The District 3 Montezuma County commissioner race is getting more crowded.
Another candidate will be on the ballot in the Novembers general election after his signatures were verified by the county clerks office last week.
County Clerk Carol Tullis said unaffiliated District 3 candidate Larry Don Suckla turned in 418 entries and 334 signatures were determined to be valid.
Since Suckla only needed 267 valid signatures to run for the District 3 seat. He will appear on the November ballot and will be opposed by the Republican primary winner that takes place on June 26 (ballots will go out by June 8).
As an unaffiliated candidate, Suckla proceeds directly to the general election ballot.
Casey McClellan and Dewayne Findley are opposing each other in the Republican primary with the winner advancing to the general election in November.
The District 3 seat is currently held by Gerald Koppenhafer.
Tullis on Tuesday also said she has not yet received a petition from Greg Kemp, who announced last month that he too was going to run for the District 3 commissioner seat as an unaffiliated party candidate.
Kemp has until June 4 to turn in his signatures, which would then need to verified by the county before he would be allowed to be placed on the November ballot.
Candidates running for the District 2 commissioner seat are Bud Garner, Pat DeGagne-Rule and Keenan Ertel, and unlike the District 3 race, the winner in the Republican primary will win the seat because he or she will be unopposed in the November general election.
The seat is currently held by Larrie Rul. Both Rule and Koppenhafer are term-limited.
Michael Maresh can be reached at [email protected]
