Late on Election Day, the downtown Stoney’s Bar and Grill was split between two groups — Colorado Avalanche fans and dozens of democratic socialists.
While there were several statewide and local ballot initiatives they cared about, the democratic socialists had their eyes trained on Stoney’s televisions, where they were eagerly awaiting news out of New York City — a city thousands of miles away.
Tuesday night capped off the historic and city-shaking rise of Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old who centered democratic socialist ideals to become mayor of the largest U.S. city. His supporters in Denver huddled together in a corner of Stoney’s expansive bar, ignoring the basketball and hunting arcade games flashing nearby.
Zerrick Kellow, who rushed to Stoney’s after work without even changing out of his work uniform, described the moment of Mamdani’s victory as “ecstatic”.
“Everyone just immediately went up and thunderous applause for about half a minute, to about a whole minute,” said Kellow, who recently became a member of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “People were very cheerful. It was a very joyous scene.”
What’s so special about an election in New York to a bunch of Denverites?
Mamdani’s tenure will likely have little tangible impact on the everyday lives of Denverites and Coloradans.
But while his policies around affordability won’t carry across borders, his political electricity will, DSA members said.
“It definitely gives me a lot of hope. I mean, it's not just hope,” said Brynn Lemos, one of the chapter co-chairs. “It's proof that our model of democratic socialism works and that it wins elections.”
While it has seen moderate success getting endorsees elected to local offices, the DSA in Denver has not gotten members into high-profile positions like the governorship or seats in Congress.
But now, members say, Mamdani has drawn a new blueprint that groups across the country can follow.
“I think it's also a moment where we can see a lot of local organizers to kind of break through,” said Devynn Dewey, who was emotional during Mamdani’s victory speech. “So I would love to also see local organizers or DSA members kind of see this as their moment to say, ‘Hey, I could do the same thing.’”
Left-leaning candidates succeeded across Colorado, too. Progressives appear to have won a majority on the Aurora City Council and they lead in the Douglas County school board race. An effort to tax wealthier Coloradans to fund free school meals also passed.
Still, local progressives took one loss on election night.
Denver voters approved a major change to how at-large elections work.
Opponents of Referred Question 2G argued the change targets the current at-large council members, Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, who were both endorsed by the DSA.
“It sucks, but it's an off-year election and there wasn't a lot on the ballot for Denver voters to say, ‘This is something we can get behind and this is something that can activate us,’” said Hill Probasco, a co-chair of the local chapter.
Probasco doesn’t think the 2G results say much about Denver voters.
“Last year … we were here in this bar when Donald Trump got a second nonconsecutive term,” he said. “At the same time, this amazing ballot measure passed that granted city workers collective bargaining rights. We had faith in the city and we managed to pass it on a night when things did not go very well for progressives.”
How to activate Denver's disengaged young voters
But still, to replicate Mamdani’s meteoric rise, local progressives will need to solve one key problem in Denver politics: an often jaded, uninvolved population of young voters.
In New York, his youngest supporters said his campaign not only brought them hope, but beckoned them into a community.
Meanwhile, in this year’s city elections, the under-35 vote made up about 23 percent of the total ballots tallied, according to the Clerk and Recorder’s latest data.
That’s an improvement from the last two odd-year elections, however. During the 2023 mayoral election, when progressive candidate Lisa Calderón just barely missed the runoff election, the under-35 vote made up a little less than 20 percent of the total count. In 2021, they made up about 22 percent.
During the last two even-year elections, when voters were asked to weigh in on major presidential or Congressional races, the under-35 vote made up over 30 percent of the vote.
What are other Coloradans saying about Mamdani’s victory?
Democratic state Rep. Javier Mabrey, who represents part of south Denver, posted on X celebrating Mamdani’s victory.
“The billionaire class want us to fight amongst ourselves so that we are distracted from the work of building an economy that works for all of us,” he posted. “Amen @ZohranKMamdani”
On Instagram, the Denver Bicycle Lobby posted a picture of Mamdani on an e-bicycle with the caption “Congrats NYC - we’re happy for you.”
Conservative radio host Ross Kaminsky also posted on X.
“I feel slightly bad at how much I hope New York City suffers for this decision,” he posted. “I hope that the 30-year-old millennials who voted for him suffer.”
Back at Stoney’s, even some of the hockey fans and staff stopped to watch Mamdani’s victory speech — a positive sign, his supporters said.
“Things are moving in the right direction,” Kellow said. “There is hope going forward, that we're not trapped in what Trump wants to do in this country.”
