Pueblo mayoral race headed to a runoff; Gradisar and Nicoll hold lead
Update 8 p.m. Wednesday
With 16 different people vying to be Pueblo’s first mayor in more than 50 years, it wasn’t likely that any one candidate would pull in 50 percent of the vote.
That prediction turned out to be true, as none of the top four vote-getters even surpassed 15 percent of the total vote. That means the Pueblo mayoral race will go to a runoff in January.
As of about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nicoll had moved up into 2nd place (4,711 votes) behind Gradisar (5,134). Nawrocki moved to third (4,681), trailed closely by Winner (4,617).
However, 1,000 ballots still need to be counted in the final tally.
Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz says the 1,000 ballots are provisional ballots, and the signatures need to be verified before they can count the votes. Which means Nawrocki, who trails Nicoll by exactly 30 votes, is not out yet. They won’t have a complete and final result until November 14th.
However ,if these results hold, Pueblo Board of Water Works’ Nick Gradisar and Pueblo City Council President Chris Nicoll will go head to head in a run-off election on January 22nd.
Update 3:30pm Wednesday
According to Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz, he hopes to have all the ballots counted Wednesday night. Which could mean final results could be coming soon. However, for the 16 mayoral candidates, particularly the four front-runners, it could be mean a sign of relief.
“That unknown makes me a little anxious,” said form Pueblo city council President Steve Nawrocki when discussing the wait for further election updates. “The County Clerk has what appears to be a mammoth job counting all these ballots and again not knowing if there is a hundred, a thousand, five thousand, seven thousand, ten thousand, that need to be counted for the city.”
Just a few hours later came another result update, and Ortiz hoped to clear things up a bit.
“We have about six-thousand left to count after 3:30 p.m. today [Wednesday],” said Ortiz.
Ortiz understands what Nawrocki and the other front-runners are going through. He has been through some close races that lasted days himself.
“Like I said I feel for them,” said Ortiz. “But our job is to make sure that every ballot counts, and that we brought in and every voter gets their voice.”
After Wednesday’s update, Nick Gradisar remains in first with more than 300 votes. Even though he hasn’t clinched his spot yet, the Pueblo mayoral candidate told KRDO that a runoff would benefit the voters.
“We are going to have some good debates, and some good forums,” said Gradisar. “Hopefully, there will be an engaging conversation with the community about the issues that really matter.”
UPDATE 7:37 p.m.
Out of the field of sixteen Pueblo mayoral candidates, four have differentiated themselves from the pack. With a little more than 39% of the vote counted, Nick Gradisar leads with 4,021. Lori Winner is in second with 3,779 votes, and both Chris Nicoll and Steve Nawrocki are behind her with 3,694 and 3,645 respectively. The fifth closest is Dennis Flores with 2,369.
So far none of the candidates are close to more than fifty percent of the vote, which would win the election outright. Gradisar only has 13% of the total vote. In all likelihood, the top two will go head to head in a runoff election come January 22nd.
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One of the most talked-about items on this year’s ballot for people in Pueblo is the mayoral race. This is the first time since 1954 that voters in Pueblo will choose a new Mayor.
And they have a lot of options.
There are 16 candidates in total, made up of current and former city council members, community activists, local businessmen and women, and a military veteran.
If none of the candidates get more than 50 percent plus one vote then there will be a runoff election between the top two vote-getters.
With there being so many candidates, the Pueblo County Clerk says that is a likely outcome.
“Statistically with sixteen people running, and seven well-known people in the area running for mayor. I just don’t think it’s possible for one of them to get fifty plus one percent,” said Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz.
With so many candidates Ortiz says a recount is highly likely after people vote today. Especially, if the first place vote getter receives less than fifty percent of the vote.
“If (second and third place) are within a half of a percentage point then it causes a recount so the chance of there being a recount is very high for this election,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz goes on to say that a recount could take weeks to finish, and may not be finished until after Thanksgiving.
If there is a runoff election, voting would take place on January 22nd.
Many candidates campaigned heavily over the weekend, some going door to door, while others used social media to reach voters for one last push before Tuesday.
One candidate says he’s still looking for those undecided voters the day before Election Day.
“I think the citizens are really hungry to want to know more about who these sixteen people are and who they should vote for,” said Pueblo Mayoral Candidate Randy Thurston.
In order to reach those voters on the final day before Election Day, Randy Thurston paid visits to Pueblo businesses.
“What I always like doing is going in and talking to the local businesses,” said Thurston. “They are all concerned about Pueblo’s growth.”
Former Pueblo City Council President Steve Nawrocki has campaigned since December of last year. Despite months of campaigning, he’ll continue to shake hands later Monday night. However, he says the voter’s minds are set.
“We’ve got two days left,” said Nawrocki. “I find it hard to believe that most people haven’t come up with a decision on any of the election issues.”
Candidate Nick Gradisar didn’t spend Monday with registered voters but took questions from local Pueblo elementary students.
“We spent some time this morning talking with them about leadership qualities and the importance of leadership,” said Gradisar. “Obviously, we encouraged the kids to get their parents to turn their ballots in before tomorrow’s election as well.”
If no one receives more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters will go to a runoff in January for the mayor position. Candidates we spoke with are split on whether they think there will be a runoff election.
“There are some really viable people that are running that I think the voters will probably be split up significantly,” said Nawrocki. “I think it would be kind of difficult for one individual to come up with fifty [percent] plus one.”
“If the majority of the people want change then I’m the guy. I don’t think there will be a runoff,” said Thurston.
KRDO reached out to a number of different candidates Monday. Many say all they can hope for is that their hard work pays off Tuesday. All they can do now is light a candle and pray for good results.
As for the voters, they say it was difficult to choose just one out of the 16.
“Voting for a new mayor was very hard, and it takes a lot of research,” said Pueblo voter Jessie Bravo right after she voted at Polling Center on the Colorado State Fair Grounds. “I spent a lot of time online before I got here.”
Earlier this year, Pueblo City Council rejected a “ranked-choice” voting system, where voters would be able to cast votes for their top 3 or 4 candidates.
Pueblo voters say they wish the system was simpler, and they found it difficult to choose.
“I would’ve limited the number of candidates,” said Pueblo Voter Travis Emery. “Maybe cut it down to five or six candidates instead of sixteen.”
“I wish they eliminated some of the candidates through primaries, and not have so many on the ballot. It would have made it much easier,” said Bernie Williams.
Despite the difficulties, of coming down to a single vote. Voters KRDO spoke with say they are optimistic that a new Mayor will bring about positive change to the Steel City.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, approximately 54,000 people have turned in ballots within Pueblo County, and another 9,000 voters are projected to turn theirs in by the end of the day.
The turnout numbers are expected to be less than 2016’s 79,000, but more than 2014’s 59,000. It comes as a bit of a surprise after early voting.
“We really felt like the ballots were coming in slow,” said Ortiz. “Slower than what we saw in 2014.”
Going into Tuesday, there were five thousand less early voters this year than in 2014. After surveying the public, Ortiz says he thinks he knows why that is the case.
“Most people were holding onto their ballots until election day because of the mayor issue. They were looking for breaking news or some way they could make a decision between the candidates. I think everybody has like four, five or six people that they can easily vote for in this election. So a lot of people were holding onto their ballots in case there was some breaking news,” said Ortiz.
As numbers come in later, KRDO will keep you updated on any Pueblo Mayor results.
