{"id":14106,"date":"2026-01-07T00:23:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T07:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rebecca-busic-joins-montezuma-county-commissioner-race\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:43:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:43:59","slug":"rebecca-busic-joins-montezuma-county-commissioner-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rebecca-busic-joins-montezuma-county-commissioner-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebecca Busic joins Montezuma County commissioner race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rebecca
Rebecca Busic announces her run for Montezuma County commissioner during an Indivisible-Montezuma County rally Tuesday at Veterans Park in Cortez. Busic said she could make a difference on the county commission by focusing on the local economy, housing and affordable, accessible child care. Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Rebecca Busic, a Montezuma County community organizer, announced Tuesday she is running for the Board of Commissioners seat in next fall\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people in the county, and in the country, are looking for something different,\u201d Busic said. \u201cThings don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re going that well for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busic is the fifth person to declare a campaign for the seat on the three-member commission. She announced her run during the Montezuma County chapter of Indivisible\u2019s rally Tuesday at Veterans Park. Local rally organizers said the Montezuma County Democratic Party asked whether Busic could make her announcement during the event.<\/p>\n

\"Rebecca
Rebecca Busic outside Kelly\u2019s Kitchen. Busic moved to Dolores in 2004 and graduated from Fort Lewis College. (Courtesy of Rebecca Busic)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The election will determine who fills the District 1 seat held by Jim Candelaria, whose two-term limit ends November. The other race contenders include Republicans Brett Likes<\/a>, Bonnie Anderson<\/a>, Diane Fox-Spratlen<\/a> and Gerald \u201cJerry\u201d Whited<\/a>. Additionally, Undersheriff Tyson Cox<\/a> has announced he is running, so far without opposing candidates, for sheriff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis county has been represented by only one group of people for a really long time,\u201d Busic said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d like to represent a new path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busic said she has lived in Montezuma County for 22 years and described herself as a lifelong rural resident. She is a member of the Montezuma County Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rural way of life is really important to me,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re raising our son here.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her background as a community organizer prepares her for commissioner responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still believe in community, small town and everything that it can provide to people,\u201d Busic said.<\/p>\n

Busic said her campaign will focus on three priorities: the county\u2019s economy, housing and affordable child care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to shore up our economy,\u201d she said. \u201cWith Kinder Morgan\u2019s revenues still decreasing regularly, we need to find alternative sources for our county.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the county should consider new revenue options to maintain essential services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commissioners need to get organized and pass some kind of tax, be it a sales tax or a lodgers tax, so we can ensure county services continue to everyone who needs them,\u201d Busic said, citing public safety and social services.<\/p>\n

Busic said housing and child care are directly tied to economic stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur economy is then being directly impacted by our lack of affordable housing and our lack of affordable and accessible child care,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen people can\u2019t send their kids somewhere to go during the day that\u2019s safe, they can\u2019t go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to her website, accessible housing is a main driver for attracting newcomers and working families to Southwest Colorado, and she believes young people and families are \u201cwhat make a community vibrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busic said she owns White Barn Consulting, which facilitates small elections nationwide and assists groups with surveys and public outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really excited about this campaign,\u201d she said. \u201cI intend to run a really positive and inclusive campaign, and I\u2019m excited to talk to real people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other two commissioners will continue serving their terms. Commissioner Kent Lindsay, of District 2, was reelected in 2024 after serving the 2020 term and previously from 1997 to 2005. District 3 Commissioner Gerald Koppenhafer was elected in 2024 after serving two terms from 2004 to 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

becomes fifth candidate to enter District 1 commissioner race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14107,"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-14106","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\/14106","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=14106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19330,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14106\/revisions\/19330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14106"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=14106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}