Pitkin County Commissioner: Patti Clapper re-elected to fifth term
Anna Stonehouse/The Aspen Times
Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper was elected to a fifth term on the county board Tuesday night.
“I’m really excited for the next four years with the county,” she said Tuesday night from the Hickory House. “I’m just relieved. I was sick to my stomach every day for the last three weeks.
“It’s really brutal to run for public office.”
As of the Pitkin County results update at 1 a.m., Aspen businessman Rob Ittner trailed Clapper by 23 percentage points; Clapper was leading with 61.4 percent of the vote to Ittner’s 38.5 percent. Clapper received 5,477 votes to Ittner’s 3,441.
“I could be better,” Ittner said from Rustique, the downtown Aspen restaurant he owns. “It doesn’t look like I’m going to make up that vote count. I’m a little surprised.”
Ittner served on the county commission from 2011 to 2015, after Clapper was forced to step down after three terms because of term limits. Clapper came back in 2014 and bested Ittner by 13 points in the last midterm elections.
Ittner said Tuesday night he was surprised by the final numbers because he felt stronger support from the community this time around than his previous campaign against Clapper.
“It just seemed sort of surprising,” he said. “But I’m proud of the race I ran. I hold my head high.”
Asked if he might run again for public office, Ittner said, “Never say never.”
The other seat on the county board up for election will be occupied by Kelly McNicholas Kury, who was elected Tuesday without opposition. McNicholas Kury served as elections manager for the Pitkin County Elections Office and will take over the seat from Rachel Richards, who was forced to step down because of term limits.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Aspen and Snowmass Village make the Aspen Times’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.
User Legend: Moderator
Trusted User
Biden takes the helm as president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’
Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.