Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
Matt Benjamin, Mark Wallach, Nicole Speer and Rob Kaplan have all emerged as likely winners of the Boulder City Council election. The four candidates have pulled away from their seven competitors after the penultimate ballot drop on Wednesday night. Benjamin, Wallach and Speer were all running as incumbents. Kaplan, a challenger, is a former captain for Boulder Rural Fire Rescue. Benjamin had the highest share of votes ahead of the final ballot drop with 17.8%. Wallach had 15.3% of the vote, Speer had 14.1%, and Kaplan had 13.9%. These are unofficial results as one more ballot drop remained on Thursday, and the county clerk still needs to finalize the results. “This campaign has always been about keeping Boulder inclusive, resilient, and thriving for the next generation. We’ve made real progress these past four years — and I’m more energized than ever to keep going,” Benjamin wrote in a campaign email. “Together, we’ll continue leading on climate and wildfire resilience, supporting small businesses and working families, and building a transparent, data-driven city government focused on results.” Speer was in fifth for the first few ballot drops, but she surpassed real estate professional Jenny Robins on Wednesday. Speer’s likely re-election marks a win for Boulder’s progressives. She aligned herself with labor activists and workers throughout the campaign. Though she and Benjamin were endorsed by Boulder Progressives, Benjamin takes moderate stances on some issues and earned an endorsement from Open Boulder, a relatively moderate organization. Speer and Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts, also endorsed by Boulder Progressives, were targeted by moderate and pro-business groups and advocates on the campaign trail. Billionaire Dan Caruso said that the two incumbents represented the “extreme left,” and Open Boulder opted to only endorse Benjamin and Wallach. “We’ll face new challenges in 2026. Some of the candidates who won talked openly about cutting tipped workers’ wages and slashing affordable housing,” Speer wrote in a victory letter. “But we’re not going anywhere. We’ll defend what we’ve built. And we’ll lift up new champions when the time comes.” Wallach and Kaplan were among the more moderate candidates, as well. Wallach, who was re-elected to his third term, said Wednesday that his priorities include having a stronger police presence in north Boulder, citing a public safety worry from some members of the unhoused community, wildfire resilience and implementing policies to combat homelessness in Boulder. “I regard myself as a beneficiary of term limits at this point,” Wallach joked. “I’m going to try to enjoy the last term and get as much done as we can possibly achieve. I think we could have a good council, possibly a little more moderate council, and I hope it will make good decisions and do things that are beneficial to the city of Boulder.” Robins was the most relatively moderate candidate in the field and took hard stances in favor of businesses on the campaign trail. Ahead of the final ballot drop, Robins was at 13% of the vote and trailed Kaplan by just fewer than 700 votes. Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts, the other candidate endorsed by Boulder Progressives and like-minded organizations, never made it out of sixth place in the race. She finished with 12.4% of the vote. “This campaign didn’t end the way we hoped, but I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished,” Folkerts wrote in a statement posted on social media. “We refused to go negative. We stood by our values. And I wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you for your trust, your support, and your belief in a better Boulder.” Filling out the field, social justice activist Rachel Rose Isaacson was at 4.4%, auction house manager Montserrat Palacios was at 2.59%, building developer and small-business owner Max Lord was at 2.5%, pro-Palestinian activist Aaron Stone was at 2.3%, and longtime Boulder activist Rob Smoke was at 1.3%. Smoke conceded on Wednesday. “It was an honor and a privilege to get my butt kicked in the City Council election, and if I ever decide to do it again, I’ll be sure to score some better quality weed starting out, the better to withstand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune … and other things that shouldn’t be allowed, such as money and marketing strategies,” Smoke wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. Benjamin said he wants to readdress Boulder’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which allows developers to pay cash in lieu of building affordable housing. While well-intended, Benjamin said, it has fewer affordable units and has contributed to the city’s absence of middle housing, which is essentially housing smaller than single-family homes but larger than apartments. Benjamin also wants to institute more protections from wildfires and ensure a tipped-wage credit for restaurants, which essentially allows restaurants to pay employees below the minimum wage with the expectation that their tips will make up the difference.
