Dowell, Byrd win contested races

Quay County will have a new commissioner and a new assessor after Republican challengers triumphed over current officeholders Tuesday during the general election.

Republican challenger Dallas Dowell, a rancher and retiree from NuStar Energy, won by nearly a 2-to-1 margin over Democratic incumbent District 1 Commissioner Robert Lopez, a farmer who also is serving as chairman of the body.

Dowell gained 2,311 votes to Lopez's 1,233 in unofficial results announced by the Quay County Clerk's Office about 45 minutes after polls closed. Lopez had sought his second consecutive term on the commission.

"I'm kind of humbled," Dowell said moments after his victory. "Got a lot to learn on what I'm supposed to do now (on the commission).

"Robert was a good guy and worked hard, but I managed to come out on top," he added.

A phone message and email to Lopez requesting comment were not returned.

District 1 encompasses the northwest part of the county, with U.S. 54 and Interstate 40 as the primary southern boundaries and the San Miguel County line and south shores of Ute Lake as the northern boundaries.

District 2 Commissioner Jerri Rush, a Republican from Forrest, breezed to re-election against Libertarian challenger David Holman.

Rush gained 2,564 votes to Holman's 623.

"I am humbled and grateful the people of Quay County saw fit to re-elect me, and I will try to do a good job," Rush said.

An email to Holman requesting comment was not answered.

District 2 encompasses much of the southwest part of the county and the caprock.

In the county assessor's race, GOP challenger Jefferson Byrd, a rancher and windmiller, won by more than 700 votes over current assessor Dana Leonard, a Democrat.

"I am grateful and honored to be elected for this opportunity to serve Quay County," Byrd wrote in an email to the Quay County Sun the day after his election.

An email to Leonard requesting comment was not answered.

The county commission in March 2023 appointed Leonard as assessor after previous officeholder Janie Hoffman resigned because she and her husband were buying a title company in Tucumcari.

The county also will have newcomers in several other offices, but they were unopposed:

- Veronica Manley, Democratic candidate for clerk;

- Theresa Lafferty, a Republican candidate for treasurer;

- Heidi Adams, a Republican candidate for district attorney.

Republican candidate for president Donald Trump won by more than a 2-to-1 margin against Democratic challenger Kamala Harris in Quay County. Nationwide, Trump won his second, non-consecutive term in office.

Current County Clerk Ellen White, who is retiring at the end of the year, reported 66% voter turnout, the highest in recent memory. That rate even beat the 64% turnout during the 2020 presidential election.

When the polls opened Tuesday morning at the Tucumcari Convention Center, 14 people were waiting in line to obtain a ballot. That line dissipated within a few minutes.

Carolina Rubio of Tucumcari, stationed off to the side of the convention center, was one of six official election observers for the Republican Party in the county.

"I don't expect many problems," she said. "It's a small county."

Shortly after the polls opened Tuesday, county election official Danny Wallace removed a Trump-Vance yard sign planted near the convention center's Route 66 monument, deeming it too close for comfort to comply with the 100-foot electioneering rules.

White said the same-day voter registration website by the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office was slow to process entries or created error messages for about 15 minutes midmorning on Election Day.

She said once that issue was resolved, the website operated smoothly the rest of the day.