John Suthers and Mary Lou Makepeace will square off in a May 19 run-off election for Colorado Springs mayor after emerging as the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s balloting.

Neither candidate hit the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright win, but Suthers, 63, came the closest. He picked up about 47 percent of the vote in the city election, while Makepeace, 74, came in second with 23 percent.

Suthers, the former 10-year Colorado Attorney General, said he wasn’t surprised, given the crowded field of six candidates.

“We were definitely expecting a runoff. We really thought our best case scenario was about 40 percent of the vote,” Suthers told KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs. “So we’re delighted by getting a little over 47 and a half percent.”

Makepeace, who served as Colorado Springs mayor from 1997 to 2003, took 23 percent of the vote. Former city councilman Joel Miller gained 15 percent, while El Paso County commissioner followed with 11 percent.

“I think that the biggest disappointment was the low number of people who actually voted in the election,” Makepeace told KRDO-TV. “I’m pleased that I’m part of the runoff. We’ve been anticipating this for the last several months, that there would be a runoff. And starting tomorrow, phase two of the election. Let’s go.”

Makepeace has her work cut out for her. While all four of the top finishers are Republicans, she ran to Suthers’ left, while Lathen and Miller ran to his right, particularly Miller. Convincing Lathen and Miller supporters to swing to her campaign may be a tough sell.

Suthers has been the favorite from the start, given his statewide name recognition and fundraising ability. He took in $340,000, or more than four times that of Makepeace, who had the second largest warchest with $88,000, the Gazette reported.

Narrowing the field to two candidates should allow voters to take a closer look at the differences between the two campaigns, she said.

“I think there will be more focus on just the two of us,” Makepeace said. “We’ve had six candidates and that might be a little overwhelming for the voters. But now there’s two people to focus on, and I think you’ll see a little more clarity in the positions that each of us has.”

Finishing second isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In 2011, Steve Bach won the run-off contest for mayor even though former city councilman Richard Skorman took more votes in the general election. Bach did not seek reelection this year.

The 2015 mayoral race is only the second since Colorado Springs moved to a “strong mayor” system of government in 2010, in which a full-time elected mayor runs city hall, instead of having the council hire a city manager to do so.

– Twitter: @ValRichardson17