John Suthers Elected Mayor of Colorado Springs

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Surrounded by his family and supporters, Colorado Springs mayor-elect John Suthers delivers his speech after winning the runoff election.
Credit Andrea Chalfin / KRCC
Surrounded by his family and supporters, Colorado Springs mayor-elect John Suthers delivers his speech after winning the runoff election.

Former Colorado Attorney General John Suthers will be the next mayor of Colorado Springs.  

Suthers soundly defeated former Colorado Springs mayor Mary Lou Makepace in a runoff election by a two to one margin.  He said Tuesday night that he was humbled by the response, but there’s work to be done.

"The challenge is very, very significant," Suthers said. "And so I take delight in the political victory tonight, but tomorrow, we hit the ground running and working very very hard."

Suthers said it will take collaboration between his office and city council, as well as the residents, to confront what he calls serious issues facing the city. 

"If we’re going to tackle a couple hundred million dollars of road resurfacing projects, a couple hundred million dollars of stormwater projects, it’s the voters that are going to have to cooperate in that.  The city does not have that kind of money in its current revenues."

Suthers mentioned the possibility of a ballot issue in November geared toward those issues, but also said how that might look remains to be seen. He officially takes the oath of office in June, but plans to meet with outgoing mayor Steve Bach and others before then.

The Gazette reports that Mary Lou Makepeace said in her concession speech that her campaign changed the conversation and "shed light on the city’s problems."

The two faced a runoff after none of the candidates in April received a majority of the vote.