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Colorado Springs, Colorado municipal elections, 2015
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The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and city council on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 19, 2015.[1] The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 11, 2015. Four of the nine city council seats were up for election.[2] These included three at-large seats and the District 2 seat.
In the mayoral race, incumbent Steve Bach decided not to seek re-election, saying, "I just feel in my heart of hearts that when we get to spring time it will be time to pass ball to someone else."[3] Six candidates filed to run for the open seat, including former Republican Attorney General of Colorado John W. Suthers and former Colorado Springs Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace.
Only two out of four incumbents ran for re-election to city council. Incumbent Merv Bennett sought to keep his at-large seat, while incumbent Larry Bagley, who was appointed to the council in 2014, ran for re-election to District 2. At-large incumbents Jan Martin and Val Snider did not run for re-election. Both Bennett and Bagley were re-elected.
Following a difficult transition to a strong mayor-council form of government in 2011, political infighting amongst Colorado Springs' elected officials gradually came to dominate city hall. The issue quickly became one of the defining features of the city's 2015 election cycle. Read more about it below.
Mayor
Candidate list
Note: Incumbent Steve Bach did not run for re-election.[4]
- April 7 General election candidates:
- Tony Carpenter
- Amy Lathen
- Mary Lou Makepeace
- Former Colorado Springs Mayor - Lawrence Martinez
- Joel Miller
- John Suthers - Former Attorney General of Colorado
- May 19 Runoff election candidates:
Election results
| Mayor of Colorado Springs, Runoff Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 John Suthers |
67.6% | 65,991 | |
| Mary Lou Makepeace | 32.4% | 31,666 | |
| Total Votes | 97,657 | ||
| Source: City of Colorado Springs, "Official runoff election results," accessed May 28, 2015 | |||
| Mayor of Colorado Springs, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| John Suthers |
46.5% | 40,900 | |
| Mary Lou Makepeace |
23.6% | 20,783 | |
| Joel Miller | 15.7% | 13,794 | |
| Amy Lathen | 11.8% | 10,352 | |
| Lawrence Martinez | 1.3% | 1,125 | |
| Tony Carpenter | 1.2% | 1,048 | |
| Total Votes | 86,954 | ||
| Source: City of Colorado Springs - Official general election results | |||
Polling
| 2015 Colorado Springs Mayoral Election | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | John Suthers | Mary Lou Makepeace | Amy Lathen | Joel Miller | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||
| Luce Research (February 25, 2015) | 30% | 22.25% | 7.75% | 2% | 33% | +/-4.9 | 400 | ||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
City council
Candidate list
At-large
Note: Three at-large seats were up for election. Incumbents Jan Martin and Val Snider did not run for re-election.[5]
- April 7 General election candidates:
- Yolanda Avila
- Merv Bennett - Incumbent Bennett was elected to the council in 2011.
- Vanessa Bowie
- Jesse Brown Jr.
- Glenn Carlson
- Longinos Gonzalez Jr.
- Nicholas Lee
- Al Loma
- Bill Murray
- Tom Strand
- Vickie Tonkins
- Jariah R. Walker
- Joe Woyte
District 2
- April 7 General election candidates:
- Larry Bagley - Incumbent Bagley was appointed to the council in 2014.
- Kanda Calef
- Larry Bagley
Election results
| Colorado City Council, At-large, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Merv Bennett |
15.1% | 33,690 | |
| Tom Strand |
13.3% | 29,635 | |
| Bill Murray |
11.8% | 26,437 | |
| Jariah R. Walker | 10.5% | 23,515 | |
| Glenn Carlson | 8.9% | 19,977 | |
| Vickie Tonkins | 8.1% | 18,005 | |
| Longinos Gonzalez Jr. | 6.1% | 13,718 | |
| Nicholas Lee | 5.7% | 12,815 | |
| Yolanda Avila | 4.8% | 10,612 | |
| Al Loma | 4.5% | 10,055 | |
| Joe Woyte | 4.5% | 10,045 | |
| Vanessa Bowie | 4.4% | 9,912 | |
| Jesse Brown Jr. | 2.1% | 4,793 | |
| Total Votes | 133,254 | ||
| Source: City of Colorado Springs - Official general election results | |||
| Colorado City Council, District 2, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Larry Bagley Incumbent |
69.8% | 9,897 | |
| Kanda Calef | 30.2% | 4,285 | |
| Total Votes | 14,182 | ||
| Source: City of Colorado Springs - Official general election results | |||
Issues
Political infighting
Colorado Springs' 2015 elections marked the city's second election cycle since it transitioned from a council-manager form of government to a strong mayor-council form of government in 2011, making it one of 50 of the largest 100 cities in the United States to utilize this form of municipal government.[6] As several elected officials and local media outlets in Colorado Springs reported, the relationship between the city's legislative and executive branches was often strained in the four years following the initial transition.[7][8]
Outgoing Mayor Steve Bach, for example, reflected on his four-year tenure and said, "This has been tumultuous. It has been very challenging. I don't want to have my personality or the perceived conflict to be in the way. It's time for someone to bring in fresh ideas and fresh energy and take the city forward." Council President Keith King echoed Bach's statement, saying:[9]
| “ | This has been the most difficult two years of my political career. I had more opportunity to collaborate with the Democrats at the General Assembly than with the mayor here in Colorado Springs — and we're all Republicans.[10] | ” |
Residents of Colorado Springs, as well as local media outlets, often blamed this dynamic for the city's slow economic growth throughout 2014.[11] One local citizen, for instance, told the Colorado Springs Gazette, "Let's face the fact that we are near the bottom of the leaderboard in Colorado. That requires some different thinking so we can change that scenario. It's time for the citizens to really pay attention to the candidates and ask them the tough questions about where that candidate sees the future of our city in 2025."[12]
Not surprisingly, the issues of political infighting and the growing pains of transitioning to a strong mayor-council government emerged as key issues in Colorado Spring's 2015 elections.
Several mayoral candidates argued that they have what it takes to build consensus and move the city forward. Amy Lathen said, "I absolutely hear about the dysfunction. And that's true locally. It's true in Denver. 'Wow, you have a lot of weird things going on,' people say. The mayor needs to be right there accessible to them so that we are communicating constantly. That builds relationships. This us versus them mentality that has been going on that creates a lot of this dysfunction will be addressed when we are working closely together. It goes to making sure they have full access to staff. If they have questions coming up on an agenda, they should be able to go to any staff member in the city and ask. They can't do that right now." Other mayoral candidates, such as John Suthers, made similar statements: "We have to have a whole different level of communication where people look each other in the eye and try and work this out. That will happen. I'm not saying everyone is going to agree about everything. A lot of the City Council's complaints have been that the mayor won't deal with them. He doesn't like to deal with people who disagree with him. That will change dramatically. We have to convince businesses that are here and might expand that there actually has been a change. So part of that is outreach from the mayor's office to all existing businesses saying we do have a change in the political atmosphere."[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Colorado Springs Colorado Election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- City of Colorado Springs - City Elections
- City of Colorado Springs - Official 2015 Candidate List
- City of Colorado Springs - Official general election results
- City of Colorado Springs - Official runoff election results
Footnotes
- ↑ The Gazette, "Colorado Springs election results updated; Suthers, Makepeace headed to runoff for mayor," April 8, 2015
- ↑ City of Colorado Springs, "City Elections," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ KOAA, "Mayor Steve Bach will NOT run for re-election," December 16, 2014
- ↑ Denver Post, "Former AG John Suthers wants to run the city he grew up in," January 25, 2015
- ↑ The Gazette, "Councilman Snider won't seek re-election, guaranteeing three new council members in April," January 27, 2015
- ↑ City of Colorado Springs, "Council-Mayor Form of Government," accessed February 16, 2015
- ↑ Colorado Springs Independent, "Handicapping the Mayoral Race," January 21, 2015
- ↑ The Gazette, "Colorado Springs ballot will have more than 20 candidates," February 12, 2015
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Former AG John Suthers wants to run the city he grew up in," January 25, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Gazette, "Colorado Springs economy limping along this year after highlight year in '13," July 6, 2014
- ↑ The Gazette, "Many see potential for new era dawning with Colorado Springs city election," February 15, 2015
- ↑ The Gazette, "Colorado Springs Election 2015: Reader wants to know how mayoral candidates will change city's image," February 15, 2015
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