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Eight people have publicly stated they will run for mayor, and there could be more contenders filing affidavits of candidacy by the Jan. 23 deadline.
Mayor John Suthers is barred by term limits from seeking a third term.
Of the seven who have filed campaign finance reports, only two have not held elective office; the rest have been elected to other offices. Three are former El Paso County commissioners, and one is currently serving a four-year term on the commission.
In alphabetical order, they are: (Ages are given as of Election Day.)
Sallie Clark, 63: The April 4 city election will be Clark’s third run for mayor.
Sallie Clark
She came to prominence as a Westside innkeeper who fought to retain Fire Station 3, which was earmarked for closure in the 1990s.
In 1999, she ran for mayor and came in third behind Mary Lou Makepeace, who was elected, and Will Perkins.
In 2001, she ran for the District 3 City Council seat, and defeated incumbent Linda Barley.
In 2003, she gave up her seat in her second failed bid for mayor, running third behind Lionel Rivera, who was elected, and the late Ted Eastburn.
She then switched agencies and in 2004 ran unopposed for El Paso County commissioner and won.
In 2008, she won re-election against Democrat Pam Berry.
In 2010, Clark backed a ballot question that asked voters to extend terms for commissioners from two four-year terms to three.
In 2012, Clark captured a third term, defeating Democrat John Morris. That same election, voters rolled back the 2010 ballot measure — thereby limiting commissioners to two four-year terms — after they complained that the 2010 measure was deceptive in asking, “Shall persons elected to the office of County Commissioner be limited to serving three (3) consecutive terms ….”
About a year after leaving her commission seat, Clark was appointed in November 2017 by President Donald Trump to serve as the state director for the Agriculture Department’s Rural Development division in Colorado. She left that post when Trump lost the 2020 election.
Clark runs a bed-and-breakfast and is married to Welling Clark, who retired from the Navy and is active in community organizations.
Andrew Dalby
Andrew Dalby, 50: Political newcomer Dalby, a Colorado Springs native who owns and operates an RV storage facility, is running as an outsider, citing on his website precepts of independent thinking, such as, “Power corrupts, and the longer a politician is in office, the more corrupt they become.”
He also notes that government “cannot be for the people unless it is of the people,” further stating, “When the people implemented term limits on local politicians, it was to tell them to serve their term, then go home to live under the rules like everyone else, not that it was time [for] all of them to rotate one office over.”
That last comment is an obvious reference to several mayoral candidates who have held multiple offices.
Dalby promises to make public safety, good roads and “parks you want to bring your kids to” his top priorities. He also vows to improve public transportation, which he calls a “cruel joke” because of its limited routes and hours of
operation.
He and his wife, Heather, have six children.
Darryl Glenn
Darryl Glenn, 57: Glenn’s bid marks his second try for elective office since his defeat for U.S. Senate by Michael Bennet in 2016.
In 2003, Glenn, a graduate of Doherty High School and the Air Force Academy who retired as a lieutenant colonel, ran for a City Council at-large seat, placing fifth in a large field from which voters chose Tom Gallagher, Richard Skorman, Randy Purvis and Larry Small. He was later appointed to the District 3 Council seat held by Charles Wingate, who resigned after becoming ensnared in a controversy over his use of a city credit card for
personal expenses.
In 2005, Glenn sought the District 2 Council seat unopposed.
In 2009, he again ran unopposed for the District 2 seat, but soon after winning the seat, announced a run for El Paso County commissioner. He won the seat in November 2010 with 79 percent of the vote.
In 2014, he ran for re-election and won with 80 percent of the vote. As a commissioner, he mounted his failed U.S. Senate bid, captured the Republican nomination but lost to Bennet by 6 points after information surfaced of his involvement in high school in a disturbance involving his dad.
In 2017, he lost his bid for the GOP nomination in Congressional District 5, a seat held by Doug Lamborn.
Since then, Glenn has practiced law and served as legal director for TESSA, a nonprofit that helps victims of domestic violence.
Glenn has served in leadership roles in the local GOP and advocated for tax limitation, including his desire to shut down the U.S. Department of Education.
He espouses a deep Christian faith, saying on his website that “I literally turned my life over to the Lord….” His wife, Jane Northrup Glenn, is seeking an at-large Council seat in the April 4 city election. He has two daughters.
Longinos Gonzalez Jr.
Longinos Gonzalez Jr., 53: He was first elected to an El Paso County Commission seat in 2016 over Democrat Liz Rosenbaum with 62 percent of the vote. He was reelected in 2020, capturing 56 percent of the vote over two
challengers.
An Air Force Academy grad and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, Gonzalez taught Aerospace Studies for three years at the University of Southern California and middle school science in Harrison School District 2.
He ran for an at-large seat on City Council in 2015 but lost.
He espouses conservative philosophy, including a vow to “stop the tax increase proposals the City continues to pursue every other year.” It’s worth noting that most of those tax increases submitted to city voters have been approved.
Gonzalez, along with other commissioners, objected to imposing a mask mandate in mid-2020, even as the COVID virus spread and before the vaccine was available. He also opposed vaccine mandates and refused to disclose to the Indy in the spring of 2021 whether he had obtained the COVID vaccine.
Gonzalez previously served on Colorado Springs’ Public Safety Sales Tax Oversight Committee, on the board of the Colorado Springs Hispanic Business Chamber and on boards for veterans’ services.
He is not married.
Yemi Mobolade
Yemi Mobolade, 44: A resident of Colorado Springs since 2010, Mobolade is a small businessman who immigrated from West Africa and became a citizen, his website says.
He’s never held elective office and doesn’t identify with either party.
He moved here to start a church and later worked at First Presbyterian Church as a pastor. He then founded COSILoveYou and CityServe Day, a nonprofit that strives to unite churches of various denominations.
Mobolade co-founded restaurants Good Neighbors Meeting House and The Wild Goose Meeting House in Colorado Springs, as well as Niche Coaching and Consulting, a business aimed at helping business leaders.
He’s also served on the Thrive Network of Southeast Colorado Springs Board of Directors, Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs Board of Directors, Springs Rescue Mission Board of Directors, Pikes Peak Community College President’s Advisory Council, Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region Board of Directors, Men’s Xchange Board of Directors, Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center Advisory Board, Pikes Peak Workforce Center Workforce Development Board, and COSILoveYou Board of Directors.
He previously worked as the city’s small business development administrator in supporting small businesses and startups. He also served as vice president of business retention and expansion for the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC.
He’s been awarded several community recognitions, including the Mayor’s Young Leader Award for Economic Impact in 2015.
He and his wife, Abbey, have three children.
Tom Strand
Tom Strand, 74: A retired military judge advocate general officer, Strand served as the commandant of the JAG School in Montgomery, Alabama.
Upon retirement as a colonel after 30 years, he returned to Colorado Springs in 2005. He’s served on numerous community committees, councils and commissions, including the District 11 Citizen’s Bond Review Committee. He also served as vice chair and chair of the District 11 Board of Education after being elected in 2007.
Strand was elected to an at-large Council seat in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. He’s barred from a third term by term limits. During his time on Council, he has served as vice chair and chair of Colorado Springs Utilities Board, Council president pro-tem and Council president.
In 2018, he announced a run for the 5th Congressional District but later abandoned that effort.
According to his Council bio, Strand serves as treasurer on the Colorado International Language Academy School Board, a K-8 language immersion school. He also volunteers as a business mentor and has served on the Trails and Open Space Coalition board.
Strand is an advocate for parks and open space but voted with the majority to trade the city’s Strawberry Fields open space in 2016 to The Broadmoor for trail easements and wildlands.
He has three children and five grandchildren and is married to the former Shannon Strand.
Wayne Williams
Wayne Williams, 60: Williams served as chair of the local GOP in the 1990s and won the County Commission District 1 seat in 2002, defeating Arthur Roberts, a Libertarian.
In 2006, he won a second term, defeating Democrat Bruce Berner.
Being term-limited for a third commission term, in 2010 Williams ran for clerk and recorder and defeated Democrat Tom Mowle.
In 2014, Williams ran for the statewide office of Secretary of State and defeated Joe Neguse, who’s since been elected to Congress.
In 2018, Williams lost his re-election bid to Democrat Jena Griswold and in 2019 snared an at-large seat on City Council. If he weren’t running for mayor, he could seek a second Council term. By running, he forfeits his Council seat.
He’s a conservative and practicing attorney, but is among “old guard” Republicans who eschew “election denialism” of the 2020 presidential election’s outcome.
Williams has overseen other counties’ elections on a contract basis and was criticized by some party members for making a public service video last summer with Griswold asserting that Colorado’s elections are fair and secure. (He endorsed her opponent, Republican Pam Anderson, who lost.)
Williams has supported tax measures for roads and other basics, but fashioned a ballot measure that competed in 2020 with the Protect our Parks measure that imposed a requirement of a vote of the people for the city to dispose of park land. Williams’ version would not have allowed a vote of the people.
Williams’ wife, Holly, recently started her second term as a county commissioner. They have four children.
John Tiegen, an Army vet and self-proclaimed “patriot,” has said on Twitter that he’ll run for mayor.