“I don’t know what else we could have done,” said Terri Will, a Bayfield resident who helped lead the “Yes on 3B” campaign.
But when the second round of results were released, supporters gathered at a local Mexican restaurant cheered.
By 10 p.m. Tuesday, 2,661 yes votes had been cast, or 51.58 percent of the 5,159 votes cast.
No votes came in at 2,498, or 48.42 percent of the votes in La Plata County.
About 20 bond issue supporters were gathered at Chavolo’s Mexican Restaurant in Bayfield, hoping for a celebratory gathering.
After the first round of results came in, they were hoping to make up the 16 vote differential.
“You’ll get a new school,” Bayfield voter Jenna Stumpf said to Jettie Lyons, who attends second grade at Bayfield Elementary School. Her mom, Amy Lyons, is the school district’s finance director.
“I know,” the eight-year-old confidently replied.
The first round of results showed 2,093 yes votes, for 49.81 percent of the vote, and 2,109 no votes, or 50.19 percent
The second round of results reported 2,331 yes votes, or 50.47 percent of the 4,619 votes cast. A few dozen votes also need to be counted for school district residents who live in Archuleta County. Results there had not been reported by 10 p.m.
Durango’s school bond was winning by a large margin Tuesday night, with 63 percent of 22,528 voters casting a yes vote.
Other preliminary county results are showing that county voters are not opening up their pocketbooks this year. Both the county road and bridge tax and the La Plata County airport expansion are facing no votes.
In the county commission races, incumbents are ahead, with Julie Westendorff ahead of Kayla Patterson and Gwen Lachelt garnering more votes than Lyle McKnight.
