A majority of Eddy County candidates seeking public office in the June 7 Primary Election had no opposition as Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians cast ballots across the County for federal, state and county offices.
Republicans chose candidates for Eddy County Magistrate Judge’s in Division 1 and 2. No Democrats are on the November ballot.
November’s general election will be formality for those elected in Tuesday’s primary.
More:Southeast New Mexico Republicans outnumber Democrats in June primary election early voting
Current Chief Deputy Eddy County Clerk Cara Cooke assumes the role of County Clerk Jan. 1.
She will replace Darlene Rosprim who was appointed by the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners in 2021 to finish out the term of the late Robin Van Natta.
She died while in office and could not seek another term in 2022.
Rhonda Hatch is the new Eddy County Assessor. She will replace Gemma Ferguson in 2023.
Ferguson could not seek another term having served two full four-year terms.
James Bowen III replaces Steve McCutcheon in District 4 on the Eddy Board of County Commissioners Jan. 1. McCutcheon decided not to seek a second term on the Commission.
Three Eddy County incumbents received affirmation to a second term Tuesday.
District 1 Eddy County Board of County Commissioner Ernie Carlson, Probate Judge Jay Francis and Eddy County Division Three Magistrate Judge Jimmy Foster had no opposition Tuesday.
More:Get 2022 New Mexico primary election results. Find key state races here.
There will two contested races for the New Mexico Legislature in Eddy County in November.
Incumbent District 54 State Rep. Jim Townsend of Artesia faces write in Libertarian Keith Bryan Boone.
State Rep. District 66 Republican Jimmy Mason of Artesia faces Libertarian Andrew Kennedy from Loco Hills.
State Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-55) has no Democratic opposition in November and did not have a challenger in Tuesday’s primary.
A closer look at the voting numbers
Early voting numbers from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office indicated Republicans outvoted Democrats during the absentee and in person voting periods from May to Saturday.
Forty-four Democrats voted absentee and 387 voted in person, according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Sixty-seven Republicans voted absentee and 1,401 voted early in Eddy County.
One Libertarian voted absentee in Eddy County and four voted early.
More:Parties’ flawed pre-primary events lead to hard feelings
The Eddy County Clerk’s Office had 153 requests for absentee ballots with 86 Republicans, 66 Democrats and one Libertarian asking for ballots.
More than 27,000 Eddy County residents were eligible to vote in Tuesday’s election, per figures from the County Clerk’s Office.
Twenty percent of Eddy County’s eligible voters cast ballots during the election period.
“We were pretty slammed at our office all day long,” Cooke said.
More than 1,000 people voted Tuesday at the Eddy County Clerk’s Office.
Cooke said same day voter registration was a positive aspect of Tuesday’s election in Eddy County as 77 people voted or update existing registrations.
“Same day voter registration helped a lot of voters. It also allowed them to update their address,” she said.
The New Mexico Legislature approved same day voter registration in 2019.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at [email protected] or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
