Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — Voters on Tuesday picked first-time office seeker Mike Morris as their new mayor. But downballot races ran all across the spectrum of experience as Clovis voters retained two incumbents and added two new commissioners who are Clovis High graduates — 29 years apart.
Leo Lovett won the most crowded field for a city office in 18 years, taking 28.4% of the vote in a seven-way race for District 1. The seat was won by Ladona Clayton in 2016; after she left Clovis for a job in Dallas, David Robinson accepted an appointment and pledged not to run for the seat.
Lovett, a 1985 graduate of CHS who served two terms on the Portales City Council, credited simple interaction with the public and reasoned ways to address their concerns.
“The prior council experience in Portales helped me understand the budget, how the money comes from Santa Fe and how we can spend it,” Lovett said. “I look forward to helping Clovis be fiscally responsible moving forward.”
While Lovett had a comfortable margin of victory, the next three finishers were neck-and-neck, with Matt Whittington second (332 votes), Marcus Smith third (306) and Rhonda Bargman fourth (305).
In the election’s other open commission race, Lauren Rowley took just over two-thirds of the vote against Jamaal Williams, 526-235. The seat was open with Sandra Taylor-Sawyer running for mayor. Rowley, a 2014 Clovis High graduate and Clovis Community College’s admissions coordinator, credited an aggressive outreach campaign that included plenty of door-knocking.
Rowley, at 23, will be the youngest commissioner in memory if not in city history. The city doesn’t track candidate ages, with city code only requiring candidates be registered voters. City employees surveyed during the election period couldn’t recall any candidate under 30 ever running, let alone winning.
“It shows age is just a number,” Rowley said of her win. “It’s all about the work you put in.”
Rowley said economic development should be a main focus of the commission going forward based on how often it was mentioned during campaigns. She would also like to see Clovis take steps to be a more attractive hometown for people to return to after college.
The commission’s two incumbents easily retained their seats.
Helen Casaus defeated challenger David Bryant 369-193 in District 3. Casaus said she plans to prioritize adding retail businesses and cleanup of the district, particularly in the area around the Mission Garden of Memories cemetery.
“I was happy I won,” Casaus said. “I plan on working hard for my district.”
Chris Bryant was technically running unopposed with 1,083 votes in District 4. A would-be challenger, Rodney Lusk, dropped out after the withdrawal deadline and remained on the ballot to collect 282 votes.
“I appreciate the opportunity to represent District 4 again,” Bryant said, “and I appreciate the support of the citizens.”
The municipal judge race was for the final two years of the term first won by Jan Garrett. Vicki Kelley, the former alternate municipal judge appointed to the position when Garrett retired last year, won the remaining two years of the term with 3,380 votes to Paul Nelson’s 938.
“I love what I do, and I knew if I ran for election that God had a great plan for me,” Kelley said. “If I won the election, that was the plan and it was a good thing. If I didn’t win the election, I knew he had something different in line for me, and that was going to be a good thing for me as well.”
Overall turnout for the election was 24.47%, with 4,498 ballots cast from a pool of 18,379 registered voters. District 1 had the highest turnout at 30.57%, followed by District 4 (26.02%), District 2 (20.82%) and District 3 (18.1%).
In Portales, Ward B was the only contested race and saw challenger Daniel Boan defeat incumbent Jessica Yi 68-34.
“Thanks to the people who took the time to vote for me,” Boan said. “I’m excited to get to work to see what more I can do for our community.”
Portales saw 329 votes cast, with Chad Heflin gaining the most at 85 in the uncontested Ward C race. Also running unopposed were Veronica Cordova in Ward A (56) and Jim Lucero in Ward D (72).
— staff writer Mat Brock contributed to this report