FoCo mayor, council: who's running - Coloradoan
Thomas Clayton
Here's who is running so far for Fort Collins mayor, City Council
Rebecca Powell- Fort Collins City Council elections will be held on Nov. 4 for the mayor's seat and three City Council seats.
- Seven candidates are vying for the mayor's seat. Three candidates are competing for the District 1 council seat, with two candidates each in the District 3 and District 5 races.
- Races with three or more candidates will use ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference.
There's a Fort Collins City Council election this Nov. 4, and it will be the first time voters will use ranked voting to select the next mayor and at least one council seat.
More on ranked voting later. So who's running?
The list might not be complete yet.
The deadline for candidates to submit their nominiation petitions, with the signatures of at least 25 registered voters in Fort Collins, is Aug. 26.
The list below, which is organized by candidates in alphabetical order by race, will be updated if new candidates enter the races.
The Coloradoan will publish more information about each candidate and where they stand on key issues as part of election coverage leading up to the mailing of ballots in mid-October.
For now, here's a small bit of context about each candidate and where to find more information about their campaigns:
Fort Collins mayor
Tricia Canonico is a current City Council member, representing southeast Fort Collins' District 3 since 2021. Her efforts are focused on livability, affordability and sustainability, so everyone has access to opportunity, stability and community life, according to triciaforfoco.com.
Adam Eggleston is a victim advocate with experience as a Realtor and on civic boards and commissions. On his website, www.adamegglestonformayor.com, he says he will advocate for small businesses, expanding housing options through gentle density and improving mobility in the city.
Emily Francis is a current City Council member, representing northwest Fort Collins' District 6 since 2019. She is also mayor pro tem. Focus areas for Francis are affordability, housing, climate change, transportation and community health, according to www.emilyforfc.com.
Adam Hirshhorn is a community member who has advocated before City Council on social, environmental and cultural issues. He has opted not to answer Coloradoan questions about his campaign. His candidate filing says he can be found at electadammayor.bsky.social.
Shirley Peel is a former City Council member who represented southwest Fort Collins District 4 from 2021 to 2024. She is retired with a background in education. At shirleyforfoco.com, Peel says she wants Fort Collins to be a place where "families can succeed, workers can thrive, small businesses can grow, and no one is left behind."
Scott VanTatenhove, "ScottyV," is a Poudre School District employee who has served on the city's transportation board and helped create the Fort Collins Music Association, or FoCoMA, and its flagship event, FoCoMX. VanTatenhove has not responded to Coloradoan requests for information about his campaign. Find Scott VanTatenhove on Facebook and Instagram (instagram.com/scottyv4mayor).
Austin White is a community member whose top issues are affordable housing and helping the homeless. He said he is formerly homeless and wants to help make it easier for people to get into housing, including turning unused commercial spaces into housing and building connections with those who are homeless to help find solutions. No website has been identified.
District 1
Chris Conway is a high school teacher and founding member of Fort Collins YIMBY, which advocates for policies that promote housing. His priorities are affordable, abundant housing; protecting the environment; and making recreation and youth sports more accessible, according to www.chrisconwayfc.com.
Susan Gutowsky is a current City Council member, representing northeast Fort Collins' District 1 since 2019. On her website, susan-gutowsky.org, she says she wants to bring harmony back to the community, and she believes council should collaborate better with the community.
(Gutowsky previously told the Coloradoan she believed she was not eligible for another term after serving a partial term and a full term. Since then, Gutowsky said she received information from the city attorney's office advising that she is eligible. City Clerk Delynn Coldiron confirmed her eligibility, saying the current city charter doesn't address how partial terms apply to term limits.)
Daisy Montgomery is a small business owner and disability advocate who serves on the city's Disability Advisory Board and the Board of Directors for the Autism Society of Colorado. On her website, www.daisyforfoco.com, she says she would focus on addressing the needs of people who are struggling to make ends meet and who are being pushed out of the community.
District 3
Josh Fudge is a volunteer, board member for the Poudre River Public Library District and budget director for the Larimer County government. He says he's focused on striving for better affordability, more efficient government and balanced economic growth, along with climate resilience. www.fudgeforfortcollins.com
Steve Yurash is the founder of the Colorado Center Party and has served on the Fort Collins Electric Board and Larimer County Board of Health. City Council should be responsive to citizen concerns about housing developments changing neighborhood character, he states on his website, www.steveyurash.org.
District 5
Amy Hoeven is a community advocate and serves on Fort Collins' Citizens Review Board. She said in an Instagram post she wants to protect the most vulnerable populations, enable a strong workforce, make housing accessible and build on transportation infrastructure. Her website, anamyforcouncil.com, is still under construction.
Zoelle Lane is a human resources professional at CSU. She says on her website, www.zoellelane.com, that she wants to raise the minimum wage, expand efforts to make housing affordable in Fort Collins, protect and advocate for vulnerable communities, and improve the path to unionization for workers in Fort Collins.
How ranked-choice voting works
This election will be the city's first ranked-choice voting election, which will apply to only the races where there are three or more candidates.
So far, that is the mayor's race and District 1.
Voters will rank their preferences rather than selecting only one candidate.
Any candidate who gets more than 50% of first-choice votes wins the race outright. But if no one gets a majority, it works like this:
The last-place candidate gets knocked out, and those who voted for them have their vote redistributed to their second-choice picks.
The process continues until one candidate reaches more than 50% of the votes.
Other city ballot items
In addition to the above races, voters will decide several city ballot issues and city charter changes.
Officially on the ballot are:
- Six council-referred proposed changes to the city charter. Updating the charter is one of this council's major priorities for this term. The amendments voters will see Nov. 4 apply to a variety of charter sections that cover things like: elections procedures, public notifications about ordinances, campaign contributions, open records, executive sessions and council member conflicts of interest, terms, vacancies.
- A citizen-initiated question asking whether the entire former Hughes Stadium site now owned by the city should become a natural area.
These items are likely to be on the ballot. Council will vote on whether to refer them on Aug. 19:
- A citizen-initiated question asking to permanently renew a quarter-cent sales tax funding natural areas and creating a new plan for how the funds are allocated.
- A council-referred question asking whether the former Hughes Stadium site now owned by the city should become a multi-use recreation and community space, as recommended by a citizen civic assembly.
- A council-referred question asking voters to renew a quarter-cent sales tax for specified capital projects in Fort Collins.
 | Tom Clayton Communication and Media Specialist, Public Affairs |
| Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80522 | 2nd Floor W: (970) 498-7005 tcla...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org |