John W. Suthers

John Suthers

Republican Party

Prior offices

Executive Director Colorado Deptartment of Corrections

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U.S. Attorney for District of Colorado

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Attorney General of Colorado

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Mayor of Colorado Springs

Successor: Yemi Mobolade

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Report an officeholder change

Education

High school

St. Mary's High School, 1970

Bachelor's

University of Notre Dame, 1974

Law

University of Colorado School of Law, 1977

Contact

Campaign website

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John Suthers was the Mayor of Colorado Springs. He assumed office on June 2, 2015. He left office on June 6, 2023.

Suthers ran for re-election for Mayor of Colorado Springs. He won in the general election on April 2, 2019.

Suthers is the former Republican Attorney General of Colorado. He was appointed to the position in 2005 by Governor Bill Owens following the election of Ken Salazar to the United States Senate. Suthers was elected to a full term in November 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He was term-limited from running for a third term in 2014.

Suthers was one of 13 state attorneys general to join a lawsuit against the federal government in 2010 to halt implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Biography

Suthers earned his bachelor's degree in government from the University of Notre Dame in 1974. He later received his J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School in 1977. Suthers was the deputy and chief deputy district attorney in Colorado Springs from 1977 to 1981. He was a litigation partner at Sparxs Dix, P.C. from 1981 to 1988 and senior counsel at the firm from 1997 to 1999. He co-authored Fraud and Deceit: How to Stop Being Ripped Off, a book about consumer fraud and white-collar crime, in 1982. Suthers was district attorney for Colorado's 4th Judicial District from 1988 to 1997. He was executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections from 1999 to 2001. Suthers served from July 2001 to January 2005 as U.S. Attorney for Colorado.

Here are additional leadership roles held by Suthers:

• President, El Paso County Bar Association (1990-1991)
• Colorado Delegate, National Conference on Uniform State Laws (1992-1997)
• President, Colorado District Attorney's Council (1994-1995)
• Senior Vice President, Colorado Bar Association (1996-1997)

Political career

Colorado Attorney General (2005-2015)

Immigration policy

Nearly two weeks after Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer (R) signed into law limitations on individuals residing in the country without legal permission, Suthers refused to join the fight against the federal government. Though he said he believed that discussions on immigration policy were necessary, Suther stated that he did not feel that "criminalizing immigration status on the state level is going to accomplish anything."

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

John W. Suthers endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

U.S. Attorney for District of Colorado (2001-2005)

Suthers was appointed in August 2001 as United States Attorney for the District of Colorado by President George W. Bush, being subsequently confirmed by the United States Senate unanimously.

Executive Director, Dept of Corrections (1999-2001)

In 1999, Suthers was appointed by Governor Bill Owens as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

District Attorney (1988-1999)

Suthers was elected District Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District in 1988 and was subsequently re-elected.

Elections

2023

See also: Mayoral election in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2023)

John Suthers did not file to run for re-election due to term limits.

2019

See also: Mayoral election in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2019)

General election

General election for Mayor of Colorado Springs

Incumbent John Suthers defeated Juliette Parker, John Pitchford, and Lawrence Martinez in the general election for Mayor of Colorado Springs on April 2, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Suthers (Nonpartisan)	72.5	69,771
		Juliette Parker (Nonpartisan)	11.9	11,453
		John Pitchford (Nonpartisan)	10.4	9,994
		Lawrence Martinez (Nonpartisan)	5.2	5,009

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 96,227
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2015

See also: Colorado Springs, Colorado municipal elections, 2015

The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held elections for mayor and city council on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 19, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 11, 2015.

In the general election for mayor, candidates Mary Lou Makepeace and John Suthers advanced past Tony Carpenter, Amy Lathen, Lawrence Martinez and Joel Miller. Suthers defeated Makepeace in a runoff election on May 19, 2015. Incumbent Steve Bach did not run for re-election.

Mayor of Colorado Springs, Runoff Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
John Suthers	67.6%	65,991
Mary Lou Makepeace	32.4%	31,666
Total Votes		97,657
Source: City of Colorado Springs, "Official runoff election results," accessed May 28, 2015

Mayor of Colorado Springs, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
John Suthers	46.5%	40,900
Mary Lou Makepeace	23.6%	20,783
Joel Miller	15.7%	13,794
Amy Lathen	11.8%	10,352
Lawrence Martinez	1.3%	1,125
Tony Carpenter	1.2%	1,048
Total Votes		86,954
Source: City of Colorado Springs - Official general election results

2010

See also: Colorado Attorney General election, 2010

• 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary

• John Suthers ran unopposed in this contest

• 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election

Colorado Attorney General, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Suthers Incumbent	56.3%	960,995
	Democratic	Stan Garnett	43.7%	744,601
Total Votes				1,705,596
Election results Colorado Secretary of State

2006

• 2006 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary
  • John Suthers ran unopposed

• 2006 Race for Attorney General - General Election

Colorado Attorney General, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Suthers	52.4%	789,034
	Democratic	Fern O'Brien	43.4%	652,268
	Libertarian	Dwight K. Harding	4.2%	63,122
Total Votes				1,504,424

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Suthers did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

2015

Candidates for Mayor of Colorado Springs each published an essay in the Colorado Springs Gazette outlining their background and plan for the city. To read those essays, click here.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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John Suthers campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2010	Attorney General of Colorado	Won	$597,576	N/A**
2006	Attorney General of Colorado	Won	$521,449	N/A**
1998	Attorney General of Colorado	Lost	$237,847	N/A**
Grand total			$1,356,872	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Suthers was mayor of Colorado Springs during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Colorado Springs, Colorado, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020. No curfews were issued over the weekend. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

Affordable Care Act lawsuit (2010)

See also: State Attorneys General Against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

Suthers was one of 13 state attorneys general who initiated a 2010 lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The suit argued that the individual mandate fell outside of the federal government’s authority and that the requirement for state Medicaid expansion of coverage violated state sovereignty. The case was ultimately heard before the Supreme Court, which ruled to uphold the individual mandate as falling within Congress’ authority to levy taxes and struck down the Medicaid expansion as being unduly coercive in light of the withholding of funding that would result from noncompliance.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Suthers currently resides in Colorado Springs with his wife, Janet. The couple has two daughters together - Alison, a lawyer, and Kate, a United States Naval Officer. Suthers is also a practicing Roman Catholic.

See also

2019 Elections

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Candidate

Mayor of Colorado Springs

Website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Mayor of Colorado Springs 2015-2023	Succeeded by Yemi Mobolade
Preceded by -	Attorney General of Colorado 2005-2015	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	U.S. Attorney for District of Colorado 2001-2005	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Executive Director Colorado Deptartment of Corrections 1999-2001	Succeeded by -