All three incumbent Denver City Council members trailed in their races early Wednesday morning, according to election results released at 1:50 a.m., with Councilwoman Mary Beth Susman ousted from her seat by challenger Amanda Sawyer.
That early morning vote update, the last count save for a few outstanding ballots expected to be tallied later Wednesday, also saw Paul López pass Peg Perl in the Denver clerk and recorder’s race after trailing all night. López now leads Perl by 253 votes out of more than 143,000 cast.
That appears to be within the one-half of 1 percent margin that would trigger an automatic recount, though that won’t be determined until the final vote count is certified on June 13.
In the District 9 council race, Candi CdeBaca grew her lead over incumbent Albus Brooks to 747 votes. The margin was 52.3 percent to 47.5 percent.
Councilman Wayne New fell further behind his opponent, Chris Hinds, as the count went on, and was trailing 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in District 10.
In District 5, Sawyer said Susman had conceded to her on the phone as Sawyer held a formidable 58.2 percent to 41.2 percent lead.
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“It feels fantastic,” Sawyer said over the phone Tuesday night. “We’re just thrilled with the results.”
She said the backlash against incumbents likely means that voters in the city “are feeling their voices are not being heard and their vote is showing that.”
In the District 1 open seat, Amanda Sandoval soundly beat Mike Somma 66.6 percent to 33.4 percent, while in District 3, Jamie Torres had 57.4 percent of the vote to Veronica Barela’s 42.6 percent.
District 1
Two employees of the Denver Fire Department — Amanda Sandoval and Michael Somma — squared off in District 1 to represent northwest Denver. They vied to fill the seat being vacated by Councilman Rafael Espinoza, who decided not to run for a second term.
Sandoval, a legislative liaison for the fire department, once worked as Espinoza’s chief of staff. She called for more affordability requirements and better use of historic materials like brick in the city’s housing stock.
Somma, a lieutenant with the force, said it’s time to “take our foot off the accelerator of the development.” He said increased density in the form of more homes being subdivided into duplexes and quad-units is a good way forward.
District 3
With term limits keeping Councilman Paul López from another run, District 3 on Denver’s west side became an open seat battle between Jamie Torres, deputy director for the city’s Human Rights and Community Partnerships agency, and Veronia Barela, former head of NEWSED Community Development Corporation.
Barela for years has focused on affordable housing in her role with NEWSED, and she said single-family zoning helps protect neighborhoods and residents from being displaced.
Torres said she’s open to changing single-family zoning for some areas, but not without “design guardrails to help preserve a neighborhood’s character and identity.”
District 5
The contest to represent this east Denver district featured the only incumbent to receive fewer votes than a challenger in the first-round city election on May 7.
Mary Beth Susman, a two-term councilwoman, fell short on May 7 by 5 percentage points to Amanda Sawyer, who took a harder line on development in District 5 during the campaign.
Sawyer said the district “is pretty much near its capacity” in terms of development. Susman, by contrast, said the area needs to keep its character but accept new housing and other uses, potentially including duplexes and four-unit homes.
Gayland Paffe gave his support to the challenger Tuesday.
“Somewhere there’s a path to proper development,” the Mayfair resident said in supporting Sawyer. “Denver’s growing, so you need houses.”
But two other voters outside the Montclair Recreation Center on Tuesday stuck with Susman. One of them, Lowry resident Jim Culhane, said he found Susman to be a “reasonable person” who could better gain control over Denver’s runaway growth.
“I think development is out of control,” he said. “I’m disturbed by the lot line-to-lot line multi-story buildings east of downtown.”
District 9
Councilman Albus Brooks barely edged out challenger Candi CdeBaca on May 7 as he seeks a third term on council.
CdeBaca has contrasted herself to Brooks by calling for tighter controls on development in District 9, which overlays northeast Denver. She led an unsuccessful fight against the expansion of Interstate 70 through Globeville and Elyria-Swansea and has said neighborhoods should take a larger role in controlling the development process.
Brooks has backed the concept of “inclusive growth” — the idea that city government can shape private development to deliver community benefits.
Jenice Alexander voted for CdeBaca last month but flipped her vote to Brooks on Tuesday.
“I wanted to give Candi a chance, but I switched it,” Alexander said after dropping off her ballot at Blair-Caldwell Library in Five Points.
She commended Brooks for working with Mayor Michael Hancock on affordable housing issues and programs to help people pay their bills. Alexander didn’t want to break up that team.
District 10
Another incumbent fought for his seat in District 10, where Wayne New has been on the council since 2015. He faced off against Chris Hinds to represent the Cherry Creek and Capitol Hill parts of the city.
Hinds said he’s running for “walkable, livable cities,” and he proposed plans for a “20-minute” neighborhood, where “all that we need to survive and thrive” is within a manageable walk.
New sold himself as a pragmatist who focuses on the “nuts and bolts operational issues” of running a city. He pushed for restrictions on slot homes and promoted a new effort to manage the proliferation of 5G cell towers.
On Tuesday afternoon, a steady stream of Hinds supporters dropped off their ballots at the Ross-Cherry Creek Branch Library, in Cherry Creek North. It’s an area that was a base of support for New four years ago when he won a fierce race as a skeptic of overdevelopment in the area.
But perceptions that New has been too conservative for the urban district were common themes this time among voters who backed Hinds. Hinds, a disability rights activist who uses a wheelchair, argued he’d be a more progressive voice and push for sidewalk improvements and protected bike lanes.
Devin Green, 30, who moved to Denver from Vermont a year ago, said he wanted change in city government and found Hinds’ campaign responsive.
“It’s a gut-level thing sometimes. Everybody is trying to convince you that they’re interested in change and trying to improve things,” Green said. “There was just something about (his campaign comments) that felt much more sincere.”
City Clerk
Term-limited Councilman Paul López, who received 37 percent of the vote in the first round, faced Peg Perl, a public policy attorney, in the race for city clerk.