Update on 04/06 With the newest results, Shannon Hoffman has pulled further away from Noah Kaplan for the second seat in the runoff race. Incumbent Chris Hinds still leads.
Update on 04/05: Incumbent Chris Hinds still leads but there's been a change in who his opponent may be come June 6.
Incumbent Chris Hinds looks set to join the runoff race on June 6, while the second seat has been up for grabs since Tuesday. However, with the newest batch of results, there's been an increase in separation between second and third place.
With 16,891 votes counted, Hinds leads in the central district race with 35.62% of the votes or 6,016 votes.
Shannon Hoffman is sitting in second place with 27.01% of the vote, while Noah Kaplan sits in third with 25.65%. On Wednesday, only 93 votes separated Hoffman from Kaplan. Today, 230 votes separates the two.
Results won't be official until April 20. According to the Clerk & Recorder's office, there are only 2,400 votes left to be counted.
Hinds is not stranger to a runoff. In 2019, he challenged then-incumbent Wayne New, being one of three candidates in that race to defeat an incumbent, a rarity in Denver politics. Hinds is seeking his second term. He's focused on making the city more accessible for people with disabilities, working on the 5280 trail and continuing the practice of purchasing motels for housing.
Hoffman brings experience in social activism to the District 10 race, from her work with the Montbello Organizing Committee to a project with Emancipation Theater on housing. Her top issues are tenants' and workers' rights, housing, transparency and sustainability -- she herself is a renter.
Kaplan is a newcomer to politics. He's a teacher at East High School, so one of his top issues is providing housing for the missing middle, including teachers. He's also focused on education, housing, homelessness, public safety and climate.
District 10 includes Congress Park, west and south City Park, Cheesman Park, most of Capitol Hill, Civic Center, Central Business District and Union Station. Those last two neighborhoods are new, as of redistricting (and if you live in Country Club and Cherry Creek, you're now part of District 5; if you live in the Speer neighborhood, you're now part of District 7).
Encompassing much of downtown and multiple Denver parks, there's a lot going on in District 10. The district faces many of the top issues making the rounds this election cycle, including housing, homelessness, affordability and public safety. Revitalizing downtown has also been a major talking point this election cycle, with candidates calling for everything from bringing workers back in person to converting offices into housing.
This story will continue being updated as new results are received.
