Unanimous agreement can be hard to come by on any topic among the vast field of candidates running for Denver mayor in the upcoming municipal election.

But that’s exactly what moderators found during a debate in mid-February. They asked 13 of those candidates if they felt Denver needs a significant change in direction from the outgoing administration of three-term Mayor Michael Hancock.

All 13 raised their hands.

Among the four other candidates who weren’t invited to that debate, one regularly refers to the mayor’s failed leadership during public appearances. Another, at a different mayoral forum, called Hancock the worst leader the city ever had.

The longtime mayor’s presence is felt in every plan a campaign announces to pivot in a new direction — on homelessness, housing affordability, public safety, the city’s approach to parks and countless other issues. Hancock set the baseline for the last dozen years, the mark against which nearly every candidate’s vision is judged.

That’s true even if some candidates, whether out of politeness or an attempt to keep the focus on the future, rarely invoke Hancock directly.

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“The city that Michael Hancock is leaving behind is what this race is about,” said Eric Sondermann, a Denver political analyst. “The issue is Denver in Year 12 of the Hancock administration — but not Hancock himself.”

The candidates are tapping into what several have said is a yearning for change among voters. Denverites’ dissatisfaction with the outgoing mayor, whether real or perceived, reflects a pattern often seen in presidential politics, said Paul Teske, dean of the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs.

A candidate swoops into office promising change, wins another term and then sees voters opt for a different direction, rejecting the president’s political party after eight years. Longer term limits in Denver give mayors more opportunity to have an impact — but also the risk of overstaying their welcome.

“After 12 years, I think there is a lot of accumulated problems with a city or a state or a country that are kind of owned by the incumbent, fairly or unfairly,” Teske said. “You tack COVID, and all the challenges of the last three years, at the end of those 12 years and that makes it all the tougher.”

Unclear if Denver voters are souring on Hancock

Recent poll results paint a complicated picture of Denver’s relationship with its outgoing leader.

A survey of 405 likely voters in early February found that 33% had a favorable view of the mayor, while 55% viewed him unfavorably, a net favorability rating of -22 percentage points. A group of business leaders operating as the group “A Denver For Us All” commissioned that poll, which was performed by a bipartisan team of pollsters.

In comparison, the poll found Gov. Jared Polis, a fellow Democrat, had a positive net favorability of nearly 54 percentage points, with 75% viewing him positively. The net favorability of the Denver Police Department was slightly positive, with favorable views outpacing unfavorable views by 1.7 percentage points.

Last week, another poll reported sharply contrasting results for Hancock on a different question, this time about job approval.

Among 713 registered Denver voters surveyed in the latter part of February by SurveyUSA, 55% said they approved of the job Hancock is doing in the mayor’s office, while 31% disapproved. That poll was sponsored by 9News, the Denver Gazette and Metropolitan State University.

In a recent interview in his office, Hancock said he and his staff were focused on running the city during the final few months of his tenure.

That said, he was watching the debate when all the participating candidates universally agreed the city needed a change.

“I thought it was way more personal than it had to be toward me, which misses the point,” Hancock said. “It doesn’t get into the fact that, as a nation, we have to address the issues of post-COVID economics. We have to address the issues of housing.”

He may be a lame duck, but Hancock said he and his team are not sitting idly by as the city grapples with the seemingly ever-growing challenges of homelessness and runaway rents and home prices.

When he listens to the candidates seeking to succeed him, he said, he hears a lot of the same ideas his administration either is putting into action now or has considered, tested and moved on from.

“We’re regular pollers as well, and that is to determine whether or not the city is going in the right direction,” Hancock said. “And we have, I can tell you, consistently found that the people of Denver believe Denver is moving in the right direction, for the most part.”

That an outgoing three-term mayor has kept a low profile during a contentious, 17-way race to succeed him is a surprise to Sondermann, especially as polling has shown no candidates are breaking out yet.

“I think the town, even though they’re not fully engaged with this race, and they’re 59% or 60% undecided … has moved on from Michael Hancock,” he said. “Normally, you’d have candidates lining up, clamoring for endorsements — or if not endorsements, a nice word.

“And I don’t see anyone standing in that line right now.”

Hancock says he won’t make an endorsement in the race. His team will have to manage the transition to the new administration, he said, and publicly supporting someone who doesn’t win — a real possibility in such a crowded field — will only complicate relations with the victor’s team.

Some candidates hesitate to “spotlight differences”

As candidates campaign for change, there have been occasional call-outs of Hancock at debates and forums. But James Mejía, a longtime civic leader and former candidate for mayor in 2011, when Hancock first won, has taken note of the apparent hesitance of some contenders to draw explicit distinctions by naming Hancock.

“It’s interesting that nobody’s really hammered that,” Mejía said. “They talk about issues and things they don’t think are going well. But they don’t spotlight differences with the incumbent. Are they trying too hard not to make anyone mad?”

Not underlining differences can pose a risk, too, Mejía said: “If nobody’s standing out in juxtaposition with the incumbent, that makes it harder” to emerge from such a large field.

There have been exceptions. Robert Treta, a building contractor, has called Hancock the city’s worst-ever mayor. Andy Rougeot, a businessman who stands out as a Republican, refers often to Hancock’s tenure as one of failed leadership.

Sondermann gave candidates a chance to weigh in on Hancock during a forum last month that aired on public television station PBS12. He asked the 10 candidates on the stage, who were invited because they were leading in fundraising at the time, what they viewed as Hancock’s most significant accomplishment as well as his biggest failure in office.

Growing Denver International Airport into a vital economic engine for the city and state was common praise. On the critical side, falling short in addressing housing needs and homelessness came up often.

Kwame Spearman praised Hancock, calling his handling of the pandemic amazing.

“I would encourage all of us while we’re on the campaign trail, let’s say more positive things about him,” said Spearman, who’s on a leave of absence from his job as CEO of the Tattered Cover Book Store. “It’s a tough job and I think he needs some recognition.”

Other candidates did take the opportunity to draw starker contrasts between themselves and Hancock.

Lisa Calderón, a social justice advocate who ran against Hancock in 2019 and sparred with his administration in court, said his biggest achievement was motivating her to run.

State Sen. Chris Hansen knocked Hancock for letting the city wallow in the aftermath of the worst of the pandemic.

“We had the chance to accelerate and double down on the momentum Denver had before the pandemic,” Hansen said. “I think we’ve missed that opportunity and, unfortunately, tonight we spent a lot of time talking about safety, affordability and the places we’re falling short. And that’s why I’m running for mayor.”

Hancock talks about tuning out the noise of the election, but it’s clear he is paying close attention. Like a majority of voters, the mayor is waiting for someone to stand out from the pack, he said.

“What is that innovative idea that’s not been tried? Who’s gonna break out with that one thing that captures our imagination, our vision — and really lays out the vision they have for the city?” Hancock said. “It’s not easy to watch or listen to. But I understand also what’s happening. You’ve got to create a narrative for yourself.

“And you’ve got to have the voters believe that you’re the right person for this time.”

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