Republicans elect Hofmeister, Michael, Elliott

    One Republican incumbent and two challengers for Phillips County offices were victorious in the June 26 Colorado primary election.
    Unofficial election results from Tuesday’s primary showed that a total of 1,506 votes were cast in the county.
    Republicans gave the nod to Sharon Michael, 64-36 percent over incumbent county treasurer Linda Statz (824 to 466). Terry Hofmeister defeated incumbent District 1 county commissioner Joe Kinnie 62-38 percent (796 to 490). And incumbent sheriff Thomas Elliott claimed 54.5 percent of the vote over J.R. Myers with 45.5 percent (689 to 576).
    The three primary winners will be placed on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, where there are no Democratic challengers in their races. Unaffiliated voters have until July 12 to complete a petition to be a candidate for any of the county offices in the November election.
    Other county officials who were unchallenged in the Republican primary and who will face no Democratic challengers in November are Beth Zilla, county clerk and recorder, and Doug Kamery, county assessor.
    Statewide, there were several primary races on both the Republican and Democratic ballots. Those results, as compared to the Phillips County vote in those races, will be reported in next week’s Enterprise.
    On the Democratic ticket, there were four candidates for governor, two for state treasurer, two for attorney general and two for U.S. Representative from District 4.
    Republican races in the primary election included four candidates for governor and three for state treasurer.
    For the first time, unaffiliated voters had the opportunity to choose whether they wanted to complete a Republican or a Democratic ballot in the Colorado primary election. In the past, they were ineligible to cast a vote in the primaries.