Running for County Office

Offices include County Assessor, County Clerk and Recorder, County Commissioner, County Coroner, County Sheriff, County Surveyor and County Treasurer. District Attorney information is available at the Secretary of State's website.

The next election for County Assessor, County Clerk and Recorder, County Commissioner District 1, County Coroner, County Sheriff, County Surveyor and County Treasurer is November 2022.

The next election for County Commissioner Districts 2 and 3 is November 2024.

How to Run

2024 Candidate Qualifications and Access to Ballot

There are four ways a candidate may be placed on the ballot:

• Nomination by a Political Party
• Petition as a Member of a Major Political Party
• Petition as an Unaffiliated or Minor Political Party Candidate
• Write-in Candidates by Affidavit

Nomination by a Political Party

The nomination process begins months prior to the election. If you are seeking your party's nomination for an office, we recommend consulting your party chairperson as early as possible.

Major party candidates nominated by assembly are placed on the primary election ballot [C.R.S. 1-4-601(2)]. The winner of the primary election races are placed on the general election ballot.

Minor political party candidates nominated by assembly are placed on the general election ballot. However, if more than one candidate is nominated by assembly and/or petition, the candidates are placed on the primary election ballot [C.R.S 1-4-1304].

Petition as a Member of a Major Political Party

Persons who are affiliated with a party but do not want to go through the nomination process may petition to be placed on the primary election ballot.

Petitions must be signed by electors within the county commissioner district or political subdivision in which the office is to be elected. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 1-4-801(2)(e) the number of signatures requires the lesser of one thousand signers or signers equal in number to 10% of the votes cast in the political subdivision at the contested or uncontested primary election for the political party's candidate for the office for which the petition is being circulated.  If there was no primary election, at the last preceding General Election for which there was a candidate for the office. [C.R.S, 1-4-801(2)(a)].

Nomination petitions must meet certain legal specifications. You may wish to obtain legal advice prior to circulating a petition. Petition formats must be approved prior to circulation by the designated election official. [C.R.S. 1-4-901 and C.R.S. 1-4-912]

No candidate who attempted and failed to receive at least 10% of the votes cast at the assembly for a particular office shall be placed in nomination by petition on behalf of that party for the same office [C.R.S. 1-4-801(4)].

Petition as an Unaffiliated or Minor Political Party Candidate

For a congressional vacancy election a candidate must be an eligible elector of the political subdivision or district in which the officer is to be elected and affiliated with a minor political party or unaffiliated for at least 12 months prior to the last date the petition may be filed [C.R.S. 1-4-802 (1)(g)(I)].

For a general election a candidate must be an eligible elector of the political subdivision or district in which the officer is to be elected and affiliated with a minor political party or unaffiliated no later than the first business day of the January immediately preceding the general election for which the person desires to be placed in nomination.
[C.R.S. 1-4-802 (1)(g)(II)]

For a nonpartisan election a candidate must be an eligible elector of the political subdivision or district in which the officer is to be elected and affiliated with a minor political party or unaffiliated on the date of the earliest signature on the petition [C.R.S. 1-4-802 (1)(g)(II)].

Nomination petitions must meet certain legal specifications. You may wish to obtain legal advice prior to circulating a petition. Petition formats must be approved prior to circulation by the designated election official prior to circulation. [C.R.S. 1-4-901 and C.R.S 1-4-912]

Unaffiliated candidates nominated by petition are placed on the general election ballot [C.R.S. 1-4-908(3)].

Write-In Candidates by Affidavit

Refer to C.R.S.1-4-1101 et seq. for more information on write-in candidates.

Write-in candidates must file an affidavit of intent with the clerk and recorder. The affidavit shall state that he or she desires the office and is qualified to assume its duties if elected. [C.R.S. 1-4-1101(1)]

A write-in candidate's name does not appear on the ballot. Voters may write the name of a write-in candidate on the ballot in the write-in space for that race. No write-in vote for an office shall be counted unless the person for whom the vote is cast filed the affidavit of intent. [C.R.S. 1-4-1101(2)]

The affidavit of intent shall be filed by the close of business on the 67th day before a primary election and by the close of business on the 110th day before any other election. However, in a nonpartisan election, the affidavit shall be filed by the close of business on the 64th day before the election. [C.R.S. 1-4-1102(1)]