Rachel Rose Isaacson is running for Boulder City Council with a focus on climate and wildfire resilience, housing affordability, effective government and support for local businesses. This is her second campaign for council after an unsuccessful run in 2025.
Isaacson is a barista at South Side Walnut Cafe and the youngest candidate in the race. If elected, she would become Boulder’s first Gen Z councilmember.
As a teenager, Isaacson helped then-Ohio state Rep. Michael Stinziano draft legislation that would have banned conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors. She graduated from Antioch College in 2019 and earned a master’s degree in public administration and leadership from Ohio State University in 2023.
Isaacson moved to Boulder that year, drawn by ties to family and friends and the city’s “strong environmental legacy.” She later served as treasurer for Aaron Gabriel Neyer’s 2025 city council campaign. She is also a pollinator ambassador with Cool Boulder and a member of Sierra Club Indian Peaks Group’s executive committee.
Isaacson opposes slowing scheduled wage increases for tipped workers. She argues that Boulder should address the challenges facing restaurants and other small businesses without shifting the burden onto employees. The current council did not advance a proposed slowdown, but the issue could return in 2027.
Isaacson was endorsed in 2025 by labor groups, including the Boulder Area Labor Council, and by New Era Colorado, an organization focused on young voters and candidates. This year, she received the Boulder Progressives’ endorsement for the first time.
“We’ve seen her work hard to engage with the community, and at Boulder Progressives, we do believe very strongly in the importance of supporting young people who are running for office,” said Lisa Sweeney-Miran, an executive board member of Boulder Progressives. “Her experience as a tip worker felt the most salient, given the amount of council time that’s been devoted to issues related to minimum wage, tipped work, small business, etc.”
Isaacson is also endorsed by state Sen. Judy Amabile and state Rep. Junie Joseph. She describes herself as neither a progressive nor a moderate but as a “public servant.”
“I tend to believe the best comprehensive, ‘win-win-win’ policy solutions get lost in the noise of overly divisive and overly ideological frameworks,” she told Boulder Reporting Lab.
Occupation: Barista
Neighborhood: Newlands
Rent or own?: Rent, in cooperative housing
Age: 29
Endorsers: Boulder Progressives