A new Boulder City Council was sworn in on Thursday, Dec. 4, following a city election in which Rob Kaplan, a former captain with Boulder Rural Fire-Rescue, unseated incumbent former Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts, who had served on the council since 2021.
Folkerts helped pass new land-use rules aimed at making housing more affordable and led the effort to enact a city minimum wage. The 2025 city council race was widely viewed as a referendum on Boulder’s progressive majority, and the results suggest voters remain divided.
The nine-member city council now includes Mayor Aaron Brockett, Taishya Adams, Matt Benjamin, Kaplan, Tina Marquis, Ryan Schuchard, Nicole Speer, Mark Wallach and Tara Winer.
Councilmembers also selected Tara Winer, who was first elected in 2021, to serve as mayor pro tem. The mayor pro tem presides over meetings when the mayor is absent and acts as another representative for the city.
“I am eager to take part in the discussion and contribute to the continued success of our community,” she wrote in an email to her colleagues ahead of Thursday’s meeting.