Nick Gradisar ousted from Pueblo mayor's office after one term

Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar was part of a group that advocated for bringing the “strong mayor” system of government to Pueblo. He won two rounds of elections to become Pueblo’s first mayor in recent memory and started his term in early 2019.

But Gradisar will only be mayor for another week after he lost his re-election bid to City Councilor Heather Graham, who bested Gradisar both in the first round of voting in November and even more so in the runoff election on Jan. 23.

Gradisar celebrated his first win at Zaragoza Hall in Bessemer in January 2019, but that was also where he learned that his tenure as mayor would come to a close five years later.

The mood at Zaragoza shifted dramatically after the first round of unofficial results were displayed. Upbeat music stopped and didn’t come back on after Gradisar’s concession speech — Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” was on the playlist — and the majority of the partygoers left within minutes of Gradisar conceding.

In a brief speech, he congratulated Graham on her win but said the results were “unexpected.”

Gradisar and his partner stayed at the venue for about an hour after the first results were announced but left around 8:30 p.m.

He was endorsed by some of the state’s top Democratic officials, including U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Gov. Jared Polis publicly endorsed Gradisar and also personally contributed to his campaign.

"Governor Polis thanks Mayor Gradisar for his faithful service to Pueblo," a spokesperson from the governor's office said in a statement texted to the Chieftain. "Governor Polis called Mayor-elect Heather Graham last night to congratulate her and he looks forward to working with her to continue making Pueblo and Colorado the best places in the country to live."

Media representatives for Bennet and Hickenlooper had not responded to a request for comment prior to the Chieftain’s deadline.

Shortly before results were announced, Gradisar said he was proud of the campaign that he ran and stood by his track record as mayor, such as in economic development and repaving city roads.

Gradisar also thanked the local and state firefighters’ union, which has been a significant financial supporter of his campaign, as well as the other people and organizations that have helped him.

“You've heard me say that political parties in the United States are the Republicans, Democrats and the mayors,” Gradisar said prior to the results coming in. “Mayors have to get stuff done regardless of political parties, that's what we've tried to do in this in this term and that's what we're going to do with the term moving forward.”

Gradisar is a Democrat. He said that the election is non-partisan, but that it became partisan when the local GOP started helping Graham. Gradisar also thanked the local Democratic Party for helping him out.

“The last five years have been a whirlwind… I’m really proud of the work we did in the city of Pueblo, moving this city forward,” Gradisar said, mentioning the year-plus period the city was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He alluded to the ongoing presidential election and said that the country is going to “face some serious challenges” in 2024, including reproductive freedom and democracy itself.

“Each of us as individuals are going to have to get involved in this next 11 months or we're going to be in trouble. We're going to have a government that we don't recognize and that will not be good for the United States of America and the city of Pueblo," he said.

He told local media after he announced he was conceding that he was looking forward to being a "has been" and is not planning to go back to practicing law.

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

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Nick Gradisar becomes first single-term mayor in recent Pueblo history