2024 Ballot

Democrats on the 2024 Ballot

President: Kamala Harris!! Vice President: Tim Walz!

State and Local Candidates

CO CU Regent at Large
(no other 2024 statewide race)
- Elliott Hood
CO Congressional District 3
- Adam Frisch
CO CU Regent CD 3
- Robert Logan
CO State School Board CD 3
- Ellen Angeles

CO Senate District 6
- Vivian Smotherman
CO House District 59 (Barbara McLachlan term limited)
- Katie Stewart
CO Judicial District 6
- Sean Murray - unopposed.
La Plata Board of County Commissioners
- Marsha Porter-Norton - unopposed
- Matt Salka

Ballot Measures!!

Hear directly from experts on each of these subjects - we had a great zoom with speakers from across the state. Recording available at link below!

Watch it!

Ballot Measures	Overview	Considerations
	Retain Current Elected Judges and Justices	Both Sheriff Smith and DA Murray support ALL current justices / judges.
Amd G	Modify Property Tax Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities
Amd H	Establish an Independent Judicial Discipline Board
Amd I	Constitutional Bail Exception for First Degree Murder	Concern that the language "pre-judges" guilt without a trial.
Amd J	Repealing the Definition of Marriage in the Constitution
Amd K	Modify Constitutional Election Deadlines	County Clerks have requested this.
Amd 79	Right to Abortion
Amd 80	School Choice in K-12 Education	School choice already protected. Opens door to use public taxpayer dollars for private, even religious schools
Prop JJ	Retain Additional Sports Betting Tax Revenue to Fund Water Conservation and Protection Projects
Prop KK	Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax to Fund Mental Health Services for Veterans, Youth, etc
Prop 127	Prohibit Bobcat, Lynx, and Mountain Lion Hunting	Trapping is awful, but big cats are already well regulated by CO DOW.
Prop 128	Concerning Eligibility for Parole	Increases risks of recidivism; increases costs to prisons; delays "earned time credits" for participating in education, rehab programs.
Prop 129	Establishing Veterinary Professional Associates	VPAs would not be accedited, may not even have hands on training but would be allowed to do surgeries and diagnoses of animals.
Prop 130	Funding for Law Enforcement	No money for it in budget, but additional funds really needed as costs - employee wages, vehicles, body cams have increased substantially.
Prop 131	Establishing All-Candidate Primary and Ranked Choice Voting General Elections	La Plata Dems are all personally FOR RCV but this one is poorly written.

County Issues

4A for 9R School District. $150 Million bond request to fund a new school at Three Springs as well as to renovate our ageing schools. Additional monies included for workforce - educator - housing. Durango Herald review here. YES.

1A for County Residents (not Durango). To re-allocate 70% of the County's current 2% Lodgers' Taxes (levied on tourists) away from marketing and towards workforce housing and childcare. This would not affect Durango City Lodgers' Tax collections and marketing for our area. Info here. YES.

Resources

HHH-Ranked Choice Voting Synthesis, April 2023. University of Minnesota.

Opposition to Proposition 131, Ocotber 1, 2024. Voter Rights Colorado.

Citations for Ranked Choice Voting Research, Voter Rights Colorado.

Letter in Opposition to Prop 131, October 13, 2024. Senator Michael Bennet.

"As a Veterinarian and a Lawmaker, Please Don’t Let Big Businesses Undermine Colorado Pet Care," June 12, 2024, Karen McCormick.

Also, for those of you who have received texts or mailed flyers with incredibly ugly accusations against Candidate Vivian Smotherman, please read this. La Plata Dems stand unequivocally behind Vivian and strongly condemn ugly dark money in politics. And, while you're at it, this is why Cleave Simpson is a candidate we oppose.

The sooner you vote, the sooner we stop asking for your ballot.