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Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Independent Candidate Enters High-Profile Congressional Race Against Socialist Melat Kiros

By Ernest Luning and Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette      Unaffiliated congressional candidate Shimon Blau, a Denver doctor, has qualified by petition for the general election in Colorado’s 1st District, where Democrat Melat Kiros defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in last month’s primary, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Friday. Blau, a newcomer to politics, submitted just shy of 2,000 valid signatures on July 8 days after starting his petition drive in response to Kiros’s upset primary win over DeGette. Election officials said 1,918 of the 2,212 signatures gathered by Blau were accepted, easily clearing the 1,500 signature requirement. Shimon Blau, who qualified to run for the 1st Congressional Distri...
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The rise of DSA, and a platform to rewrite the Constitution.
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National, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

The rise of DSA, and a platform to rewrite the Constitution.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Six thousand people started the Democratic Socialists of America in 1982. The number didn't move much for thirty years. Then, around 2016, it did. By July 4, 2026, DSA had 120,000 members, more than the Socialist Party of America ever had under Eugene Debs, whose dues-paying membership peaked back in 1912. Four days before that count came out, one of the new members, Melat Kiros of Denver, won a primary against a congresswoman first elected in 1996. The growth is one story. What the organization actually wants is the more important one. From 6,000 to 120,000 DSA was born from a merger, not a single founding moment. In 1982, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, founded in 1973, joined with the New ...
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Denver’s Right of First Refusal Puts Government in the Middle of Private Property Sales
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Denver’s Right of First Refusal Puts Government in the Middle of Private Property Sales

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I saw a post by a reader on Twitter recently. It shows how Denver is proposing to implement a 2024 law passed by the state legislature. Let’s start with the 2024 bill. It’s linked first below. I took a screenshot of the bill’s fiscal note summary and attached those as screenshots 1 and 2. As you can see from the highlight in screenshot 2, it just wouldn’t be Colorado if we didn’t throw a bone or two to nonprofits. In summary, the bill allows local governments (for buildings of a certain size depending on whether your municipality qualifies as urban or rural/resort) either the right to purchase a property if it’s already listed as affordable housing for “an economically or substantially ...
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Colorado Primary Battles Intensify As Voters Face Crowded 2026 Ballots
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Primary Battles Intensify As Voters Face Crowded 2026 Ballots

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics With just over two months to go until ballots are counted in Colorado’s primary, candidates are squaring off in high-stakes contests for their party’s nominations in statewide and congressional races approaching the midterm election. For the first time in memory, state voters will have the chance to elect an entire new slate of state-level executive officials — from governor and attorney general to secretary of state and state treasurer — since those offices’ Democratic incumbents all face term limits. At the same time, Democrats will decide which candidate to nominate in the state’s marquee U.S. House race, where the Republican incumbent in the 8th Congressional District is facing three potential challengers in what’s expected to b...
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Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen Enters City Council Race in Southwest Denver
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen Enters City Council Race in Southwest Denver

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, who retired as chief in 2022, plans to announce next week that he is running for a seat on Denver City Council. Pazen confirmed his intentions Tuesday night, telling CBS Colorado, "I'm running for Denver City Council District 2 because southwest Denver deserves leadership that listens, shows up, and will work tirelessly for the people who live and work here." READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
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Denver Mayor’s Sanctuary City Legal Costs Reach Full $2 Million Limit
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Mayor’s Sanctuary City Legal Costs Reach Full $2 Million Limit

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette The bill for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s legal defense for that March 5 hearing before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on “sanctuary” cities has reached its $2 million contractual limit. Just as the year closed out on Dec. 30, a fifth payment, in the amount of $950,000 — almost half of the value of the entire contract — was made from the city’s general fund to Covington & Burling LLC, the D.C.-based law firm that represented Johnston and the city during the highly publicized congressional hearing. The payment now brings the total for Johnston’s defense to $2 million, the exact payment cap set forth by the contract city officials entered into shortly before the hearing in Washington, D.C.  ...
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Audit Finds Denver Council Still Lacking Clarity on Public Funds Spending
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Audit Finds Denver Council Still Lacking Clarity on Public Funds Spending

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette Denver’s councilmembers continue to give city funds to local organizations using a process lacking clarity and accountability, weakened by inconsistent terminology and legal opinions around donations, sponsorships and grants, according to city auditors. City Council officials countered that no definitions exist in the city charter or in ordinance for these terms and changing them at one level would have a ripple effect across government. In a new follow-up report, Denver Auditor Timothy O’Brien commended the City Council on its efforts to remedy recommendations from an earlier audit but suggested there’s more work to be done. “I commend the City Council for doing a great job implementing most of our recommendations from our initial 2...
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Do Better Denver breaks cover, says her mission is “calling out the failures of our elected officials”
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Commentary, Local

Do Better Denver breaks cover, says her mission is “calling out the failures of our elected officials”

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has no shortage of critics, but perhaps his harshest is the mysterious person behind "Do Better Denver." The social media account -- on X and Instagram -- launched right after Johnston took office two years ago and has amassed a following of more than 150,000. The manager of the account is anonymous and has never granted an in-person interview until now. She spoke exclusively with CBS Colorado Your Political Reporter Shaun Boyd, but insisted she remain anonymous. Her critics say she hides her identity to avoid accountability for what she posts online. She says she's concerned for her safety, especially with the recent rise in political violence. She shared some of the threats she's received. She is a polarizing and powerfu...
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Denver Council Rejects Mayor’s Budget, But Johnston’s Spending Plan is Alive and Well
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Council Rejects Mayor’s Budget, But Johnston’s Spending Plan is Alive and Well

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette The Denver City Council rejected Mayor Mike Johnston’s $1.66 billion spending plan, but the proposal, as amended, will still govern operations, as the charter requires the city to have a budget in place by Nov. 12. In a split 6-6 vote on Monday, councilmembers expressed disappointment with various aspects of the budget process, citing its complicated nature and “lack of collaboration and transparency.” One councilmember was absent. Councilmembers Chris Hinds, Kevin Flynn, Diana Romero-Campbell, Jamie Torres, Amanda Sandoval and Darrell Watson voted in favor of the budget, while Councilmembers Flor Alvidrez, Shontel Lewis, Stacie Gilmore, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Paul Kashmann, and Amanda Sawyer balked at the spending plan. At-large C...
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Denver City Council Blocks Proposal to Cut Police Budget for Homeless Services
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver City Council Blocks Proposal to Cut Police Budget for Homeless Services

By Deborah Grigsby | The Denver Gazette A push to shift millions of dollars away from the Denver Police Department to pay for homeless families’ shelter failed on Monday night, when councilmembers waded through more than two dozen amendments. The council voted against a pair of amendments, sponsored independently by Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady, both of which proposed a one-time budget reallocation of $9 million from the police department to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST) to pay for the needs of approximately 240 homeless families. The two amendments would have taken funding from DPD’s recruiting program, as well as from its service and supply budget line. When asked how HOST might use the additional cash infus...
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