{"id":12252,"date":"2026-03-21T21:08:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republicans-nominate-fox-spratlen-anderson-for-commissioner-race\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:31:18","slug":"republicans-nominate-fox-spratlen-anderson-for-commissioner-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republicans-nominate-fox-spratlen-anderson-for-commissioner-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans nominate Fox-Spratlen, Anderson for commissioner race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Republican
Republican delegates gather at the Montezuma County Assembly on Saturday at the Lewis Arriola Community Center, where party members voted to nominate candidates for county commissioner. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Diane Fox-Spratlen, a retired police officer, and Bonnie Anderson, a former county department director, won the Republican nominations for county commissioner Saturday evening after advancing through a second round of voting at the party\u2019s county assembly.<\/p>\n

\"Diane
Diane Fox-Spratlen<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bonnie
Bonnie Anderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

No candidate reached the required 40-vote threshold during the first round, prompting delegates to conduct a second tally to determine the nominees.<\/p>\n

Fox-Spratlen and Anderson will advance to the June 30 primary ballot, joining Rodney Cox, who qualified by petition. Cox gathered enough signatures to advance without participating in the evening\u2019s assembly process.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s assembly at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center marked another step in the candidate selection process and drew a strong turnout. Delegates filled the room to hear speeches, nominate candidates, vote and advance party-sponsored resolutions to the state level. The atmosphere was lively and familiar, with many delegates long acquainted with one another, reflecting a tight-knit political group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am running for county commissioner because I believe in this community and that better days are ahead,\u201d Fox-Spratlen said before voting Saturday.<\/p>\n

Her remarks emphasized her personal background as a source of credibility, her conservative values and her view of the commissioner\u2019s role as focused on policy, governance and budgeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiane has been a great communicator. Courage is another strength, no one becomes a law enforcement officer or a victim\u2019s right without courage,\u201d said Tom Seymour, a party member who voiced a nomination for Fox-Spratlen. Fox-Spratlen currently serves as a victim and witness specialist for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Anderson centered her speech on institutional knowledge, public engagement and transparency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am running for county commissioner, because I aim for thoughtful leadership. I have the institutional knowledge, I know where our strengths are and where our weaknesses are,\u201d Anderson told the room.<\/p>\n

A party member supporting Anderson highlighted her thoroughness and ability to bring a \u201cfresh perspective\u201d to the county board.<\/p>\n

The District 1 commissioner race drew a crowded Republican field that also included Shane Prentice, Gerald Whited and Brett Likes. In the second round of voting, Fox-Spratlen received 36 votes, Anderson received 35, Prentice received 33, Whited received 19 and Likes received eight.<\/p>\n

A total of 131 paper ballots were cast by delegates.<\/p>\n

Candidates remained competitive throughout several closely watched community forums this year, which generally maintained a measured and respectful tone. Common themes included maintaining local control, fiscal responsibility and support for the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n

In the county clerk and recorder race, Lenetta Shull and Jerri Frizzell won the nominations over David Raubeson. Frizzell received 64 votes, Shull received 49 and Raubeson received 18.<\/p>\n

\"Delegates
Delegates share a meal and conversation before the start of voting at the Montezuma County Republican Assembly on Saturday. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ahead of formal proceedings, voices echoed through the room during the dinner hour before the meeting settled into order.<\/p>\n

The meeting was formally called to order by central committee vice chair Bob Ower, punctuated by a chorus of \u201cayes.\u201d A brief microphone check underscored the grassroots, community-centered nature of the process, despite the strict protocol and paperwork involved.<\/p>\n

Uncontested races certified Saturday include George Deavers for coroner, Ellen Black for treasurer, and Undersheriff Tyson Cox for sheriff.<\/p>\n

awatson@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A split vote pushes the GOP commissioner race into second round <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18680,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12252\/revisions\/18680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12252"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}