In the third day of vote tabulation for Denver’s municipal election, two candidates have emerged at the head of the pack for the tight race for a pair of open at-large seats on the City Council.
With the latest batch of votes, counted and published Thursday afternoon, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Sarah Parady held on to their lead over the crowded field of candidates. Unlike the mayoral race, the at-large election won’t head to a runoff election in June. The top two vote-getters win the open seats whether they enjoy majority support or not.
As of 2 p.m., Gonzales-Gutierrez and Parady had 20.57% and 16.6% support, respectively. Penfield Tate III (who previously was in second place) and Travis Leiker trailed behind with 15.61% and 15.11% of the vote.
Gonzales-Gutierrez holds a seat in the Colorado House, to which she was elected in 2019, and Parady is a partner and co-founder of the Lowrey Parady Lebsack legal practice. Tate is a former state representative and senator and Leiker is the senior director of development at the University of Colorado.
Whichever two candidates ultimately earn the most votes will replace term-limited council members Robin Kniech and Debbie Ortega, the latter of which sat among the 16 candidates running in the mayoral race. Kniech did not run for any other office.
RELATED: Full Denver election results
The remaining candidates held the following percentage of the vote as of 2 p.m.:
Tim Hoffman: 10.34%.
Marty Zimmerman: 7.66%.
Will Chan: 6.47%.
Jeff Walker: 4.19%.
Dominic Diaz: 3.33%.
Aside from the mayoral race, the at-large election had the most candidates. During their campaigns, the candidates moved throughout the entire city to meet constituents and ask for their votes.
At-large seats on the council are meant to balance the district representatives, which cover much smaller areas across Denver with specific boundaries. In theory, they’re more free to view the city’s issues through a more holistic and comprehensive lens.
But each at-large council member must still work with the other 12 people on the city’s legislative body to create consensus and set the city’s agenda.
Like many of Denver’s other races, affordable housing, homelessness, public safety and economic development became some of the most prominent issues for at-large candidates.
The two leading candidates, Gonzales-Gutierrez and Parady, focused on each of those issues during their campaigns.
Gonzales-Gutierrez declared victory Wednesday afternoon and thanked her family and supporters.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust that Denver voters have placed in me, and by their shared vision of a Denver where working people can put down generational roots,” Gonzales-Gutierrez said in a statement. “Congratulations to all my co-candidates on campaigns well run, and I look forward to working with my fellow at-large representative. I’m ready to continue my work on behalf of the people of Denver.”
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