With incumbent Mayor John Suthers term-limited after eight years in office, the city of Colorado Springs is set to hold a general election to elect a new mayor in just three months, on April 4.
Five people are officially running to lead the state’s second most-populous city, with two declared, according to the Colorado Springs clerk’s office. Candidates have until 5 p.m. on Jan. 23 to return petitions and filing documents that will then be verified by the city clerk to be considered an official candidate.
To qualify to run for city office, a candidate must be a citizen of the United States, have been a resident of Colorado Springs for at least one year before the election and maintain a residence within the city limits.
If no candidate reaches more than 50% of the vote in the election on April 4, a runoff election between the top two candidates will be held on May 16. Elections for municipal offices in Colorado Springs are nonpartisan, and all nominations are achieved through petition.
Here are the candidates, listed alphabetically by last name:
Sallie Clark
Clark served as the state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development for Colorado, appointed by former President Donald Trump, where she administered grant and loan programs relating to community infrastructure, affordable housing and business and economic development.
A resident of Colorado Springs for over 36 years, Clark is the owner of Holden House, a Bed & Breakfast she runs with her husband, Welling Clark. Clark was elected in 2004 to serve as an El Paso County commissioner and reelected to the position in 2008 and 2012. She represented District 3 as board chair and vice chair.
Andrew Dalby
Dalby is a Colorado Springs native and a former information technology consultant. Owner of Dalby Drive, an RV storage business, Dalby has not held any political office and is running as an outside “anti-corruption” candidate.
If elected, he plans to prioritize “public safety, good roads and parks you want to bring your kids to,” according to his website. He would also not seek reelection.
Darryl Glenn
A retired Air Force veteran who served as a lieutenant colonel, Glenn has been a Colorado Springs resident since 1965 after moving to the city shortly after being born in Germany, where both his parents served in the Air Force.
Glenn has over 15 years of experience as an elected public official in Colorado, serving as a Colorado Springs city council member from 2003 to 2011 and as an El Paso County commissioner from 2011 to 2018, where he served as the chairman of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and chairman of the Regional School Safety Task Force. He was also the 2016 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, where he lost to incumbent Michael Bennet. He now serves as a chief legal officer for a domestic violence and human trafficking prevention agency and a trustee of the Penrose-St. Francis Community Board.
Longinos Gonzalez Jr.
Gonzalez has been an El Paso County commissioner for District 4 since 2016. The son of farm laborer parents, he served in the Air Force for 20 years as an intelligence officer, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2012. Once he returned to Colorado Springs, he worked at U.S. Northern Command before making the switch to teaching science at Carmel Middle School and Harrison School District 2.
Yemi Mobolade
Mobolade, a small business owner, immigrated from West Africa and became a citizen, according to his campaign website. He hasn’t held any political office and considers himself a “political independent.”
Mobolade is the co-founder of The Wild Goose Meeting House and Good Neighbors Meeting House in Colorado Springs, as well as Niche Coaching and Consulting, a business aimed at improving business development. He’s served on several boards, including the Thrive Network of Southeast Colorado Springs Board of Directors, Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs Board of Directors and the Pikes Peak Region Board of Directors, among others.
There is no official record of Mobolade running on the city clerk’s website.
Tom Strand
Strand announced his intent to run for mayor in May, yet there is no official record of him running on the city clerk’s website. Strand was a colonel for 30 years and returned to Colorado Springs in 2005, where he served on several committees, including the District 11 Citizen’s Bond Review Committee. He also served in an at-large Colorado Springs city council seat in 2015 and was reelected to the position in 2019.
He’s served as the vice chair and chair of the Colorado Springs Utilities board, council president pro-tem and currently as council president. He also currently serves as treasurer on the Colorado International Language Academy School Board as a facilitator for the Food 4 Thought organization.
Wayne Williams
A resident of Colorado Springs for over 30 years, Williams is currently a City Council member and a member of the city’s utility board. Before his time as a council member, he served on the local board until being elected to the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners, a position he held from 2003 to 2011. After his time as a commissioner, he was elected as the El Paso County clerk and recorder from 2011 to 2015, and then later as Colorado’s secretary of state until 2019.
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