is March 21.
Attendees raised hands to make and second motions and voted via emoji and forms linked in the chat. Twenty‑one delegates, out of the 23 present, approved Rebecca Busic as a candidate for county commissioner, a position Montezuma County voters have kept red for years.
Busic, who will run uncontested on the Democratic primary ballot in June, discussed high living costs and child care as her priorities in a short speech to attendees.
“We can try to do things as we’ve always done them, and get left behind,” Busic said. “Or we can face them head on, and think in new and innovative ways about what we as a county can do to support our people.”
The meeting came in fits and starts as technical difficulties and a cold that restricted Taylor’s hearing stalled official business.
“Please realize that democracy takes time and as I mentioned at the beginning of the caucus we’re using new technology here,” Taylor said. “We’re pretty much learning by fire.”
After Busic’s nomination, attendees approved five delegates for the March 28 Colorado State Assembly in Pueblo. At the assembly, delegates will approve U.S. Senate candidates to appear on the primary ballot. Two Montezuma County delegates will pitch their support for Julie Gonzales and three will back John Hickenlooper.
For the March 27 Congressional District 3 assembly, which will approve U.S. House representative candidates, four delegates will support Alex Kelloff and one will go uncommitted.
One delegate will attend the April 10 House District 58 assembly, which will accept candidate nominations from the floor because there are no declared Democratic candidates. For House District 59’s assembly on the same day, four delegates will attend supporting Katie Stewart.
The Montezuma County Democrats face an uphill battle in local races but Taylor appealed to the small number of registered Democrats in attendance with a message of optimism.
“County parties are the ones who do the work that turns out the vote that helps Democrats win, and that work begins now,” Taylor said. “We need your help making phone calls, knocking on doors, writing postcards, staffing the headquarters, etc.”
avanderveen@the‑journal.com
