Colorado Springs is a very red city in a blue/purple state. I can’t remember the last time there was a “Democratic” mayor — though municipal elections are supposed to be nonpartisan. Anyone who has lived in El Paso County knows it is very Republican and people rise through the ranks in whichever party they are part of. Their stripes don’t change when they decide to run for mayor. It’s been decades...
Mayor John Suthers was term limited (and not that popular.) TWELVE different people ran for mayor in the April election. After Black newcomer Yemi Mobolade and Wayne Williams (very GOP) came in with the highest numbers, a runoff election was called. The next closest candidate had been Sallie Clark, who was also a former long-term (GOP) city official. Yemi was born in Nigeria. His campaign had been made up of thousands of small donations from thousands of people. Both Sallie Clark and Wayne Williams were well-known to have “connections” with developers. Both had received huge donations from these corporations in this election as well as in the past. After Sallie Clark was eliminated, she endorsed Yemi.
He just stayed positive. He talked positive throughout. He’s not a democrat. But he’s certainly not a republican. And I promise you, there are a bunch of people in that city that are losing their minds tonight. So sad. And many more that are so glad. I am one.
Congratulations, Yemi. I sincerely hope this means something new and fresh and hopeful is coming to Colorado Springs!
KKTV 11 News confirmed Wayne Williams called Yemi Mobolade to concede when it came to the mayoral runoff election in Colorado Springs Tuesday night.
“He conceded and he thanked me,” Mobolade said of a call he took from Williams after the first round of results. “Can we give it up for Wayne as well? He fought a long and hard journey like I did.”
In the first round of results Mobolade had 65,791 votes compared to 48,570 votes for Williams, about 81 percent of the total votes cast based off estimations by KKTV. KKTV 11 News is estimating a 45 percent turnout of registered voters or about 140,000 ballots to be counted. The number is based on historical data and updates on voter turnout from the clerk’s office. Our estimate is subject to change depending on the actual turnout, which is why we reporting an “estimated” percentage.
Who is Yemi Mobolade?
Mobolade, who is a naturalized citizen and identifies as a political independent, is the co-founder of two local coffee shops and has also founded a church. In the public sector, Mobolade has been an advocate for small businesses with the city. He has worked with the Chamber and Economic Development Corp.
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When asked if Tuesday night's results signal a larger change in the political alignment in Colorado Springs, Mobolade said, “I don't know, I can't speak to that. But what I can't speak to is the hunger in our city at this moment in time. The hunger is not one that is partisan, as clearly evident in this room. We have Democrats, Republicans and Independents all gathered. The hunger is for vision that transcends political party lines and the tiredness and the frustration in our city and in our nation is around (the) partisan divide and the fighting that happens and people are just ready for a new type of leadership that puts our quality of life ahead of party politics.”
He also noted the city charter calls for the mayor to be non-partisan, “I'm glad that I could restore the spirit of the law that we should be abiding by.”
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