Provisional results of Colorado Springs’ April 1 election show that voters chose younger, more ethnically diverse councilors to represent them on City Council alongside the experience of two incumbents who won their races, Dave Donelson and Nancy Henjum.
Donelson and Henjum overcame smear campaigns and won by healthy margins in Districts 1 and 5, respectively. Donelson garnered nearly 60% of the vote in District 1 and Henjum won with just under 50% of votes cast in District 5. Both beat their nearest rivals by double-digit percentage-point margins – just over 16% for Donelson, who had one opponent in the race, and 17% for Henjum, who ran against three other candidates.
Roland Rainey, Jr., a Black former Air Force officer turned educator, was also the target of a disinformation campaign that accused him of wanting to introduce rent control policies in Colorado Springs. One of his opponents in District 6, Parth Melpakam, saw a surge in campaign contributions after the smear went public, but Rainey went on to win with 43% of the vote to Melpakam’s 37%, unofficial results showed Tuesday evening.
In District 4, Kimberly Gold won with 39% of votes cast against three other candidates, one of whom had dropped out of the race, but whose name remained on ballots. The second-placed finisher in District 4 was Sherrea Elliott-Sterling, eight points behind Gold.
At her watch party at the Satellite Hotel – one of three that the Pikes Peak Bulletin was able to attend – Gold said she went into the race without many resources or name recognition, but “ran a race like we were running out of time.” She said she was “eager to take the proverbial baton” from outgoing District 4 Councilor Yolanda Avila, who has served two terms and cannot run again.
Brandy Williams, who served one term on City Council more than a decade ago, topped a deep field in District 3, where she won nearly 38% of votes cast. Her closest rival of four other candidates, Maryah Lauer, was just over three percentage points behind her.
District 2 winner Tom Bailey ran unopposed.
Turnout was low – 23.4%.
Under Colorado Springs law, the results will not become official until eight business days after election day, so that absentee ballots, including those from members of the military, can be counted and ballots cured.
City Clerk Sarah Johnson said the morning after polls closed that there was “not much out to cure,” and she does not expect the winners to change when the final results are posted on April 11.
