Edgewater residents will elect their next mayor and a majority of their city council this year. Only one candidate will appear on the ballot for mayor, and residents will have four votes to choose among only four candidates for city council. However, voters have choices in both elections.
Most notably, the city council candidate receiving the fewest votes will serve a two-year term, while the other three candidates will serve a four-year term. That may encourage city voters — who have four votes — to choose not to use all of them in an effort to influence who serves the shorter term.
Edgewater voters will also help elect a majority of the Jefferson County school board and on two statewide initiatives.
The League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum earlier this month.
You can view it here.
How To Vote This Year
Edgewater’s elections are run by the County Clerk & Recorder’s Office. Amanda Gonzalez, a former Edgewater resident, is the clerk; she is currently running for the state’s top elections job: Secretary of State.
- Ballots were mailed to voters on Friday. It is recommended that voters postmark ballots by October 27th.
- Drop boxes for ballots are now open, including one at the Edgewater Civic Center.
- In-person voting will begin at in-person vote centers on October 27th. There are seven locations across the county this year, but none in Edgewater.
- There is more information available from the Clerk’s office.
Four Seats; Four Candidates
Four candidates are running for the city council. That includes three incumbents: Hannah Gay Keao, Joel Newton, and Lilly Steirer. Mark Stechschulte, a current member of the city’s History, Arts, Recreation and Parks Board, is also a candidate.
The city’s “bloc” voting system gives each voter one vote per candidate up for office, but they may only vote for each candidate once. A sample ballot appears below this article, and shows that voters are instructed to “vote for four.”
However, a quirk caused by a legislative vacancy means Edgewater voters have both influence and choices. Council member Newton was appointed to his current position after another member of the council stepped down, creating a vacancy. Council members serve four-year terms, and Newton’s current seat is up for just the remaining two years of the vacant term.
Therefore, whichever of the four candidates places last in the election will only serve a two-year term. The other three candidates will be elected to four-year terms.
So, while Edgewater voters may vote for all four candidates, they can weigh other options. A voter with a strong preference for one candidate may choose to vote only for that candidate, thereby mitigating the risk that a second, third, or fourth vote would harm their favorite candidate’s odds of serving a four-year term. Alternatively, a voter with a strong preference that one candidate not be elected to a full term may choose to vote for three candidates, but not for their least preferred one. Voters can also vote for two candidates.
Mayor Steve Conklin Faces Write-In Challenger
Edgewater Mayors are elected to two-year terms. Incumbent Mayor Steve Conklin is the only candidate who collected signatures from Edgewater residents to appear on the ballot. Cassidy Binder filed a write-in candidacy.
Learn About the Candidates
Hannah Gay Keao and Joel Newton have responded to the Echo’s candidate questionnaire. You can read the interviews with them here and here, respectively. More information on all candidates can be found on these webpages:
- Incumbent Mayor Steve Conklin | Website; LinkedIn; Facebook
- Write-In Mayoral Candidate Cassidy Binder | No online accounts found
- Incumbent Council Member Gay Keao | Website; Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn; Threads
- Incumbent Council Member Joel Newton | Website; Facebook; LinkedIn; Instagram
- City Council Candidate Mark Stechschulte | LinkedIn
- Incumbent Council Member Lilly Steirer | Facebook; LinkedIn; Instagram
Election Commission Vacancies
The Edgewater Home Rule Charter outlines the rules governing elections in the city and serves as a constitution that constrains the activities of elected officials. A task force is currently reviewing changes to the charter.* The charter calls for elections in odd years, requires candidates to be nonpartisan and therefore prohibits listing a party affiliation on the ballot, and sets out rules governing special elections.
The city’s charter also establishes a three-member elections commission, chaired by the City Clerk, which “shall have charge of all activities and duties required of it by this Charter, and by ordinances relating to the conduct of City elections. In any case, where the election procedure is in doubt, the Election Commission shall prescribe the procedure to be followed.” With less than four weeks until Election Day, the commission has two vacancies.
Jefferson County School Board Candidates
Edgewater voters will also help to elect a majority of the county’s school board this year. Three of the five total seats on the board are up for election. While school board members represent “districts” with specific geographic boundaries within the county, every voter of the county is eligible to vote for each office, regardless of whether they are in the district represented by the office holder up for election. Edgewater is in District two.
The Colorado Trust for Local News asked all seven candidates the same six questions. The answers were published in Chalkbeat.
The candidates this year are:
- District 1
- District 2
- District 5
There has been recent coverage of these elections in Colorado Politics and the Golden Transcript.**
Two Statewide Ballot Initiatives
In addition to city and county elections, Edgewater voters will vote on two statewide statutes, each related to the Healthy School Meals for All program.
- Proposition LL would allow the state to keep excess revenues and spend them by paying schools, which in turn offer free lunch and breakfast to students.
- Proposition MM would further limit the state tax deductions of individuals with more than $300,000 in individual income, thereby raising an estimated $95M in new revenue for the program.
Read more on LL and MM from Colorado Public Radio. Read more about the program on the state’s Department of Education’s website.
Edgewater Sample Ballot
* The author of this article, Tyler Fisher, is on the task force.
** This article was updated on October 19th with more information about the upcoming election.
Tyler Fisher is the Publishing Editor of the Edgewater Echo. He is volunteering his time to educate Edgewater residents about what is happening in their community, and he welcomes the help of other community members interested in writing for the Echo and helping to promote it.
Tyler is also the Founder and Principal of Trailmark Strategies — a boutique strategy consulting firm that works with philanthropists, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies. Tyler primarily consults on mental health, democracy, and housing projects. Tyler is also a Research Fellow at Harvard’s Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, Senior Advisor at Dalberg, and writer of the “Bipolar and Bipartisan” Substack.
Tyler has lived in Edgewater since 2022. He has volunteered as a basketball and volleyball coach at the civic center and previously served on the citizens’ advisory committee for the hiring of the city’s police chief. He is currently a member of the Edgewater Charter Review Task Force.
Great information for our city election! I appreciate you sharing this without bias. I don’t think I would have put in the effort to track this down on my own. Subscribing to the email list.