District 2 City Council race: Who’s running and what you need to know

There’s one incumbent and two newcomers running to represent southwest Denver.
3 min. read
Loretto Heights seen from the roof of Sandy Pierce and Kari Bell’s home in Denver’s Rosedale neighborhood. Feb. 27. 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

District 2 covers Southwest Denver, including Marston, Fort Logan, Bear Valley, Harvey Park, Harvey Park South, the southern part of Mar Lee and College View - South Platte (the newest addition due to redistricting).

City Council District 2.
Data Source: Denver Elections Division
Data Source: Denver Elections Di

Who's Running?

District 2 residents have three choices for Council. Here's who's running, in the order you'll see them on the ballot:

Kevin Flynn

Incumbent Kevin Flynn covered City Council as a journalist before getting elected himself eight years ago. Now he's running for his third and final term. He supports some affordable housing policies such as mixed income development near transit, rent assistance and home ownership programs, but warns against "gentle density" and one-size-fits-all housing solutions, citing fears of gentrification. He's also worked to improve representation and civic engagement in southwest Denver.

"This city's generally been run by neighborhoods east of the river," he said. "Let's be frank about it. So I've managed to get more people from southwest Denver. No matter where they are on the political spectrum, I don't care, I just want your voices heard."

Chris Herr

Chris Herr brings a background in environmental work as Director of Sustainability for the Auraria Higher Education Center. One of his main goals in running for Council is to make sustainability affordable. He wants to improve access to weatherization assistance programs, improve transportation alternatives, grow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and support small businesses.

"I feel like folks in my district in the city and county of Denver in general are feeling just a little left out of the process," Herr said. "So how can we be more transparent? How can we be more inclusive? How can we be more diverse in the voices that are at the table?"

Tiffany Caudill

Tiffany Caudill works as a customer service representative. She wants to focus on education, transportation, housing and parks. On housing, she's in favor of social housing, community land trusts, tenant protections and more ADUs. She also supports growing programs like the e-bike rebates, microtransit, open spaces and safe outdoor sites.

"The divisiveness in politics has hurt our processes and our progress, but more than anything, it has hurt our people," Caudill said. "We need to lean into co-governance models and find paths forward, rather than standing in the way of creating real change."

You can click this chart to see an interactive version.

What's going on in the district?

One of the biggest developments out of southwest Denver is the historic Loretto Heights Campus redevelopment in Harvey Park South, bringing new housing, including lots of affordable units, a refurbished historic theater and over 1,000 new trees.

What development should look like will continue to be a question in southwest Denver, which has seen rising home prices, growing home flips, more proposed development and a mobile home park at risk. In a largely suburban district, opinions differ on how to best absorb growth in southwest Denver.

Need more help voting? Check out the rest of our voter guide here.

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