When it comes to City Council candidates, Boulder has an embarrassment of riches.
In the 12 days after Council member Tom Eldridge’s death from cancer earlier this month, 16 people submitted petitions to be candidates in the special election to fill the seat. As of the 5 p.m. deadline Friday, 12 of those candidates had collected enough verified signatures and will be on the ballot, according to the Boulder clerk’s office. The election is July 10.
“I didn’t expect quite this many candidates, I’ll confess,” said candidate Matt Appelbaum, who is a former deputy mayor of the city. “This is a little weird.”
Weird?
Across the metro area, such a response is practically unheard of. In 2003, a Denver Post survey of metro-area municipal and county elections found that one quarter of the races had only one candidate running.
Even in politically active Boulder – which in 2005 had 10 candidates vying for five at-large Council seats – such a turnout is unusual. And all of this for a campaign that will last less than two months. The winner of the seat will then have to turn around a month later and start gathering petition signatures to run for the seat again in November.
“I think it demonstrates the high level of interest that exists among the citizens of Boulder on civic affairs,” said Sam Mamet, Colorado Municipal League executive director.
But for some Boulder politicos, the turnout also is indicative of political savvy. Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin said the large number of entries probably has to do with candidates trying to get a head start on their November campaigns.
“There are many people who had already been thinking about running for November,” Ruzzin said. “When this opportunity came around, they thought of it as, if nothing else, a chance to practice for the fall.”
Normally in odd-year Novembers, there are five seats up for election in Boulder. This year, with Eldridge’s open seat, there will be six.
“Everybody knows that in November there will be a lot of turnover,” Appelbaum said.
The people who filed petitions to run are a diverse lot. Many, like 24-year-old Eugene Pearson, have run before.
“I got to know the community a lot better,” Pearson said of his experience running in 2005.
Others are political newcomers, like Kathryn Kramer.
“I love Boulder,” she said. “Obviously times are changing. But you can keep it the beautiful interesting place that it is.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
