06/19/2026
There's a LOT of concerning statements in this article - The Daily Sentinel 6/17/26 front page:
Gross vs. Silzell: Mesa County clerk election pits experience against populism By NATHAN DEAL
After the drama of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, her elected successor, Bobbie Gross, changed the tone of the office after winning election in 2022, rejecting conspiracy theories and opening up election spaces to tours.
Voters in the Mesa County GOP primary could reelect Gross this month — or they might buck her for Abby Silzell, a candidate who stated on the record in a Stand for the Constitution Q&A that she is open to committing state or federal crimes in the office if she feels it’s needed, believes people should have to put in “more effort” to register to vote, plans to withdraw the county from the Colorado County Clerks Association because of the influence of Peters’ appointed temporary replacement in 2021, and was encouraged to run “entirely” by a political activist who has called for the ex*****on of the state’s “Synagogue of Satan” leaders for treason.
Because there are no Democratic or independent candidates for this seat, this primary will determine Mesa County’s elections chief for the next four years.
With ballots now sent ahead of the June 30 primary, The Daily Sentinel contacted both Gross and Silzell for interviews. Gross participated. Silzell responded, “I am not available for an interview. Thank you, though.”
BOBBIE GROSS
Gross was focused on experience and procedure in her interview, emphasizing that the clerk is responsible for overseeing elections, motor vehicle services, and handling land records, marriage
licenses, liquor licenses, ma*****na cultivation licenses and more. The depth of the job, she said, requires attention to detail.
She spoke about what she’s learned since being elected.
“Consistency matters, trust matters, and really staying involved in the legislative process is essential. It’s important that we continually look for ways to improve processes to better serve the public. There are numerous laws and regulations that effect all divisions of the office and our staff relies on me to understand them. If you’re not up to speed, you really need to get there quickly. While the county does have county attorneys, we’re still relied upon to know which statutes we need to look at, and we’re responsible for knowing those laws and their impacts. We have to be able to communicate that information to not only the staff but the public,” Gross said.
“The other thing is that election integrity is so critical. While the term means different things to different people, it really means to me that you’re continually looking for ways to enhance that security, increase transparency and ensure accuracy throughout the whole process. Having confidence in elections is really built through strong procedures and open communication with the public.”
When asked what her message is to those who still cast doubt on the county’s elections — including Peters, who told Trump media figure and former administration official Steve Bannon on a recent podcast that “the Democrats are going to cheat” and said she “exposed election machines that allow the votes to be flipped” — Gross responded that her office implemented a ballot verifier process as an additional layer of security and review, a process that allows the public to review and verify how ballots are tabulated.
She also invited skeptics to schedule election tours with the office. Gross has hosted tours for groups to go into secure areas and learn about voting machines and the people involved who look for any issues. The Daily Sentinel attended such a tour in April when Gross invited Central High School’s social studies class to learn about elections.
“I believe my experience, my knowledge and the relationships I’ve built during my time in office have prepared me to continue moving forward with this office. Serving as the clerk has really given me that deeper appreciation for gaining that trust in public spaces. I don’t take that responsibility lightly. I’m proud of the work we’ve accomplished,” Gross said.
“There’s more work to be done, whether that’s improving efficiencies, adapting to legislative sessions, or strengthening our election security and maintaining accurate records. We’re always looking for ways to better that and to serve our citizens. While people may have questions, I think it’s a great time for them to come in and actually see the checks and balances we have in place, especially with elections.”
ABBY SILZELL
Elizabeth Abigail Silzell, who goes by Abby, is 30 years old, making her a younger challenger for elected office against the 51-year-old Gross. Per her LinkedIn page, she’s the sales marketing and operations coordinator at Copper Creek Builders. Before that, she was the closing assistant with Land Title Guarantee Company, a position she took after moving from Dallas to Grand Junction in 2021.
Silzell has listed her priorities as securing elections, bringing integrity to the clerk’s office and enhancing Department of Motor Vehicles services. She wants a full audit of the county’s voter rolls to identify and remove ineligible voters. Per her campaign website, she calls herself a “proud conservative” who believes in “limited government, personal responsibility and the rule of law.”
Little is known about Silzell online beyond her page, where she’s shared articles alleging “systemic” illegal voting in swing states, a Buck Sexton post saying the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot was not an insurrection and was used so that “angry commies” would “despise all Trump voters”, and multiple posts by Jenna Ellis, the lawyer who tried unsuccessfully in court across swing states to challenge the result of the 2020 election on President Donald Trump’s behalf.
She did participate in a Stand for the Constitution Q&A at Appleton Christian Church in mid-April. In the Q&A, she said she wants the county to move toward paper ballots that are hand-counted, and said she hopes Trump’s April executive order restricting mail-in voting nationwide succeeds in court and is ultimately implemented. The Q&A was recorded and posted on Stand for the Constitution’s page.
In her remarks about mail-in voting, she implied that voter fraud in elections is intentional, calling it a “conspiracy” enabled by the mail-in process.
“I am not in favor of mail-in voting. Currently, it is Colorado law. I am in favor of the president’s executive order and, hopefully, that will change,” Silzell said.
“While there is always concern with fraud, even if it’s a hand count, you’re limiting the amount of fraud because of the amount of people you’re having in. It’s kind of the old adage, ‘The only way to keep a secret between two people is if one is dead.’ Every time you add a person into any kind of conspiracy, you are asking for more people to find out about it because you have to keep adding more people to it. With a machine, you only need one or two people who can code properly and be able to get in and change that machine and cause a problem.”
She criticized the state’s Motor-Voter Law, which gives people the option to register to vote when they visit other offices under the clerk, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, and have ID proving they’re a U.S. citizen. This law also updates county voter rolls with people’s new addresses and other updated contact information.
“I think you need to put a little more effort in to participate in voting,” Silzell said.
When one commenter mentioned Peters’ prison sentence over providing unauthorized voter roll access to someone in 2021 to prove fraud in the 2020 election favoring Democrats, Silzell said she would be willing to break either federal or state law if she deems it necessary to do her job, and that she would seek advice from community members instead of legal elections sources.
“There might be a time where I have (a predicament of state and federal law clashing). If I need the support, I will definitely reach out and tell people because if I get in that spot where there is no win and either way, I’m breaking federal law or I’m breaking state law, then it comes to you to help me figure out which one you would rather essentially have me break,” Silzell said to those attending the event at the church.
When she was asked how she could search for suspected fraud and not go to jail for it like Peters, Silzell responded, “By having a county sheriff or a county DA (district attorney) who’s not willing to go along with it.”
Asked why she chose to run for the position, Silzell said she was influenced “entirely” by political activist Joe Oltmann after she attended an event at which he spoke. After the event, Oltmann asked her why she isn’t running for county clerk.
Oltmann has claimed that the Jewish “Synagogue of Satan”, a “cartel”, control Colorado, and he’s called Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein — the latter a Republican — “demonic individuals who have built a fraternity around the George Soros of the world.” During a GOP gubernatorial debate in late May, Scott Bottoms, for whom Silzell expressed support, said he would likely appoint Oltmann to a state cabinet position, as long as the position is “not around Jewish people.”
She listed God as her other influence for running in addition to Oltmann.
Silzell also committed to withdrawing Mesa County from the Colorado County Clerks Association, decrying the influence of Wayne Williams, the Republican secretary of state in Colorado from 2015-2019 who was designated as the temporary election official in Mesa County for the November 2021 elections because Peters was under investigation. She didn’t specify what Williams’ influence on the association is, as Williams has no current official ties to the association.
