In Montezuma County, of the 12,853 votes for president, 7,771 votes went for Trump, and 3,9020 went for Clinton.
“His platform resonated with local voters because we agree that smaller government and less regulations, such as for the energy sector, will create jobs,” said Danny Wilkin, Republican Party chairman for Montezuma County. “We’ve been struggling the last eight years under Obama, and look forward to better times.”
Precinct 6, which includes the Ute Mountain reservation and Towaoc, is the only precinct that favored Clinton, who garnered 187 votes to Trump’s 39 votes.
Regina Whiteskunk, who recently served on the Ute Mountain tribal council, said many Utes felt more comfortable with Clinton because “she had a division within her campaign specifically focused on Native American issues.”
She said there was less indication from the Trump campaign that tribal issues were a priority.
“It is up to individual tribes to make connections with the new White House to educate the new administration on the issues, including tribal sovereignty, treaties, water rights and land,” Whiteskunk said.
Voters in Cortez supported Trump overall.
In Precinct 8, representing north Cortez, 52 percent voted for the president-elect, compared with 34 percent for Clinton. In Precinct 9, representing southern Cortez, 58 percent voted for Trump, compared with 31 percent for Clinton.
In Precinct 11, which includes Mancos and the surrounding countryside, Trump got most of the votes with 867, but he was closely followed by Clinton supporters who cast 773 votes for her. The next closest margin was in Precinct 2, the Dolores area, where 983 votes were cast for Trump, and 662 for Clinton.
Trump won by the widest margin in Precinct 1, home to Pleasant View and Yellow Jacket, earning 77 percent of the vote compared with Clinton’s 15 percent.
Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson attracted 531 votes in the county, gaining the largest blocb (88) from Precinct 2, in the Dolores area. Green Party candidate Jill Stein had 231 supporters, with the largest block of them (49) coming from the Mancos area.
Sen. Michael BennetDemocrat Michael Bennet kept his U.S. Senate seat, but the majority of Montezuma county voters favored Republican challenger Darryl Glenn, who got 60 percent of the votes compared with Bennet’s 34 percent.
Bennet did get more support in Precinct 7, representing southern Cortez and south U.S. Highway 491/160, where he earned 71 percent of the vote compared with Glenn’s 13 percent.
Dolores went for Glenn 54 percent to 39 percent over Bennet, and in Mancos it was nearly tied, with Glenn getting 47 percent of the vote and Bennet 46 percent.
North Cortez went for Glenn, 52 percent to Bennet’s 40 percent. South Cortez favored Glenn over the incumbent by 54 percent to 36 percent.
Rep. Scott TiptonU.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, (R-Cortez) kept his seat, defeating Democratic challenger Gail Schwartz 55 percent to 41 percent statewide. In Montezuma County, he defeated Schwartz 59 percent to 36 percent.
In Cortez, Tipton won 55 percent of the vote in north part of town, compared with Schwartz’s 40 percent. And in south Cortez, Tipton won 57 percent of the vote compared with Schwartz’s 36 percent.
In the Dolores area (Precinct 2), Tipton defeated Schwartz 52 percent to 43 percent.
Schwartz had more support from the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, however, earning 65 percent of the vote there, compared with Tipton’s 25 percent.
And in Mancos, voters were evenly split on the candidates, with each garnering 48 percent of the vote.
To view a Montezuma County precinct map go to: bit.ly/2fMeFuR
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
