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New Poll Finds Johnston and Denver City Council Losing Favorability
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

New Poll Finds Johnston and Denver City Council Losing Favorability

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s favorability rating fell 7 percentage points over the past year, while the City Council’s favorability rating dropped 3 percentage points, a new poll has found. A little more than a year after taking office, Johnston had enjoyed a 48% favorability rating among likely voters. That declined to 46% in 2025, sliding to 39% in 2026, according to a new Colorado Polling Institute poll. Half of likely voters hold an unfavorable opinion of him, up 4 percentage points from last year. The City Council’s favorability rating climbed from 34% in 2024 to 41% in 2025 but it fell to 38% in 2026. “Voters who hold a favorable view of the mayor are largely anchored by the view that he is ‘getting th...
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Poll Finds Socialists Now Outnumber Republicans Among Denver Voters
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Poll Finds Socialists Now Outnumber Republicans Among Denver Voters

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette More Denver voters identify as socialists than Republicans, continuing a three-year rise that comes on the heels of Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros’ upset primary victory over longtime U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette. Seventeen percent of Denver voters now identify as socialists, up from 12% last year and 11% two years ago, according to a new Colorado Polling Institute (CPI) poll. Just 15% of voters identify as Republican. The shift follows Kiros’ June victory over DeGette, a 15-term incumbent, by 13.4 percentage points or more than 21,100 votes, in the Democratic primary. The poll also depicts an electorate broadly positive about Denver: Most voters believe the city is headed in the right direction and nearly f...
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A socialist endorsement for mayor: What Denver DSA’s backing of Shontel Lewis means.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

A socialist endorsement for mayor: What Denver DSA’s backing of Shontel Lewis means.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Denver's Democratic Socialists of America chapter has picked a candidate in the 2027 race for mayor. In an August 25 release, the chapter said it was "proud to announce their endorsement of Councilwoman Shontel M. Lewis for Mayor of Denver in the 2027 election." The endorsement comes from the chapter itself, in its own words. What is worth slowing down on is the word itself. For DSA, an endorsement is not a pat on the back. It is a category with rules attached, and the rules are written down. The candidate Lewis is a first-term councilmember for District 8, a seat that runs through Park Hill and parts of East Colfax.  She filed an affidavit in July to run for mayor in the April 6, 2027, municipal election, a...
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Denver’s 2028 Convention Bid Advances as Democrats Narrow Field to Three Cities
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Denver’s 2028 Convention Bid Advances as Democrats Narrow Field to Three Cities

By Mike Catalini | The Colorado Sun A final decision is expected to be made later this year by party leaders. Democrats on Thursday narrowed the list of potential host cities for their 2028 presidential convention to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia as their party looks ahead to a wide-open primary to succeed President Donald Trump. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement the cities put forward “incredibly strong bids,” and he promised the convention would be an “inspiring celebration of our party’s future nominee.” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston celebrated the news. “We are honored that Denver has advanced as one of the top three candidates to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention,” he said in a writt...
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The cheap politics of acknowledgment: Joondeph’s case against Denver’s plan
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, Local

The cheap politics of acknowledgment: Joondeph’s case against Denver’s plan

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Not long ago, I attended a Sunday service at a Methodist church in Denver. Before the service began, the pastor introduced herself, shared her preferred pronouns, and informed the congregation that we were worshipping on stolen Native American land. I remember wondering why, if the land had truly been stolen, the church still owned it. I wrote about it on these pages.  Now Denver’s City Council wants to add another public ritual to official meetings. Not a prayer. Not the Pledge of Allegiance. Not even a moment of silence. A labor acknowledgment recognizing slavery and its legacy. Image created by ChatGPT The proposal is curious for one obvious reason. Colorado ent...
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Officially Launches 2027 Reelection Bid
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston Officially Launches 2027 Reelection Bid

By Michael Braithwaite | The Denver Gazette Denver Mayor Mike Johnston officially filed his paperwork Monday to run again for Denver’s mayoral office next year. The filing comes weeks after Johnston confirmed to The Denver Gazette that he would seek reelection as he focuses the final year of his current term on utility costs, childcare and other affordability challenges. “I think the most important thing is to focus on the biggest cost drivers families in Denver are facing,” Johnston said. “And the biggest one, by far, is the cost of housing.” READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
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Denver’s chief security officer quit July 2, alleging punishment for raising concerns
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Denver’s chief security officer quit July 2, alleging punishment for raising concerns

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice The chief security officer of the Denver Security Office sent a resignation email to more than a dozen recipients at 12:57 p.m. on July 2 — the day after his seven-year anniversary with the city — and used the letter to accuse General Services leaders of punishing him for raising concerns. The letter was posted publicly on X by Do Better Denver, an anonymous account that publishes material about Denver city government. His name is redacted in the posted images. Rocky Mountain Voice has not independently authenticated the letter, and the city declined to confirm the resignation. In the letter, he described being written up for speaking about layoffs, furloughs, frozen raises, increased workloads, and changes to CSA Rule...
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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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