Incumbent City Councilmembers are still having a good election night.
On day two, incumbent candidates in Districts 1, 2 and 5 have a commanding lead over their challengers. And District 4 candidate, Diana Romero-Campbell currently holds more than 50% of the vote.
Council District 3, 6, and 11 are already determined because incumbents Jamie Torres, Paul Kashmann and Stacie Gilmore all ran unopposed, so they have each been re-elected for another four-year term.
Data Source: Denver Elections Division
Here are the latest results:
District 1
With 16,463 votes counted, Incumbent Amanda Sandoval is currently leading the race with 82.01% of the vote, or 13,501 votes. Her opponent Ava Truckey has 17.99% of the vote.
District 1 covers Northwest Denver including Berkeley, Chaffee Park, Highland, Jefferson Park, Regis, Sunnyside, Sloan Lake, and West Highland. The district gained a small portion of Union Station, specifically near Commons Park and lost its section of West Colfax during the redistricting process.
If this trend continues, Sandoval is set to start her second term. Her main focuses are preserving neighborhoods and modernizing the zoning code. Northwest Denver has seen its fair share of gentrification and displacement, using the zoning code Sandoval wants to halt that process and keep the remaining fabric of the neighborhoods intact.
District 2
Incumbent Kevin Flynn is currently leading in the race for the far southeast district. With 12,157 votes counted, he has about 72% of the vote, or 8,741 votes. Tiffany Caudill is in second with 18.04% of the vote.
Flynn is the incumbent seeking his third and final term. He supports some affordable housing policies such as transit-oriented, mixed-income development and rent assistance, but warns against "gentle density" and one-size-fits-all housing solutions, citing fears of gentrification.
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.
District 3
Council president Jamie Torres ran unopposed and is entering her second term representing the Westside district. Her goals remain the same: more housing and more community investment. With 6,627 votes counted, Torres has secured close to 100% of the vote.
District 4
The race for the southeast district is very close. With 14,138 votes counted, Romero Campbell leads with 56.51% of the vote, or 7,989 votes. Tony Pigford trails with 43.49% of the vote.
With Councilmember Kendra Black choosing not to run for reelection, the campaign for District 4 was a rare head-to-head race without an incumbent and between a former candidate in Pigford and a newcomer in Romero Campbell. Black also endorsed Romero Campbell. The two have worked together in the past on community projects in the district.
Romero Campbell grew up in Southeast Denver, and has spent her career in the nonprofit world, most recently running Scholars United, which works on youth literacy. Campbell wants to focus on continuing projects already in the works in the district, such as the building of a skatepark. She also has visions to bring another rec center and additional housing around rail lines.
District 5
With 19,159 votes counted, incumbent Amanda Sawyer leads with about 65% of the vote or 12,510 votes. Her opponent Michael Hughes trails at about 35%.
Sawyer is entering her second-term. There will be no run-off for her this year, like in 2019 when she unseated Mary Beth Susman. She ran then on the idea that development in her district should be curbed and residents should have more power in how their neighborhoods grow.
This time around, Sawyer's ideas remain the same. She's also focused on transportation, specifically traffic calming and engineering to make neighborhoods safer for people who are not inside cars.
District 6
Councilmember Paul Kashmann ran unopposed for the second time in his career and will once again represent the southeast district. The incumbent is entering his third and final term. Kashmann is focused on pedestrian safety, housing and community engagement. Number-wise, 13,220 votes have been counted and he's secured 100% of the votes.
District 11
Councilmember Stacie Gilmore also ran unopposed and is entering her third and final term representing the Far Northeast district. Looking to her next term, Gilmore said she wants to continue affordable housing and food access projects, and work on mental healthcare. Again, number-wise, with 6,089 votes counted, Gilmore secured just about 100% of the vote.
This story will continue being updated as new results are received.
