Duncan earns state House District 2 seat; McDaniel wins spot on County Commission

Mike Easterling, Farmington Daily Times
·2 min read

FARMINGTON — While most of the elected positions across San Juan County drew only a single candidate, leaving them uncontested, a handful of races featured two candidates, and it was Republicans who had a decided edge in most of those instances.

In the race for the District 2 seat in the state House of Representatives, Republican Mark Duncan easily defeated his independent opponent, Matt Dodson. With more than 7,700 votes having been counted, Duncan won by a margin of 70% to 30% — more than 3,000 votes.

Mark Duncan
Mark Duncan

This was Duncan’s second attempt to win a seat in the Legislature, as he came up short in his 2020 race against Democratic incumbent Anthony Allison for the District 4 seat. Duncan previously has served as the mayor of Kirtland and as the San Juan County treasurer.

In the San Juan County assessor race, Republican incumbent Jimmy Voita (65%) defeated Democrat Henry Silentman (35%) with nearly 39,000 votes having been counted. Voita has served in the position since 2015.

In the District II San Juan County Commission race, the GOP’s Gary McDaniel racked up 64% of the more than 7,200 votes that had been counted compared to 36% for his Democratic opponent, Zac George. The two were vying to fill the seat being vacated by the current commissioner, Michael Sullivan, who did not seek re-election. McDaniel is a retired law enforcement officer and magistrate judge.

There were two contested races for San Juan County magistrate judge. In Division 1, Republican Russell Bradford won 80% of the more than 8,100 votes that had been counted, while his opponent, Democrat Songtree Pioche, received only 20%.

In the Division 2 race, Democrat Stanley King defeated Republican Rena Scott with 53 percent of the 5,900 votes cast. Scott earned 47% of the votes.

State Rep. Rod Montoya
State Rep. Rod Montoya

In uncontested races across the county, Republican Rod Montoya won another term to his District 1 seat in the state House of Representatives, while the GOP’s Ryan Lane was elected in District 3. Democrats Anthony Allison, Doreen Johnson, Derrick Lente and Harry Garcia won seats in districts 4, 5, 65 and 69, respectively.

In the uncontested race for District 5 seat on the Public Education Commission, Republican Sharon Clahchischilliage was victorious, while the GOP’s Mark Hawkinson won the San Juan Division 3 magistrate judge position. Democrat Trudy Chase was elected in Division 4, while Republicans Erich Cole and Stacey Biel were elected in divisions 5 and 6, respectively.

Incumbent District 1 San Juan County Commissioner Glojean Todacheene faced no opposition in her bid for another term and was re-elected to that seat, while incumbent San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari, a Republican, also ran unopposed and earned another term.

Republican Gary Risely was unopposed in his bid for the probate judgeship and was victorious.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Republican candidates fared better in contested races across county