# 2023–24 Pueblo mayoral election

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Pueblo
Mayoral elections
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vte :
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

Organizations
* Pueblo Firefighters Union
Organizations
* Pueblo Police Union
Statewide officials
* Heidi Ganahl, former at-large member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents
Newspapers
* The Pueblo Chieftain

### Results

2023 Pueblo mayoral general election :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Heather Graham | Heather Graham | 6,073 | 22.6 |
| Nick Gradisar (Incumbent) | Nick Gradisar (Incumbent) | 5,604 | 20.8 |
| Chris Nicoll | Chris Nicoll | 3,553 | 13.2 |
| Randy Thurston | Randy Thurston | 3,290 | 12.2 |
| Dennis Flores | Dennis Flores | 3,109 | 11.6 |
| Regina Maestri | Regina Maestri | 1,950 | 7.2 |
| Larry Atencio | Larry Atencio | 1,933 | 7.2 |
| Thomas Croshal | Thomas Croshal | 900 | 3.3 |
| Deryk Trujillo | Deryk Trujillo | 500 | 1.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 26,912 | 100.00 |

## Runoff
### Endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the general election.
U.S. Senators
* Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator from Colorado
* John Hickenlooper, U.S. Senator from Colorado
Statewide officials
* Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado
Organizations
* Pueblo Firefighters Union
County officials
* Zach Swearengin, Pueblo County commissioner
Local officials
* Randy Thurston, former Pueblo city councilor and 2023 mayoral candidate
Organizations
* Pueblo Police Union
Newspapers
* The Pueblo Chieftain

### Results

2023 Pueblo mayoral runoff :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Heather Graham | Heather Graham | 15,632 | 62.38 |
| Nick Gradisar (Incumbent) | Nick Gradisar (Incumbent) | 9,427 | 37.62 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 25,059 | 100.00 |