Two drop out of municipal races in Windsor and Wellington

This story has been updated to reflect the withdrawal of Windsor and Wellington candidates.

The slate of candidates for the upcoming municipal elections in Wellington and Windsor has changed in the past few days as two have dropped out.

Following the April 2 municipal elections, Windsor and Timnath will have new mayors as the incumbents are either term limited or not seeking reelection.

The deadline to file petitions for office was Jan. 22 in Wellington, Windsor and Timnath. Here's a look at who filed for seats on their town boards and mayor as of the filing deadline:

Wellington

Lisa Chollet is no longer seeking a seat on the town's Board of Trustees.

Chollet's petition for candidacy fell one signature short of the required 10 signatures. Chollet said Monday she will not seek to amend the petition and is not going to seek office. Monday was the last day to amend the petition or file a write-in affidavit.

"There are several good candidates running, and I think they'll do a great job," she said.

Chollet serves on the planning commission in Larimer County and Wellington and is executive director of Safe Routes to School. "I filed at the last minute after getting inundated with phone calls of people wanting me to run," she said.

Three people who signed the petition had addresses that aren't public. "I thought that was OK ... but unless they put their actual address on (the petition), they don't count, so I ended up one signature short."

Six candidates filed petitions to fill three vacant seats on the town's Board of Trustees, including incumbents Jon Gaiter and Rebekka Dailey, who are both finishing their first terms. Trustee Ashley Macdonald, who served two terms from 2014-2018 and 2020-2024, is not seeking reelection.

Mario Quinonez, Ed Cannon and Lowrey Moyer also submitted petitions for a four-year term.

Cannon, the former town administrator, was fired without cause in March 2020 after being appointed in April 2017. Then Mayor Troy Hamman said the town board wanted to make organizational changes and go in a different direction.

He went on to become town administrator in Fraser, Colorado. He retired in March 2023, citing family health issues.

Quinonez serves as vice chair of Wellington's Community Activities Commission and district captain of the Larimer County Republican Party, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Moyer and Chollet unsuccessfully sought seats on the board in 2022, when they lost to Brian Mason, Shirrell Tietz and David Wiegand.

Moyer has lived in Wellington for about seven years and has worked in the nonprofit sector focusing on affordable housing.

The top three vote-getters will win seats.

Windsor

Two current members of Windsor's Town Board are vying for the mayor's seat being vacated by term-limited Mayor Paul Rennemeyer.

Barry Wilson and Jason Hallett and former board member David Sislowski all filed petitions for the April 2 municipal election. Sislowski withdrew his petition and is no longer a candidate.

Hallett was elected to his first term on the town board in 2022 representing District 6. He replaced Sislowski, who did not seek reelection. Wilson has served on the town board for six years.

Sislowski, who was elected to the board in 2018, unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2020.

While the mayor's seat will be up for grabs, only three candidates filed for three seats on the town board. Voters will elect representatives from Districts 1, 3 and 5.

Incumbent Ron Steinbach is seeking reelection in District 1; retired Windsor Police Chief Rick Klimek filed to represent District 5, replacing Victor Tallon, who is not seeking reelection; and Lilayne (Lainie) Peltz, a licensed massage therapist, filed to replace term-limited Ken Bennett in District 3.

According to the town's Home Rule Charter, election boundaries were adjusted this year to ensure voting districts have roughly the same number of registered voters. In September, the town board approved the new election boundaries.

Timnath

Robert Axmacher will likely be the next mayor of Timnath. Axmacher will be running unopposed for the seat to replace Mark Soukup, who is not seeking reelection.

Three candidates are seeking two seats on Timnath's Town Council: Jeramie Holt, Bill Jenkins and incumbent Lisa Laake. Voters elect candidates at-large, meaning all voters cast ballots for both seats. The top two vote-getters will be seated on council.

Incumbent Brett Hansen, who is completing his first term and serves as mayor pro-tem, has decided against a reelection bid.

Timnath’s Town Council consists of five members. Four council members and the mayor are elected at large.

Axmacher was elected to Timnath’s town council in 2022 and has two years remaining in his current term. He previously served on the town’s planning commission. He was the lone candidate filing for the mayoral seat.

With no challenger, Axmacher becomes the presumptive mayor. That means council will appoint someone to finish his remaining two years on council. Axmacher works as chief deputy district attorney in the 8th Judicial District, which covers Larimer and Jackson counties.

“I am proud of the many great things we have accomplished during my first two years as a Timnath councilmember," Axmacher said in a statement. "We opened our state-of-the-art police station, expanded Community Park, and are now partnering with Loveland’s Pulse to bring world-class broadband internet to all Timnath neighborhoods in the coming years. As mayor, I will see that our town government is transparent, accessible, and embraces meaningful civic engagement as we continue to grow thoughtfully.”

Laake was appointed to the town council in 2018 to finish the term of Paul Steinway. She was elected in 2020.

Bill Jenkins is a founding member of Guide Our Growth, the organization that led the successful initiative to essentially prevent Topgolf from opening in town.

A Timnath resident since 2017, Jenkins was a research scientist and educator at the University of California San Francisco from 1980 to 1996 and formed an educational software company based on neuroscience research. He served as the chief technology officer at Sally Ride Science, a small STEM education company, from 2012 to 2014. Now retired, he is a part-time substitute teacher in Poudre School District.

Jeramie Holt was appointed to the Timnath Planning Commission a year ago after the resignation of Eric Westlind. Holt previously served as an alternate to the commission.

The town will hold a lottery to determine the order in which candidates are listed on the ballot.

Timnath residents will also vote on a charter amendment that would prohibit the town from annexing property that has an active mining permit until after the mine is closed and property reclaimed. The measure would prevent Connell LLC from annexing property that includes the Connell Resources mining operation into the town until after mining operations have ceased and the land reclaimed.

About the election

Ballots will be mailed out to registered voters March 11. Election Day is April 2.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Who is running in Windsor, Wellington, Timnath in April 2024 election