Early results in the Boulder City Council election Tuesday showed all three incumbents headed for re-election.
City Council member Suzy Ageton held a strong lead, followed by Mayor Matt Appelbaum.
Three incumbents and 10 newcomers campaigned for five open seats on the nine-member Boulder City Council.
“It’s certainly exciting,” Ageton said of the initial results. “This has been a very difficult election.”
City Council member Macon Cowles, who drew strong opposition for his role in the city’s new house-size ordinance, was in fifth place.
Of the newcomers, downtown businessman George Karakehian and Planning Board member KC Becker had the strongest showings.
“I’m still a little nervous,” said Becker, who cast herself as someone who could bring the perspective of young families to the council. “I felt like I was running strong, and I felt like I had a strong base of support.”
Businessman and endurance athlete Barry Siff, Landmarks Board chairman Tim Plass and artist and former university professor Jyotsna Raj all were within a few hundred votes of Becker and Cowles.
Cowles declined to comment on the results until more ballots have been counted.
The crowded and sometimes-contentious council race pitted a group generally seen as more pro-business against the candidates supported by Plan-Boulder County and other backers of stricter environmental regulations.
Boulder political blogger David Thielen said the race reflected a tension in the community between what he calls “evolvers” and “freezers”: people who want to see Boulder change and develop and those who like it just the way it is.
In the first group were Ageton, Karakehian, Siff and Becker. In the second were Appelbaum, Cowles, Plass and Raj.
