Meet the Republican candidates for Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder

Two Republican candidates for Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder are vying to represent their party on the ballot in November, but before either makes a run at the seat currently held by four-term incumbent Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz — who faces his own primary challenge on Tuesday — they’ll have to get past each other.

Nathan Baxter and Sarina Adame, both new to electoral politics, were inspired to run for Ortiz's seat to serve their communities and address concerns about operations in the clerk and recorder's office.

Adame and Baxter were part of a group of Pueblo candidates who recently submitted formal complaints to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office about problems with the 2022 primary.

Some of the allegations in those complaints are still under investigation, but the state has appointed an election supervisor and already corroborated some of their claims. Ortiz’s Democratic challenger, Candace Rivera, also submitted a complaint but said she withdrew it after the secretary took action.

What happened: Election supervisor appointed in Pueblo County after multiple errors reported by candidates

“If someone's doing a good job, there's no reason for me to run against them. I'm a pretty strong Republican, but I'm not so partisan that I’d want to damage my own community by getting somebody out of an office that they're good at,” Baxter said. “Turns out, there's no risk of that in this case.”

Adame was born and raised in Pueblo and works as an accounting specialist. She has a background in business management and social work, which she said will help her lead the department and work with the public when they don’t “necessarily enjoy” going in to address motor vehicle concerns.

“Being able to understand not only where (people) are coming from, but also how to communicate in order to try to deescalate as we go along the way, will not only keep staff safe but also makes the community feel welcome,” Adame said.

Baxter is from Colorado Springs and has lived in Pueblo for about a decade. He has over 20 years of experience as an operations manager, which he said qualifies him for the job.

“I don't want to jump into something that I don't know anything about. If I'm going to try to help someone, I want to actually help,” Baxter said.

Both Republican candidates expressed concerns with election security.

Primary election: Colorado secretary of state sending election observer to Pueblo following ballot errors

Claims about widespread fraud in the last presidential election circulated months before polls closed in November 2020, but no evidence has surfaced to support those claims. Dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud brought by former President Donald Trump's lawyers failed in court.

“I suspect Biden probably won, but the problem is that we don't have any way of knowing because we have so many potential issues nationwide with different aspects of the election,” Baxter said.

Adame declined to comment on the legitimacy of the 2020 election but acknowledged that President Joe Biden is in the White House.

“We have President Biden in office right now. President Trump is in Mar-a-Lago in Florida. At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Adame said.

Colorado implemented an all-mail ballot system in 2013, which Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has called the “gold standard” for election security.

State law requires a plethora of security measures for election integrity at every stage of the process, but both of Pueblo's Republican clerk and recorder candidates said they are not satisfied with the system.

More: How Colorado's mail-in ballot system works

Adame acknowledged that mailing ballots to all voters increases accessibility to the polls but said she would seek to work on cleaning voter rolls and streamlining the process to make sure active registered voters receive only one ballot.

“We do have individuals that have been known to have passed away, and yet they still receive ballots. We have individuals that receive two ballots or more,” Adame claimed. “That is concerning because those are extra ballots that are out there. Our ballots reflect what our voice is, and our votes are very precious.”

Baxter suggested that the “gold standard” analogy should be replaced with a “less valuable” metal such as tin or pewter. He alleged that some voters have received four different ballots because of various errors.

“That's not a gold standard. A gold standard is doing it right, getting it the first time,” Baxter said.

Adame and Baxter both said they want to ensure employees of the clerk and recorder's office are properly trained. Adame said she wants herself and her supervisors to be cross-trained for all of the departments so they can step in and help when needed.

“I can't ask staff to do something that I'm not willing to do myself,” Adame said.

Anna Lynn Winfrey can be reached by email awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County primary election: GOP candidates for Clerk and Recorder