SDCEA Board Election Results
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Incumbent Charles A. Abel II and new board member Sandra Long have been elected to serve 3-year terms as board representatives for the Rural Lake/Chaffee County and At Large seats, respectively, after Sangre de Cristo Electric Association’s (SDCEA) annual board election, held June 6. The incumbent and newly-elected director assumed their 3-year terms at the board meeting on June 27.
Long won over Ed Simmons to represent the cooperative’s members-at-large, securing 1,688 votes to Simmons’ 790. This seat was an open seat, previously held by Dan Daly, who passed away in November 2023. Abel, the rural Lake/Chaffee counties board representative, was re-elected unopposed with 1,997 votes.
The date of record was April 8, which determined that 12,127 SDCEA members were eligible to vote in the election; both mail-in and online balloting options were available. Ballots and online votes were managed by Survey & Ballot Systems, a third-party election service, and had to be received by or cast online by 1 p.m. on June 3 to be counted.
More than 2,500 ballots were submitted, which represented 21% of SDCEA’s membership. The results were certified on June 6 by an SDCEA board-appointed election and credential committee.
On average, voter turnout for cooperative elections in Colorado is 16%. Nationwide, the average is 13%.
SDCEA operates as an electric cooperative, a business model owned and controlled by its members — consumer account holders. Due to the impracticality of direct decision-making by all members, SDCEA is governed by a locally elected board of directors. These directors, acting collectively, employ the cooperative’s chief executive officer, establish operating policies, and set overall business goals.
7 board members oversee SDCEA’s operations, each representing different geographic areas within the cooperative’s service territory. Board member terms are staggered over 3 years to ensure continuous governance. Cooperative members are eligible to vote for all candidates, irrespective of their district of residence. There is 1 vote per cooperative membership.
SDCEA serves 14,500 member accounts across Chaffee, Fremont, Custer, Lake, and Saguache counties as a not-for-profit electric cooperative.
For more information about the election or to view the campaign expenditure disclosure forms, please visit our website at the SDCEA Election Center page.
