Here's what happened at the Pueblo County Republican assembly
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the location of the assembly, which was held at Pueblo East High School.
Pueblo Republicans have performed well in recent elections and want to keep the momentum going.
That was the main message from several candidates at the GOP county assembly Tuesday evening, held in an auditorium at East High School.
While some of the races had a few candidates running, just one of the contests will proceed to the June primary.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the county assembly on Tuesday evening.
State House District 46 is the only contested primary
State Rep. Tisha Mauro is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for House District 46, which includes parts of the city and county of Pueblo.
Republican primary ballots this June will include two candidates: Christina Mascarenas and Kim Swearingen, who is a distant relative of Pueblo County Commissioner Zach Swearingen.
Mascarenas talked about her crime-focused and pro-police platform during her nominating speech, while Swearingen touted her experience serving on the Pueblo West Metropolitan District board.
Mascarenas has been vying for the HD46 seat for a few months, while Swearingen entered the contest less than two weeks ago. Swearingen was previously running in the crowded GOP primary in the 3rd Congressional District, campaign finance records show.
The two candidates did not appear to get along. Swearingen briefly approached Mascarenas after the two addressed the crowd and Mascarenas avoided eye contact.
Republicans nearly didn’t have a candidate for BOCC District 1
It was unclear if Republicans would have a candidate running for county commissioner in District 1 during part of the assembly.
District 1 is currently represented by Epimenio “Eppie” Griego, a former Democrat now running as an unaffiliated candidate.
Sam Hernandez Jr., a taco truck operator who ran for city council last year, was nominated from the floor by Stephen Varela. Hernandez didn’t have a speech prepared, but he told the Chieftain after he spoke that he wanted to make sure a Republican was on the ballot.
Steven Rodriguez is the only candidate who had filed with the state to run for the seat. Rodriguez was running late from work but arrived in time to be formally nominated.
Hernandez narrowly didn’t qualify for the primary ballot: he received 28% of the votes but needed 30%.
Rodriguez and Hernandez shook hands and sat together during much of the meeting.
The other open seat this fall on the BOCC is in District 2. Paula McPheeters is the only Republican running and she will face Democratic incumbent Daneya Esgar in November.
One DA candidate got overwhelming support
Pueblo’s incumbent District Attorney Jeff Chostner, a Democrat, is not running for re-election after serving three consecutive terms.
Two Republican candidates were vying to replace Chostner, but only one of them garnered enough support at the assembly to qualify for the ballot.
Kala Beauvais, a chief trial deputy district attorney in Pueblo, got over 80% of the delegates’ votes Tuesday evening.
Beauvais has significant support from some of the top local Republicans: Lexi Swearingen, who is Zach Swearingen’s wife, nominated Beauvais and Pueblo School District 60 Board Director Sue Pannunzio seconded the motion.
Beauvais' opponent at the assembly, Suzanne Marsh, entered the race a few weeks ago but only garnered support from 18% of the delegates present.
The two candidates made subtle digs at each other during their speeches: Beauvois subtly called out Marsh for leaving the DA’s office for private practice as a defense attorney, while Marsh said that she has seen another perspective of the justice system and left because of the management.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Who is running as a Republican in Pueblo elections? Find out here
