Research, vote and do your part

You’ve likely received your primary ballot in the mail. Perhaps it’s already buried in a pile of papers. Unearth it and please vote in this election, as it is so vital for saving our democracy. If you are Independent or Unaffiliated, you received both a Democratic and Republican ballot: vote on only one! Choose carefully. If you are left-leaning, there are two candidates for governor: Sen Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser. Bennet has seniority in the Senate and several years left in his six-year term. Let him keep his seniority in the Senate.

Weiser has worked for eight years as the peoples’ lawyer and has campaigned across the state; he deeply understands all of Colorado. He has my vote.

There are four Democratic candidates for state attorney general. Please look up each candidate’s websites and make an informed decision. Personally, I agree with the Durango Herald’s endorsement of Michael Dougherty; I met him recently and was really impressed by his solid 30 years of legal and administrative experience.

Conversely, I wish the Herald had endorsed Amanda Gonzales for Secretary of State. I met her and was impressed with her extensive election experience as the County Clerk of Jefferson County, one of the largest in the state with a population of 470,000. She is the only candidate who has managed elections, the only candidate with a law degree, and she has managed her staff in JeffCo – which is about the same size as that of the Secretary of State’s – extraordinarily well. Again, she has a Democratic opponent so your vote in this primary is so important.

There are other important contests on this ballot that I still need to research, and I urge you to do the same. Do your part for our democracy. Please vote and turn in your ballot by June 30.

– Sandy Bielenberg, Durango