Meet the expert helping Pueblo run its mayoral runoff election

Anna Lynn Winfrey, Pueblo Chieftain
·3 min read

As a child, Karen Goldman didn’t dream of working as a city clerk or a teacher.

But over decades of experience as a city clerk, Goldman has built a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable experts in Colorado municipal elections. She advises municipal clerks around the state and has influenced legislation affecting city elections.

Goldman is in Pueblo now to help the city administer the upcoming mayoral runoff election, which is the first city-run election in approximately two decades.

Here’s why Goldman got into city administration and why she’s passionate about helping city clerks around Colorado.

Karen Goldman’s hair is vibrantly colored in purple and a pale green that matches her eyes. She said that she started dyeing smaller sections a few decades ago, but over the years that expanded to her entire head. She says that she changes the color regularly.
Karen Goldman’s hair is vibrantly colored in purple and a pale green that matches her eyes. She said that she started dyeing smaller sections a few decades ago, but over the years that expanded to her entire head. She says that she changes the color regularly.

How Goldman became one of Colorado's city election experts

Goldman started her career in libraries in Oregon, then saw a posting for the local version of a city clerk’s office that needed some help getting its records in order.

“The city's records were a mess, so I got the job and that was my new trajectory,” Goldman said.

She moved to Colorado in 1986 to start working as a city clerk in Lakewood. She soon started helping train clerks around the state in records management as well as shadowing the city’s lobbyist at the state capitol. That led to being the “volunteer lobbyist” for the city of Lakewood: she would get input from the city’s departments and craft position papers with city council.

After the Taxpayer Bill of Rights was approved in 1992, she served on a committee with other election experts in Colorado to craft legislation for implementing TABOR. Goldman also started to do more election-related work with the Colorado Municipal League, such as training clerks and collaborating with an attorney to influence legislation.

For example, when a lawmaker introduced a bill to add signature verification for municipal elections, the first draft wasn’t up to snuff. So she worked with the bill sponsor to make some changes that improved the legislation.

“A lot of times, the legislators have an idea, but they don't understand the practicality of it,” Goldman said.

She has lived in mostly urban areas throughout her career, but often thought of how legislation would affect clerks in rural areas.

“I have the greatest respect for the small-town clerks because they are often one-person offices and they have to do everything,” Goldman said.

Karen Goldman, left, a Colorado municipal elections expert, explains the process of how the mayoral runoff election will take place while Pueblo City Clerk Marissa Stoller, center left, and mayoral candidates Heather Graham, and Nick Gradisar, right, listen on Friday, January 5, 2024.
Karen Goldman, left, a Colorado municipal elections expert, explains the process of how the mayoral runoff election will take place while Pueblo City Clerk Marissa Stoller, center left, and mayoral candidates Heather Graham, and Nick Gradisar, right, listen on Friday, January 5, 2024.

Goldman’s work with elections

Goldman said she “wanted to feel useful” since she retired from her last “40-hour week” job in January 2017.

She’s known as one of the foremost experts on municipal elections in Colorado and officials often reach out to her for advice. While she does have decades of experience under her belt, she cautions that she’s not a lawyer.

In addition to traveling around Colorado and assisting city clerks with administering elections, Goldman said that she’s working on a “multi-year project” to suggest amendments to the Colorado municipal election code first crafted in 1965.

The prevalence of mistrust in the integrity of elections has skyrocketed in recent years, in large part because of former President Donald Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

Goldman said that some election skeptics have observed the election process as observers, then changed their minds and asked about working as an election judge in the future.

“They see that the process is very open,” Goldman said. “I am very transparent. I don't have anything to hide, so I make sure that everybody who shows up and wants to know about something knows.”

But there’s a limit to her ability to influence someone’s deep-seeded mistrust in election infrastructure. “There’s only so much I can say," Goldman said.

“We do everything we can with checks and balances and doing the same thing over and over again to ensure that (elections are safe),” she said.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: City elections expert Karen Goldman helping Pueblo run mayoral runoff