The unofficial results of the primary election have all but decided who will win in the general election come November in Torrance County.
While there is still a chance that an independent candidate or a write-in could make it on the ballot, the county is likely to vote GOP.
Of the county’s 10,411 registered voters 27.9% are registered as Democrats, 48.4% as Republicans, 1.5% as Libertarians, and 21.2% declined to state.
The political climate in Torrance County has been conservative in recent years, but not a single Democratic candidate ran in the primaries.
Acting-Torrance County Clerk Linda Jaramillo is running for the open District 3 County Commission seat. She said voter turnout this year has been “extremely low.”
“People always try to campaign in the polling sites from day one. I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” Jaramillo said. “It wasn’t that extreme this time. Nothing like I know they’ve had in the past.”
County clerk
Current Deputy County Clerk Sylvia Chavez ran unopposed for the clerk’s position.
County treasurer
Kathyrn Hernandez ran unopposed for the County Treasurer position and secured the nomination.
County Commission
Four GOP candidates ran to represent District Three — Jaramillo, Mark Martinez, the town trustee of Estancia for eight years; Nick Sedillo, who worked for the county for 26 years; and Nathan Dial, the current mayor of Estancia.
Jaramillo was a clear winner for the seat. She had 45% of the vote with all 22 precincts reporting as of publication time.
Low voter turnout
Between all the polling sites, 1,042 people voted. According to Jaramillo, 536 people voted early and as of 6:30 p.m., 276 of 300 absentee ballots were collected. As the final absentee ballots are collected from drop boxes, additional absentee votes may still be counted but Jaramillo says some of the ballots never make it back.
The secretary of state’s website reported just 1,923 ballots were cast in Torrance County out of the 7,869 eligible voters, roughly 24%.
“I just wish more people would get out and vote,” Jaramillo said. “I don’t know what it is. Voter apathy? I have no idea. But I am expecting the general election to be the total opposite of this.”
The Torrance County Commission will canvass and certify the election results at the June 12 County Commission meeting.