Neighborhood results (precinct by precinct) from the May 16 mayoral runoff election in Colorado Springs reveal election winner Yemi Mobolade received his strongest support in the older, long-established neighborhoods that surround the downtown area. 

His opponent, former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, garnered his best support in outlying sections of the city, mainly to the north and northeast, but also in Broadmoor and Broadmoor Bluffs. 

Mayor Yemi polled an amazing 79.5% of the vote in the Patty Jewett neighborhood, which is located west and southwest of the Patty Jewett municipal golf course. That left Wayne Williams with only 20.5% of the vote in that neighborhood. Yemi co-owns a restaurant in the area and lives nearby. 

Although Mayor Yemi got his highest percentage of the vote (79.5%) in Patty Jewett, his numbers in other downtown-area neighborhoods were almost as impressive.

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The Near North End (south of Colorado College) plus downtown came in for Yemi at 77.9%. The Old North End (north of Colorado College to Penrose Hospital) rang the electoral bell for Yemi at 77.3%. Ivywild (south of downtown along both sides of Cheyenne Creek) clocked in for Yemi at 76.8%. Middle Shooks Run (east of downtown along both sides of Shook’s Run) backed Yemi with 76.0%. 

These are all neighborhoods of older homes, many of them Late Victorians or early 20th century bungalows. The people who live in them are generally well- educated, have at least middle-class incomes, and have made the choice to buy a home convenient to the cultural and entertainment attractions of downtown. 

We call them Lib-Mids. They have liberal and progressive ideas but have middle-class values and lead middle-class lives. Apparently Yemi’s campaign call for “new ideas” and “new ways of doing things” was what many of these voters were looking for in a new mayor. 

Stepping outside the downtown area, Yemi’s percentage of the vote began to fall but not by much. He carried Old Colorado City and the Westside, a large group of voters, by 74.4%. That indicated Sallie Clark’s endorsement of Yemi in the mayoral runoff probably helped Yemi. 

Sallie Clark was a popular politician from the Westside who had run in the pre-election for mayor back in April. She finished third, however, which eliminated her from the two-person mayoral runoff. She then endorsed Yemi for mayor and publicly supported his campaign.  

Also outside the downtown area is southeast Colorado Springs. Educational levels and incomes are lower in this part of the city. Yemi carried it with 67.7% of the vote, about 10% lower than the percentages of the vote he was receiving in the downtown area and on the Westside. 

That fits with the current wisdom on lower educational level and lower income voters. They have become more conservative in recent years than they were previously, mainly due to social issues. It makes sense they would be slightly less enthusiastic about Yemi than the Lib-Mids from downtown and the western part of the city. 

So far, we have analyzed the downtown area, the Westside and southeast Colorado Springs. Anyone who knows Colorado Springs voting behavior knows that these are the three most strongly Democratic parts of town.  

Yemi is an unaffiliated voter with ties to neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. This much is clear, however. Yemi’s candidacy for mayor of Colorado Springs was popular in the traditionally Democratic precincts. 

We come now to neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that normally vote Republican but showed surprising support for Yemi, this despite that Wayne Williams is a Republican and emphasized that in his election campaign. 

Mountain Shadows (northwest Colorado Springs) voted 63.1% for Yemi. The area north of Constitution Avenue (around Circle Drive) chalked up 61.8% for Yemi. Skyway (the foothills northwest of the Broadmoor area), previously regarded as solidly Republican, scored an amazing 60.0% for Yemi. 

The list of traditionally Republican neighborhoods that became unmoored from their usual behavior goes on: Rockrimmon at 58.5% Yemi. North of Austin Bluffs Parkway at 54.0% Yemi. Woodmen Valley (west of Interstate 25) at 52.8% Yemi. North Powers Boulevard to Marksheffle Road (north of Constitution Avenue) at 51.7% Yemi. 

We conclude the election of Mayor Mobolade was not just based on support from traditional Democratic areas such as downtown, Westside, and in the southeast. Even more important was the shift that took place among Republican voters. Traditional GOP areas shifted about 15% to 20% from their normal Republican voting percentage and gave surprising support for Yemi. 

The Broadmoor area, the neighborhood surrounding the Broadmoor Hotel, has been a bastion of Republican voting strength in Colorado Springs. Not this time. It supported Yemi, though just barely at 50.9%. 

Yemi’s opponent, Wayne Williams, found majority support in the outskirts of northern and southern Colorado Springs. Briargate went for Williams by 50.9% and Northgate gave him 51.5%. The strongest neighborhood we found for Williams was Broadmoor Bluffs, south of Broadmoor near the southern city boundary, where he polled 52.6% of the vote. 

What explains this election? A variety of factors. Credit Mayor Mobolade and his large corps of volunteers for knocking on thousands of doors and talking with voters about moderate changes that would be good for Colorado Springs.  

Williams suffered when his supporters campaigned negatively against Sallie Clark. He suffered too from being criticized as the Developers’ Candidate – which he was. He suffered too because the local Republican Party is fractured by various divisions. 

Meanwhile Mobolade ran an upbeat and optimistic campaign and effectively touted his Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, small businesses and non-profit leadership contributions.   

Voters like term limits and they like the idea of rotating those in positions of political power. There has been a shift away from traditional parties and toward unaffiliating. That helped Yemi and hurt Wayne Williams.   

The paradox is that most voters love living here. They admired the incumbent Mayor John Suthers, yet they also wanted improvements and have anxieties about growth, water, traffic, homelessness and housing affordability. There was an appetite for at least moderate change – and Mobolade was the alternative who was available. 

The result was a remarkable landslide – across most of the city – for Yemi Mobolade. 

Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy write about Colorado and national issues.