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Lee Lehmkuhl
Lee Lehmkuhl ran for election to the Colorado Springs City Council to represent District 1. He lost in the general election on April 1, 2025.
Lehmkuhl completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Lee Lehmkuhl was born in Sumner, Iowa. He served in the United States Air Force from 1981 to 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 1981, a graduate degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1986, and additional education from George Washington University in 1993. His career experience includes working as a scientific analyst. Lehmkuhl has been affiliated with the Suicide Prevention Collaborative of El Paso County, the State Suicide Prevention Commission, and Rocky Mountain Roosters.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2025)
General election
General election for Colorado Springs City Council District 1
Incumbent Dave Donelson defeated Lee Lehmkuhl in the general election for Colorado Springs City Council District 1 on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dave Donelson (Nonpartisan) | 58.0 | 11,805 |
 | Lee Lehmkuhl (Nonpartisan)  | 42.0 | 8,547 | |
| Total votes: 20,352 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Lehmkuhl in this election.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Lee Lehmkuhl completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lehmkuhl's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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In 1996 the Air Force moved me to Colorado Springs where I taught math and operations research to cadets at the United States Air Force Academy. It didn't take long for my family and me to realize this was the place we wanted to make our home. My youngest daughter graduated from Liberty High School before earning her bachelors at CU- Boulder.
My family has lived in District 1 for 25 years. Most of our time in the district was spent on the eastern side of the district in the Brookwood neighborhood. After my father passed away, we purchased a home in Mountain Shadows so my now 93 year old mother could live with my wife and me.
I am an active member of my church where I have served in church leadership and sing in the choir. I'm also an avid outdoorsman and enjoy spending weekends in the field bird hunting with my birddog Greta. I'm also passionate about suicide prevention and volunteer both locally and on the state level where recently I was named as the Commissioner for US Active Duty Military and Veterans on the State Suicide Prevention Commission.- I want to ensure Colorado Springs maintains its reputation as a family friendly city by keeping a strong focus on improving the safety of our neighborhoods.
Over the past few years we have watched crime rates rise in Colorado Springs while our city's response times when people are experiencing emergencies have increased by over 10 minutes.
I want to ensure that our Police and Fire Departments are fully resourced while ensuring our first responders are receiving wages and benefits commensurate with the dangers they face and skills required to do the job.
My commitment to public safety has earned my campaign endorsements from former Sheriff Bill Elder and the Colorado Springs Police Protective Association. - Wildfire mitigation and evacuation planning are a top priority. Many of our neighbors still have vivid memories of the Waldo Canyon Fire. This is an issue we can and should fully study to make sure residents in our wildland urban interface are confident in the mitigation efforts and evacuation planning. During my time in the Air Force, I analyzed the movement of military forces in and out of conflicts. The same analytical techniques can be applied to the wildfire challenges we face. I will bring my operational expertise in this field to City Council so our families can have peace of mind knowing we are doing all we can to prevent the next fire before it starts while having strong evacuation plans in place.
- The ongoing vitality of Colorado Springs relies on responsible citizen informed growth. While we don't want our kids to live in Kansas, we also want them to have better housing options than our basements. I believe we can find solutions that protect the character and safety of our neighborhoods while allowing our families, first responders, teachers, and active duty military to live a comfortable life. At the same time, our neighborhoods deserve a strong voice in this conversation. While our neighborhoods in the city's wildland urban interface and other portions of the city that have been built out can't safely absorb more housing, I do believe we can find solutions in portions of the region that can support more families.
I relish the opportunity to apply my technical skills to the resource allocation challenges faced by Colorado Springs Utilities. Our City Council also serves as the board of CSU. My background in mathematical modeling and analysis will allow me to bring a unique skillset to many of the issues facing CSU.
We should also expect our elected officials to be accessible and responsive. Oftentimes we hear quite a bit from politicians when they need our vote, but there's radio silence from them once we get past election day. Continuous communication and listening from our elected officials is a must.
It's also critical that our elected officials can create a productive work environment and work collegially with their peers. At the end of the day, when our elected leaders fail to work together or can't work through differences, it's our families and neighborhoods who pay the price.
Our elected leaders also need to be forward thinking and anticipate the challenges of tomorrow, keeping in mind our maturing families and future generations. It doesn't require a crystal ball to anticipate the challenges of tomorrow. There are many cities across the country who have experienced the same challenges as Colorado Springs and we can learn from their successes and mistakes. However, it requires leadership who is willing to look forward and use today to put in place solutions for tomorrow. The mantra, "the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is today" is appropriate here.
Other critical boards our City Council makes appointments to include our Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Advisory Board, Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission, Planning Commission, and Independent Ethics Commission.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 23, 2025
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