City Council Candidate Endorsements (2025)

Boulder 

Boulder City Council

Matt Benjamin

Nicole Speer

Lauren Folkerts

Matt Benjamin: Sierra Club endorsed Matt in 2021 and we think he has been an excellent councilor over the past 4 years. Matt has supported the City’s efforts on decarbonization, electrification, and zero-emissions. He is an advocate for 15-minute neighborhoods, safe streets, and the development of the City’s Core Arterial Network. He supports efforts to provide more affordable and missing middle housing, with a focus on infill development along transit corridors, and has an emphasis on developing science-based approaches to wildfire mitigation and open space preservation and management.

Nicole Speer: Sierra Club endorsed Nicole in 2021 and we would love to see her on the Council for another term. Nicole offers a strong voice for the environment and sustainable/equitable development. During her term she has helped promote funding for wildfire mitigation, flood protection, and nature-based climate solutions such as our Cool Boulder program. She backed utility assistance and energy-efficient retrofits for low-income households and has been the City’s representative for the Denver Region Council of Governments (DRCOG), helping to secure EPA funding for regional decarbonization among other achievements. She supports Boulder’s Core Arterial Network, expansion of cycling corridors, and voted to create more compact, walkable, transit-oriented development. She was instrumental in the post-pandemic restoration of RTD transit service. 

Lauren Folkerts: We endorsed Lauren in 2021 and would like to see her remain on Council. As a professional architect and former president of the Colorado Green Building Guild Lauren has been instrumental in advocating for sustainable building design. She helped spearhead and pass a nationally leading embodied-carbon reduction code, requiring all new construction in Boulder to minimize its carbon footprint, and is now working with the City’s Planning Department and climate initiatives team to scrutinize our zoning code to remove incentives for high carbon construction. Lauren is adamant about holding Xcel energy to task for meeting its renewable energy and timeline requirements in its partnership agreement with the City. She has been a strong advocate for developing policies and programs that better align housing, jobs, and accessible transportation so that people can live closer to where they work.

Longmont

Longmont Mayor

Susie Hidalgo-Fahring

Longmont City Council At-Large

Jake Marsing

Alex Kahlkhofer

Longmont City Council Ward 2

Matthew Popkin

Susie Hidalgo-Fahring (Mayor) is a two-term incumbent councilmember who has been previously endorsed by Sierra Club. She has demonstrated a strong leadership in environmental sustainability and social equity. She has advanced renewable energy, zero-waste goals, wildfire and flood resilience, and open space preservation among other achievements. 

Jake Marsing (At-large) is an energetic candidate with deep community roots and good environmental sensibilities. He is committed to ensuring that Longmont remains a leader in climate resilience and sustainability and shares Sierra Club values of social and environmental justice.

Alex Kahlkhofer (At-large) has experience as chair of the Longmont Transportation Advisory Board and impressed our group with his knowledge and stances on housing, transportation, sustainable development, all of which are very much in line with Sierra Club Urban Infill Policy. 

Matthew Popkin (Ward 2) has proven to be an excellent councilmember current tenure in office. We believe he will continue to provide thoughtful, intelligent decision-making that aligns well with Sierra Club policy positions on land use, transportation, and sustainable development.  

The Sierra Club Colorado's tax exemption status - 501(c)(4) - allows us to make endorsements for candidates and ballot measures.