Boulder residents decided on Aaron Brockett as the returning Boulder mayor after a close election race on November 7. The Boulder City Council races in the same election showed mixed results when it came to candidates focused on public safety. The Safe Zones 4 Kids ballot measure also passed. KUNC’s Desmond O’Boyle discussed these topics Wednesday with John Herrick, senior reporter for The Boulder Reporting Lab.
In the Boulder mayor race, challenger councilman Bob Yates had a good showing on election night, leading for most of the evening. But the next day when ballots continued to be counted, Brockett pushed ahead. Yates called Brockett Wednesday evening to concede and congratulate him.
“Just looking at data on who voted in the days leading up to the election, we see that the average age was older than voters as a whole,” said Herrick. “And because ballots are generally counted in the order they are received, those early results reflect that age disparity. Beyond that, I think it's hard to draw too many more conclusions about who voted for which candidates.”
Herrick said as more data from precincts come in, more insights into how demographics affected the election may pan out. Brockett attracted a left of center vote, as opposed to Yates and the other challenger, Nicole Speer. It’s not clear there are any specific reasons the election for mayor was so close, but Herrick said the Boulder community has been divided over one issue in particular: housing.
“And this can be largely based on whether or not you're a renter or homeowner, and it probably also reflects some divide along this issue of unsheltered homelessness," Herrick said. "Some people want to see more encampments cleared out, even if it means using law enforcement. Others generally want more services and places for people to sleep.”
Several city council candidates made public safety their number one priority, taking stances on issues like supporting police and advocating for the removal of camps for people experiencing homelessness. Some also advocated for harsher penalties for people charged with drug offenses, trespassing or other low-level crimes. Some of those candidates received mixed results from voters about their stances on the matter.
“The candidates who rallied around this message did not flip the majority on the city council. It seems as though, at this point, just two are going to be elected,” said Herrick. “And (those two) were perhaps the most moderate of this slate of candidates. And of course, take this with a grain of salt because one seat is undecided, and that could change this analysis to some extent.”
These candidates also endorsed the Safe Zones 4 Kids ballot measure, which passed by a 20-point margin. The measure essentially reasserts a policy to clear out encampments of people experiencing homelessness and has prompted a broader debate about how the City of Boulder responds to homelessness.
