Yemi Mobolade’s momentous victory last week as Colorado Spring’s first elected Black mayor — and its first non-Republican leader in at least 45 years — signifies even more than what’s on the surface.
The political newcomer and Nigerian immigrant overwhelmingly defeated Republican heavyweight Wayne Williams by about 15 percentage points, or more than 18,000 votes, unofficial results show.
The shakeup represents a definitive political shift in the state’s second-largest city, which has turned more progressive and is slowly shedding its reputation as a conservative military town.
Mobolade resonated with everyday voters as a business owner running a positive race rather than one focused on attacking his rivals, says Sara Hagedorn, a political science professor at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Mobolade will be sworn in on June 6 and replace outgoing, termed-out Mayor John Suthers.
