Chaparro declared primary winner in District 4 race, will face Durham, Bonner in general

Michael McDevitt
Las Cruces Sun-News
Former magistrate judge Susana Chaparro is a candidate for the District 4 seat on the Doña Ana County Commission.

LAS CRUCES - Following an automatic recount, former county magistrate judge Susana Chaparro has won a close race to become the Democratic nominee in the Doña Ana County Commission race for District 4.

Chaparro was running against retired U.S. Army Civilian Debra Hathaway and former journalist and professor Sam Bradley.

After the June 2 primary, Chaparro held a 25-vote lead over Hathaway. Chaparro had earned 42.4 percent of the vote, Hathaway had 41.7 percent and Bradley had 15.8 percent.

Following a county canvass, then a statewide canvass of results, the Democratic race fell within the threshold to trigger an automatic recount. That was ordered by the state last week and began June 29.

More:Former magistrate judge running for County Commission District 4 seat

"The county’s unofficial recount results did not result in any changes to the vote totals from the canvassed results for the 2020 Primary Election held on June 2. The recount results will immediately be reported to the Secretary of State," the County Clerk's Office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

Chaparro said she was optimistic from the day after the primary that her lead would hold.

"For now I'm going to put my energy into winning the general election," Chaparro said.

Chaparro said she expects to do most of her campaigning virtually and online due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, but hopes she can appeal to voters because she said she recognizes an important issue: the pandemic's anticipated effect on county tax revenue and the budget.

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Chaparro will face Republican Stacie Michelle Durham and Libertarian Buck Bonner in the general election Nov. 3.

Stacie Michelle Durham

Durham, an Organ resident, won a similarly close primary race, but the State Canvassing Board determined her victory just escaped the threshold for an automatic recount.

The District 4 seat is being vacated by Republican Commissioner Isabella Solis, who's running for the New Mexico House of Representatives for District 37.

District 4 includes the East Mesa, Hacienda Acres, Organ, Moongate and the eastern part of Las Cruces.

Michael McDevitt can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.