Election results from Denver’s Tuesday runoff showed early voters favored a trio of moderate City Council candidates over their more progressive challengers, but one race became locked in a tight battle as results streamed in.
Unofficial results from the City Clerk and Recorder’s Office show that voters sought to oust incumbent District 9 Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca — often the most liberal voice on the council — in favor of third-time council candidate Darrell Watson. As of 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Watson had won 61.6% of the vote to CdeBaca’s 38.4% with a total of 14.550 votes cast.
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If Watson’s lead holds, it will mark the second time in as many elections that the District 9 incumbent lost to a challenger. CdeBaca ousted Councilman Albus Brooks after a hard-fought runoff election in 2019.
On the flip side, voters appeared likely to back incumbent District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds over challenger Shannon Hoffman. Hinds was leading Hoffman 56.5% to 43.6% with 15.026 votes cast.
As for the District 8 race – left open by the term-limited Councilman Chris Herndon – progressive candidate Shontel Lewis took a narrow lead at 1:30 a.m. with 50.2% of the vote to Brad Revare’s 49.8%, with 12,915 votes counted. Just 51 votes separated the two candidates. In earlier results, Revare held a narrow lead. Ballot counting is expected to continue Wednesday.
Late Tuesday night, Revare didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Lewis did offer a brief statement.
“Sitting tight,” Lewis said in a text. “Feeling hopeful.”
The District 7 race also went to a runoff, but contender Nick Campion withdrew from the race in April, leaving Flor Alvidrez to win the seat by default.
The three council runoff elections generated strong competition between the liberal and moderate candidates, but the bulk of outside spending went toward supporting the latter. More than a dozen outside groups – unconstrained by contribution limits – reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in independent expenditures during the runoffs. The majority of that money went to help Watson, Hinds and Revare.
Those three enjoyed the support of much of Denver’s political and business establishment. A slate of current and former council members had endorsed Watson over CdeBaca and a steady stream of mailers described her and the other liberal candidates as too extreme for Denver, even warning of a “socialist takeover.” The progressives had been endorsed by the Denver Democratic Socialists of America and the Colorado Working Families Party.
Watson, Hinds and Revare, on the other hand, had been endorsed by groups promoting more mainstream candidates, donors for which included the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and Republican businessman Pete Coors.
During the campaign Watson, a small business owner who has chaired the Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, sought to depict himself as a more pragmatic and collaborative answer to CdeBaca, whom he called divisive.
Watson previously ran for council in 2007 but lost to Carla Madison. He ran again in 2011 but dropped out of that race citing a cancer diagnosis. Hinds was first elected to his seat in 2019 and has a background in computer science and finance. Revare has served on the Central Park United Neighbors Board of Directors and the Impact East Colfax Steering Committee.
Neither Watson nor CdeBaca could immediately be reached for comment.
Watson appeared to gain ground after the wider April election. During that election, CdeBaca led Watson, albeit by slightly more than a percentage point, and Lewis led Revare. Hinds, however, held nearly a 10 percentage point lead over Hoffman during the first election.
The victors in the runoff election will join incumbent Council members Amanda Sandoval, Kevin Flynn, Jamie Torres, Amanda Sawyer, Paul Kashmann and Stacie Gilmore, who all held their seats. Diana Romero Campbell won the District 4 seat in the April election, as did incoming at-large Council members Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Sarah Parady.
