Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
Susie Hidalgo-Fahring is positioned to be the next mayor of Longmont, according to the latest polls in a four-way race for Longmont’s mayor’s seat. Should she go on to be the next mayor, there would be a special election process for Hidalgo-Fahring’s current Ward 3 seat, which she would step out of once she assumes the position of mayor in December. City spokesman Rogelio Mares confirmed on Wednesday that the City Council will hold a special election process to fill her Ward 3 seat, but the timing for that will not be determined until December, when the City Council will take a vote on the date for the special election. In years past, Longmont has held special elections in the spring following their December vote. When Longmont’s current mayor, Joan Peck, stepped out of her at-large seat and into the mayoral role in December of 2021, the council held a special election for her at-large seat on April 5, 2022. The special election was conducted by an outside vendor. Her position of mayor pro-tem will go to another member of the council. That member will be decided upon based on a majority vote from council members. The mayor pro-tem is responsible for stepping in to assume the mayor’s duties in their absence. As of 5:10 p.m. Wednesday, with 28,172 votes counted, Hidalgo-Fahring led with 39.6% of the vote, followed by aerospace professional Shakeel Dalal with 23.6%, Councilmember Diane Crist with 21%, and former Councilmember Sarah Levison with 16.1%. “I’m very humbled. I’m very shocked. And I was very emotional. It was a grassroots effort. You know, a lot of people came together who typically don’t get involved with politics. And my experience at the doors was very positive, and I just want to do right by the people,” Hidalgo-Fahring told the Times Call Tuesday night. “I think moving forward, it’s about the perspective people shared with me. I want to bring that to the council and in my leadership.” Jake Marsing and Crystal Prieto were leading just Wednesday evening in the race for two open at-large seats on the Longmont City Council, with Marsing taking 29.3% of the votes and Prieto taking 24.5% of the votes. The two candidates mutually endorsed each other for the at-large seats last month. “I’m so proud of the campaign we ran. I truly am humbled by the trust that this community has placed in me to do the work and to go to council on Tuesday nights and advocate for working people,” Marsing told the Times-Call on Tuesday night. “I am truly humbled, thankful, but also really aware of the fact that it looks like about 70% of the city of Longmont did not choose me as their candidate, and my goal is to work as hard as I can to earn their trust and to do what I can to make sure the community feels like I’m representing them.” The next at-large candidate, trailing Prieto, was Alex Kalkhofer with 14.6% of the vote, followed by Steven Altschuler with 14.3% of the vote, Riegan Sage with 9.2%, and John Lembke with 8.2%. As of the Wednesday evening ballot drop, 46,441 votes had been counted in the at-large race. In the race for the Ward 2 seat, results as of 5:10 p.m. Wednesday — with 8,998 votes counted — showed incumbent Matthew Popkin in the lead with 54.2% of the vote and Teresa Simpkins with 45.8% of the vote. “What was really encouraging throughout the campaign season was that I’ve heard from so many residents that want Longmont to continue to be an innovative and effective city, and that’s going to be even more difficult as resources get scarcer, both from the state and federal level,” Popkin told the Times-Call on Wednesday. “It’s going to require creative problem solving and strategic efficiency to really support our growing needs. And I’m just really excited that people were so passionate about Longmont’s future and willing to spend their time and money and effort trying to envision a better future for Longmont.” Popkin added that he appreciated both of his opponents in the race, Simpkins, and Meg Thornbury, who dropped out and endorsed him in early September. “You don’t enter this kind of a race or competition unless you really care. And I know both of them did. I’m just grateful for their efforts and for the time they spent too, and the evident passion that they have for our future.” He added that he will continue working to advance many of the shared priorities that he and Simpkins have, and that he is committed to continuing dialogue with Simpkins’ voters to better understand their priorities moving forward.
