Denver, CO
Poll finds steady support for Denver’s mayor but suggests new tax increases may face skepticism
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s popularity is holding steady after 11 months in office, according to a new poll released Wednesday, but its findings suggest a sales tax increase he’s pitching for the November ballot could face some skepticism from voters.
Johnston remains confident in his tax proposal, unveiled Monday. It would generate an estimated $100 million a year to expand on the city’s affordable housing work, including by preserving or building tens of thousands of units affordable to people now getting priced out of the city. His own internal polling suggests two-thirds of the city would support the tax increase, he said.
But the June survey of 409 registered Denver voters for the nonprofit Colorado Polling Institute found that a solid majority — 64% — believe the city’s taxes are already high. Among them, 35% said the city’s taxes were “way too high,” while 29% said they were “high but acceptable.”
Still, it’s been rare for Denver voters to turn down tax increases, and a pollster noted that plenty of voters voiced moderate opinions on the question.
Those responses were collected before Johnston announced his proposed 0.5% affordable housing sales tax. If the City Council gives its blessing in the weeks ahead, that new tax would share the November ballot with a new 0.34% sales tax being sought to shore up the finances of Denver Health, the city’s safety net hospital.
If both pass, the city’s effective sales tax rate would increase from 8.81% to 9.65%, making Denver stand out along the Front Range.
The bipartisan poll, conducted by Democratic polling organization Aspect Strategic and Republican firm New Bridge Strategy, was conducted via a mix of online and phone interviews between June 13 and 18. It has a margin of error of 4.85 percentage points.
In good news for the mayor, the poll found 48% of voters viewed him favorably. That’s virtually flat compared to the 46% who viewed Johnston favorably in a Colorado Polling Institute poll in August, just his second month on the job.
But the share viewing Johnston unfavorably climbed significantly, from 22% in August to 38% in June, according to the results.
That’s due in part to rising familiarity as Johnston has been in the news, including as he’s spearheaded a new homeless strategy and responded to the migrant crisis. Just 11% of voters told pollsters they had no opinion or had never heard of the mayor in June, down from 32% in August.
His favorability ratings in the new poll contrast with results from a Magellan Strategies survey of 1,595 Denver voters conducted in May. That poll found that 43% approved of his performance — while fully 50% disapproved. The margin of error was 2.45 percentage points.
The survey was conducted for the council’s central office primarily to gauge support for a potential tightening of term limits. Its contract with Magellan was valued at up to $29,000, council spokesman Robert Austin said. The poll also found that the council’s approval rating was underwater, with approval at 36% and disapproval at 49%.
Regardless of his own support levels, Johnston is banking that voters will approve his tax request in November.
On the Colorado Polling Institute survey’s taxes question, Lori Weigel, of New Bridge Strategy, viewed the responses with some nuance. She noted that just about any voter is liable to say they pay too much in taxes, which is why the poll allowed respondents to grade the city’s tax burden by offering several options: way too high, high but acceptable, about right and lower than what one would expect.
“When we look at the ‘high but acceptable’ or ‘about right’ (responses), it’s a majority sort of gravitating towards that middle spectrum,” Weigel said.
The Johnston administration has done its own polling. In a meeting with Denver Post journalists on Tuesday, the mayor said his data shows 65% of city voters would favor the “Affordable Denver” sales tax increase. That figure was steady regardless of whether respondents owned or rented their homes, he said.
“We were really surprised that you have total alignment between renters and homeowners, and you also have — not surprisingly — massive support from younger voters for this issue,” Johnston said. “As we know, if you can’t afford to live here, then all the rest of the other things are secondary.”
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:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/OQVGFBQNMNFVDOWFWQAON7VEIQ.jpg "Illinois Valley Voter Guide for April 2025 local election")
Good morning, Broncos Country.
It took a while for all the contract breakdowns to surface, but now fans have a more concrete idea of where the Denver Broncos stand salary cap wise after their free agent additions.
According to OverTheCap, the Broncos have $17.4 million in salary cap space. However, that doesn’t account for recently signed punter Matt Haack. Factoring in Haack’s deal, Denver has a little more than $16 million in cap space available. That provides them with a lot of flexibility.
Keep in mind, the team’s 2025 NFL Draft class will chip into that portion a bit once the Top 51 are cemented once the roster is finalized. However, it appears the Broncos possess the cap flexibility to make another splash in free agency if they so choose. Perhaps they could entertain bringing someone into the fold via a trade prior to or during this year’s draft. Why not? That seemed to work out for them with Jonathan Franklin-Myers.
If not, they’ll rollover the remainder to 2026 which wouldn’t be a bad decision either. That might be the smart play. Those funds will be useful especially if Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto, or Courtland Sutton agree to terms on contract extensions in the following months.
What do you think, Broncos Country? Do you expect Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager George Paton to surprise us with another big outside addition? Or do you feel they will stand pat through the draft and extend in-house players? Let me know what you think in the comments section.
As always, thanks for reading. Here is today’s slate of articles for Horse Tracks.
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Daniel Jeremiah 2025 NFL mock draft 3.0: Giants, Steelers, Titans pick QBs; Cowboys select WR
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Denver, CO
Two brand new music festivals join a roster of returning events in Denver area this summer
Metalheads, rejoice! Unhinged Festival will visit Denver for the first time this summer, joining new and returning events that are bolstering the Front Range’s buffet-style music scene.
Unhinged Fest will play the National Western Stockyards July 26-27, with a roster of metal, hardcore and post-punk bands like Knocked Loose, Lamb of God, In This Moment, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Body Count, Power Trip, and more (full lineup and tickets available at axs.com).
Despite a sleepy period just after the holidays, the Denver festival scene has ramped up in recent weeks with news of Unhinged and other large events debuting in or returning to Denver; see the retooled, three-day Punk in the Park (July 18-20, also at National Western Stockyards) and the 5th annual Deadbeats Backyard Jamboree (Zeds Dead & Friends, July 4 at Civic Center park).
Englewood, which has seen an inflow of Denver businesses over the past year or two, will also host a music festival, Swallow Hill Music’s first Indiewood Street Festival on June 7. The day-long party, headlined by Kiltro, will takes place near South Broadway and West Hampden.
The announcements belie a wary festival circuit that has gone increasingly niche to attract crowds. Denver does not have a Coachella or a Bonnaroo — two national festivals that feature a wide range of genres and music lovers — but we do have the 25th, indie-focused Underground Music Showcase, which highlights 200-plus up-and-coming acts (July 25-27 along South Broadway), and further afield, the FoCoMx Music Festival, with a whopping 420 performances on 40 stages (April 18-19 in Fort Collins).
Denver has not supported many new, mainstream festivals in recent years, with examples such as Grandoozy and Vertex coming and going after only one year. Rolling Stone this week asserted “No, the SXSW Music Festival Is Not Dead” as organizers vowed that the sprawling, Austin event would return in 2026 with a single week of scaled-back programming (instead of two, as usual).
While it appeared that Colorado was facing some festival fatigue, with individual bookings at amphitheaters and venues such as Mission Ballroom, replacing larger events, that may not have been the case as stalwarts such as Telluride Blues & Brews, JAS Aspen Snowmass Experience, Bravo! Vail and Country Jam joining the new(er) events.
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