Voter turnout in 2024 Pueblo mayoral runoff between Gradisar and Graham was similar to 2019

Just over one in three eligible voters within the city of Pueblo cast ballots in last week’s mayoral runoff election, according to unofficial results from the city clerk’s office.

Approximately 36% of the 2024 runoff ballots that the city mailed out to eligible voters were returned. Voters ousted incumbent Mayor Nick Gradisar after his first term and elected Pueblo City Councilor Heather Graham with a significant margin of victory.

The turnout ratio from last week is similar to the only other mayoral runoff election that Pueblo has held in recent memory: when Gradisar faced Steve Nawrocki in January 2019, 37% of eligible voters cast ballots in the election.

Pueblo's city charter mandates that the city hold a runoff election if one mayoral candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote in the municipal election. Graham came in first place in November and Gradisar came in second with nearly 500 fewer votes, propelling them into last week's runoff.

Turnout trends in recent years

Turnout dropped slightly from the initial November 2023 city election to the mayoral runoff, from 39% to approximately 36%. The November ballots included races for several city council and school board seats.

In general, odd-year local elections tend to elicit less turnout than even-year elections in Pueblo.

Pueblo's first mayoral election in decades took place five years ago in 2018, when the ballot also included state executive leaders, legislators and most Pueblo County elected officials. The turnout among city voters was 56%, slightly lower than the county-wide average of 59%.

But presidential elections usually bring out the most voters.

Nearly three in four voters in the city of Pueblo participated in the November 2020 election, which was more than twice as many ballots cast in the most recent runoff.

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Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics at 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: Voter turnout for Graham and Gradisar race was similar to 2019 runoff