What Denver’s 2023 municipal election tells us about city voters

Denver’s election delivered a collective message from voters:

• Homelessness and crime are main issues, however pragmatic options are most popular over drastic course corrections pitched by candidates on the far reaches of the political spectrum.

Driving the information: Within the mayor’s race, voters superior Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough — two safer-bet candidates with monitor information and well-funded campaigns — to the June 6 runoff election.

What they’re saying: “It was a superb night time for these with reputations for working in pragmatic and collaborative methods,” Alan Salazar, Mayor Michael Hancock’s chief of employees, advised Axios Denver.

Zoom in: Two candidates on both facet of the political spectrum who completed far behind the leaders within the mayor’s race supplied clues about voters’ mindset, political strategist Eric Sondermann advised us.

• Lisa Calderón positioned herself on the far left as she pledged a compassionate method to serving to town’s weak populations, however Sondermann stated the outcomes present progressives are “not a significant constituency.”
• The stable end from Republican Andy Rougeot, who campaigned as against the law fighter, exhibits voters are in a “somewhat unsympathetic, tough-on-crime and homelessness temper.”