Conservative firebrand Phil Lyman, a San Juan County commissioner with a criminal conviction that reinforces his reputation as a rural, anti-federal government hero, handily won his bid Tuesday to become a state lawmaker.
But with few votes counted in San Juan, it was still too early to tell if the county had made an historic shift to a majority Indian commission.
Though his victory was largely expected, Lyman’s decision to leave his post as San Juan commissioner to run for a legislative seat came amid a massive political upheaval in the southeastern corner of the state with court-ordered redistricting that put his county position in doubt.