NEWS
BernCo primary races called for District 5 seat, county assessor
Races had been too close to call Tuesday night
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Vote totals Wednesday morning showed former county clerk Linda Stover beating incumbent Damian Lara for county assessor, while Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas bested Byron Powdrell for the District 5 seat in the Democratic primary race.
The races had been too close to call late Tuesday, except for the District 5 Republican primary, where Thomas Riley held a commanding lead over Wayne Yevoli.
Olivas and Stover won with 56% and 52% of the vote, respectively, while Riley took 71% of the vote. Olivas will face Riley in November and, without a challenger, Stover is slated to become the next county assessor.
On Wednesday, Powdrell said he looked forward to working with Olivas and would be supporting him in the general election. He said of his campaign, "it was a good go."
During his campaign, Olivas said he would expand the sheriff's office's metro team to boost public safety, build out behavioral health services and improve infrastructure in the East Mountains.
Riley said that, if elected, he would work with law enforcement to crack down on open-air drug use, address water conservancy issues in rural areas and look for ways to end the county's 鈥渟anctuary鈥� jurisdiction.
Reached Tuesday night, Stover said she looked forward to taking over the role of assessor but had yet to decide on policy proposals or specific actions she would take. She said she wanted to get into the office to see what needed to be done before charting a path.
In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, Lara congratulated Stover on a "hard-earned win" and thanked his supporters. He said, "Serving as your Bernalillo County Assessor has been one of the greatest honors of my life."
"I am incredibly proud of the legacy and the track record our administration has built," Lara said. "While my time in this office will draw to a close at the end of my term, my commitment to the people of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 and Bernalillo County remains absolute."
