Primary election races lacking opponents

Many of the incumbents in Yuma County's primary election this year will win their political parties' nominations simply because the races for their county or state offices are going uncontested.

Leaders of the two parties attribute the lack of candidates to voter satisfaction. But the county's elections officer, Sue Stallworth, hopes the uncontested primaries do not lead to voter disinterest and low turnout. Early voting is under way for the Sept. 2 primaries.

Incumbent state lawmakers from Yuma County, Sen. Amanda Aguirre and Reps. Theresa Ulmer and Lynne Pancrazi, don't have opponents in the Democratic primary. Russ Jones is running unopposed in the Republican primary, as is Green Party candidate Jack Kretzer.

In county races, Assessor Joe Wehrle does not have an opponent in either the primary or general. Nor does County Attorney Jon Smith, School Superintendent Tom Tyree and Superior Court judges Mark Reeves and Andrew Gould.

Also there is only one Republican candidate for recorder, Robyn Stallworth Pouquette, who will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Brenda Wehrle and Francisco Vasquez.

There is also only one candidate each in the Democratic and Republican primaries for treasurer, which is between Democrat Daniel Dawson and Republican David Egeberg, and for Superior Court judge in Division 6, which is between Republican John Minore and Democrat Maria Elena Cruz.

While Yuma County Supervisor Russell McCloud will have no opponent in the primary, he will face Democrat Donna Phipps in the general election. Also not facing any competition in the primary is Supervisor Tony Reyes, who will face Republican David Lara in the general election. Lara is uncontested in his primary.

Yuma County Supervisor Greg Ferguson, a Republican, is running unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

Republican Supervisor Casey Prochaska in District 3 has an opponent, Marcos Moore, in the primary, while District 1 Supervisor Lenore Stuart has an opponent in the Democratic primary, Paulo Escalante. Incumbent Sheriff Ralph Ogden faces Norma Nelson in the Democratic primary.

The primary election is the chance for voters to decide which candidate from each party will run in the Nov. 4 general election.

Joe Melchionne, head of the Yuma County Republican Party, said he believes there are a couple of reasons for the primary elections going uncontested.

First, Melchionne said, is despite an incumbent's political party, if the voters are satisfied with their performance, they will continue voting them back into office.

"Party is not nearly as important to voters in Yuma. What is important to them is whether they know the candidate, whether they trust them and whether they think they have done a good job," Melchionne said. "And that is what should be important to all voters."

Charlene Fernandez, head of the Yuma County Democratic Party, made similar remarks regarding some of the incumbents.

"We never discourage anyone from running for office. Our party's philosophy is to encourage people to run," Fernandez said. "But candidates also know who the incumbents are who are doing a good job and may decide not to run against them."

She added that "incumbents know as long as they are doing a good job, they won't have many opponents."

County elections officer Stallworth said she hopes this year's uncontested races don't lead to a low voter turnout during the primary election.

"Unfortunately they do, because voters may perceive that they don't have anything to vote for," Stallworth said. "But even voting in an uncontested primary gives the incumbent the indication that they still have the support of the electorate."

Melchionne said he also believes would-be candidates who understand what holding public office entails may not see campaigning as being worth the time and effort.

He added that he and other political party leaders may share some of the blame as well because they don't do as much as they could in the community to find qualified candidates.

Fernandez said the economy and the personal hardships in campaigning involved may be other reasons why people are deciding not to run.

"You really have to be very, very much committed and no matter what party they are from, I respect them for that," she said. "It takes time away from your family, and your business or work could suffer."

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James Gilbert be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6847.