Ulibarri by one

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Candidates exhausted by Tuesday night’s cliffhanger election reports found no relief in Cibola County yesterday as differing counts on two races continued to keep hopefuls and voters in suspense.

The 3:30 a.m. tally at the Cibola County Clerk’s Office Tuesday gave the District 30 State Senate race clearly to Clemente Sanchez of Grants.

But early yesterday, things began to look like the night before, when the candidates watched the results give the race to first one, then the other of the two top runners, becoming tired and tense at their respective after-election gatherings. At the start of the business day Tuesday, one Cibola source with access to County Clerk’s office information reported incumbent Sen. David Ulibarri the winner by one vote, predicting a certain recount on the race.

The single-vote difference should provide the first test of a new state law that provides for an automatic recount in close elections.

If those results stand after official canvassing of votes, the new recount provision would apply.

Under a state law that took effect this year, recounts are required for certain offices when the difference between the top two candidates is less than one-half of 1 percent. Ulibarri won by 0.022 percent in a three-way contest. He received 1,650 votes and 1,649 went to Sanchez.

Taxpayers will pay for the automatic recounts. In the past, candidates who requested recounts had to pay for them unless the winner of the race changed because of the vote retabulation.

Lawmakers approved the recount law during this year’s legislative session and it went into effect May 14. Phil Sisneros, a spokesman for Attorney General Gary King, said the new law applied to Tuesday’s election.

Ulibarri, the Cibola County manager, was appointed to the Senate seat in 2006 by Gov. Bill Richardson. He replaced Democrat Joe Fidel, who retired.

The winner of the Democratic nomination will face Republican Jose Silva of Grants in the November general election. Silva was unopposed in the GOP primary.

Neither candidate could be reached for comment. Those close to the candidates said the Democrat opponents still did not which one of them won the race and could not really comment at this time.

The Cibola County Clerk’s race is also a nail-biter.

Candidate Kathy Gonzales closely followed the results as precinct results came in Tuesday night, finding herself leading in most precincts throughout the evening.  Late precincts, absentee ballots and early voting ballots gave Lisa Bro enough additional votes to win the race according to the Cibola County Clerk’s count in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

County Clerk Eileen Martinez and the department’s election coordinator could not be reached for comment yesterday. An office spokesman said they were “working with numbers” and “behind closed doors” all day.

The Secretary of State Web site shows Gonzales the winner of the contest, apparently not reflecting the late count in Cibola County. Secretary of State spokesman James Flores said he was unaware of the discrepancy in the counts and the office would look into the races. All numbers must agree, he added.

 A reversal in the outcome reported Tuesday for the District 6 State Representative race may be a surprise to the Cibola County candidate and voters, but no suspense remains to fray nerves. Eliseo “Lee” Alcon carried the county with 62 percent of the vote but failed to win McKinley county and eventually lost to Marcia Garcia 988 to 909.

Eldred P. Bowekaty trailed with 521 votes in the two counties combined.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.