The 2023–24 Pueblo mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the mayor of Pueblo, Colorado. Incumbent Democratic mayor Nick Gradisar ran for re-election to a second term in office. Since there was no candidate that received a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a runoff election was held on January 23, 2024. The election was officially nonpartisan, meaning that party affiliations are not listed on the ballot.
A group collected signatures for a ballot initiative to eliminate the position of mayor and replace it with an unelected city manager. If it had passed, the 2023 mayoral election would have been canceled. Pueblo previously used the council-manager system for nearly a century before switching to a mayor-council system in 2017. The group failed to collect enough signatures. It was discovered that Pueblo City Attorney Dan Kogovsek gave the initiative organizers incorrect information about how many signatures they would need to make the ballot, after which Kogovsek resigned at Gradisar's request.
A total of nine candidates filed to run for mayor. Gradisar and Republican city council president Heather Graham prevailed over a wide field of candidates in the first round, including Republican former city council president Chris Nicoll, Republican former city councilor Randy Thurston, Democratic at-large city councilor Dennis Flores, Republican city councilor Regina Maestri, and Democratic city councilor Larry Atencio. The Republican candidates combined for 55.2% of the vote compared to 42.9% for the Democrats, with the balance going to an independent candidate.
Graham won the runoff in a landslide, unseating Gradisar and becoming Pueblo's first female mayor.
Candidates Declared The following nine candidates made the ballot: Larry Atencio, city councilor and candidate for mayor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Democratic) Thomas Croshal, retired construction business owner (Party affiliation: Democratic) Nick Gradisar, incumbent mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic) Dennis Flores, at-large city councilor and candidate for mayor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Democratic) Heather Graham, city council president (Party affiliation: Republican) Regina Maestri, city councilor (Party affiliation: Republican) Chris Nicoll, former city council president and candidate for mayor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Republican) Randy Thurston, former city councilor and candidate for mayor in 2018 (Party affiliation: Republican) Deryk Trujillo, graphic designer and YouTuber (Party affiliation: Independent)
Failed to make ballot Thomas Martinez, retired steel worker (Party affiliation: Democratic)
Withdrew Samuel Hernandez, food truck business owner (Party affiliation: Republican) (ran for city council)
Declined Mark Aliff, former city councilor (successfully ran for an at-large city council seat) Jeff Chostner, district attorney for the 10th Judicial District Steve Nawrocki, former city councilor and runner-up for mayor in 2018 Garrison Ortiz, Pueblo County commissioner Lori Winner, city councilor and candidate for mayor in 2018
First round Endorsements
Results
Runoff Runoff endorsements
Results
See also List of mayors of Pueblo, Colorado
References
External links Official campaign websites Larry Atencio (D) for Mayor Nick Gradisar (D) for Mayor Dennis Flores (D) for Mayor Heather Graham (R) for Mayor
Chris Nicoll (R) for Mayor Randy Thurston (R) for Mayor