Chancy J. Gatlin-Anderson
Special to Colorado Community Media
This story has been updated.
Voters in Elbert County received ballots in which all candidates for county-level races on Nov. 8 were Republicans running unopposed, but three school-funding questions offered choices to the electorate.
Votes ran strongly against a request by the Kiowa School District — officially Elbert County School District C-2 — which was seeking a property-tax hike to cover a $10.6 million bond with a repayment cost of up to $19.3 million. The school district planned to combine the bond with a state BEST Grant to pay for new buildings and amenities estimated to cost $62 million. In the round of returns released the evening of Nov. 10, district voters rejected the measure 56-44.
Calhan School District RJ1, which lies in both Elbert and El Paso counties, lost in Elbert but won overall regarding its request for a property-tax increase to cover a $7.5 million bond with a repayment cost of nearly $14 million, which will pay for new career and technical education facilities. Voters in the Elbert County portion of the district rejected the request 60-40, while residents in the far more populous El Paso County portion supported the request 54-46, giving the request a 53-47 win.
Douglas County School District RE-1, which covers all of Douglas County and the northwestern corner of Elbert County, was seeking property-tax hikes to cover a $450 million bond with a repayment cost of more than $775 million and a $60 million mill-levy override to pay for capital improvements, new buildings, safety upgrades and increases in employee compensation. Voters in the Elbert County portion of the district overwhelmingly rejected the mill-levy override 70-30 and the bond 71-29, while district voters overall rejected the mill-levy override 51-49 and the bond 54-46.
Elbert County elected offices
The ballot included seven county-level races. Six featured Republican candidates running unopposed, while no one declared a candidacy for surveyor, which featured a write-in line on the ballot.
In the returns released Nov. 10, the vote totals were:
County commissioner District 2, Dallas Schroeder — 12,273
Clerk and recorder, Rhonda Braun — 12,565
Treasurer, Sheryl (Sherry) Hewlett — 12,757
Assessor, Susan Murphy — 12,602
Sheriff, Timothy D. Norton — 12,951
Coroner, Sandra Graeff — 12,691
Surveyor (write-in), Samuel L. Gallucci III — 432
