Updated at 4:49 p.m. on Monday, June 1, 2026
At-large City Councilmember Sarah Parady will step down Aug. 5 due to an illness.
Parady announced the decision at Denver City Council’s weekly Monday night meeting.
“It's been my honor, my privilege to be up here representing the city that I love so much, and I do not want to stop,” Parady said. “This is where I want to be, but it is not in the cards.”
Parady has been suffering from a debilitating medical issue, she said, describing herself as a “medical mystery.”
“I won't pretend to understand exactly what's going on medically, because I don't,” she said, “but what I can tell you is that going up the stairs now is harder and more exhausting than it used to be to go up a fourteener.”
It's a sudden development for a politician with a growing profile in Denver. Parady had planned to run for reelection in 2027 and was raising money for that race.
Now, the city will hold an election for the vacant seat when Parady’s resignation is formalized, according to Ben Warwick, a spokesperson for the Clerk and Recorder’s Office. Parady plans to formally resign on Aug. 5, which will give the Clerk and Recorder’s Office enough time to include the at-large city council race in this November’s midterm elections.
“I can't meaningfully do this job and be a parent and try to be a medical mystery in the good hours that I have every day,” Parady said.
The at-large seats represent the entire city.
A councilmember who challenged the mayor and built a progressive reputation
Parady, a first-term council member, has been a frequent critic of Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration – particularly his use of surveillance technology in policing, his administration’s homeless encampment sweeps, his embrace of data centers and big tech, and his handling of citywide layoffs.
“I think that often the best elected officials are not the people who immediately think of themselves for positions of power,” Parady said. “And so if this gives you a thought that you might raise your hand, take that thought seriously.”
Johnston plans to provide a comment on her resignation later Monday night.
“Councilwoman Parady has been a dedicated public servant and a tireless advocate for the residents of Denver,” wrote Councilmember Amanda Sandoval in a statement. “While I am saddened by her decision to resign, I have tremendous respect for her choice to prioritize her health and her family during this time.”
Since she took office in 2023, Parady has earned a reputation as a strong legal mind and a collaborative lawmaker, a left-leaning progressive able to work across political differences.
Prior to serving as a council member, Parady worked at Colorado Legal Services, where she represented clients facing foreclosure. After that, she co-founded a labor-oriented law firm, Lowrey Parady Lebsack, where she fought for workers’ rights.
She initially entered the city council race because she was tired of fighting cases “client-by-client” and wanted to create systemic change.
'If I were this sick and I did not have a partner with a good job, my kids and I would be at tremendous risk'
“We have an identity as Denverites that is very much under attack by our own federal government, and I am fiercely proud of us for knowing who we are in the face of that,” she said. “And at the same time, Denver is also a city where half of us are cost-burdened by housing and a third of us receive food stamps or Medicaid. It’s painfully clear to me this week that if I were this sick and I did not have a partner with a good job, my kids and I would be at tremendous risk.”
She continued: “Getting sick is one of the most common things that causes first-time homelessness. And I know too many other moms in Denver who are living day-in and day-out with that kind of precarity. So representing the entire city, as someone new will get to do in just a few months, means representing all of us, not just the people who are savvy and resourced enough to email and call and lobby. I hope to see people raise their hand to run who understand that.”
Parady and others in the room wept as she concluded her remarks.
"Thank you for the chance to represent you. It is the best thing I have ever done or will ever do.”
