One of the candidates vying to be Denver's next mayor stands out as much due to his political affiliation as he does due to his swollen campaign coffers.
Not only is veteran and small business owner Andy Rougeot the only major self-funding candidate in the nonpartisan race, he's also the only registered Republican.
City election officials said last week that 17 hopefuls have qualified for the April 4 ballot to succeed term-limited Mayor Michael Hancock. If no one tops 50% of the vote in the first round, the top two finishers head to a run-off election that concludes on June 6.
Rougeot, at this point, is among the pack leaders in campaign funds, having loaned more than $500,000 to his campaign.
Political observers say his approach to several hot-button issues — from homelessness to crime — could distinguish the political novice in a crowded field full of seasoned Democratic politicians and civic leaders if he spends his money effectively.
Rougeot, who describes himself as a pragmatic Republican, has pledged to eliminate the city's no-strings-attached $12,000 payments to homeless residents and redirect the funds to enforcing the city's controversial camping ban. He's also pledged to hire an additional 400 police officers.
By all accounts, Rougeot starts out from a steep numerical deficit. Overwhelmingly Democratic Denver hasn't elected a Republican to run the city for more than 60 years, not since Richard Brattigan capped a string of GOP mayors in the early 1960s.
That isn't the only deficit facing the 33-year-old Army veteran, who is making his first run for office. In the modern era, Denver hasn't picked a mayor with neither political experience nor a prominent public profile. U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who followed two terms at city hall with two terms as governor, comes closest but was a well-known civic leader — nicknamed the "mayor of LoDo" — before launching a political career with his successful 2003 mayoral run.
About half of the candidates on the mayoral ballot have begun to separate themselves from the rest. In alphabetical order, they are former chamber boss Kelly Brough; criminal justice reform advocate and 2019 mayoral candidate Lisa Calderón; state Sen. Chris Hansen and Rep. Leslie Herod; former state Sen. Mike Johnston, who ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor and U.S. senator; at-large council member Debbie Ortega; Tattered Cover co-owner and CEO Kwame Spearman; human rights activist Ean Tafoya; and, Rougeot, considered a potential player largely because of the six figures he's already sunk into his own campaign.
Dick Wadhams, a former Colorado GOP state chairman and veteran campaign manager, said Rougeot can propose solutions that aren't products of the city's "liberal establishment."
"While all the candidates are trying to assert they can effectively deal with rising crime, rampant homelessness and increased drug abuse, Andy Rougeot appears to stand out because he is not beholden to the liberal political establishment that let these problems fester to begin with," Wadhams told The Denver Gazette.
"The other candidates largely come from that entrenched liberal establishment, and the question is if they have the political will to extract themselves from those failed policies of the past," he added.
Eric Sondermann, a veteran political operative and columnist for Colorado Politics and the Denver Gazette, said Rougeot’s "hardline message" harkens back to old-fashioned “law and order” campaign themes.
"(It) will resonate with a fair-sized chunk of Denver given the condition of the city at the moment," Sondermann said. "The question is how large that chunk is and whether other candidates closer to the Democratic mainstream of Denver adopt something close to that tenor."
Rougeot’s "calculation," Sondermann said, is that his tough approach — plus his massive self-funding — could propel him into a berth in the likely two-person runoff.
"I wouldn’t bet on that," Sondermann added, "but it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility. A large number of voters, not just Republicans, are fed up."
Wadhams said Denver residents will have to decide if they want to continue to live in a "declining city that has tolerated and even encouraged crime, homelessness and drug abuse" for the next four years.
"Rougeot needs to continue to set himself apart from the other candidates on these fundamental issues," Wadhams said.
Michael Dino, a political expert who served as campaign manager for former mayor Wellington Webb, countered that Rougeot's messaging doesn’t necessarily stand out from other candidates, as most everybody is talking about homelessness and crime.
What's crucial, Dino said, is how he spends his money to promote his message to the larger electorate.
"Being a Republican in the mayor’s race may be the kiss of death, so he’ll have to hope he comes across as likable as possible to have a shot at the runoff," Dino said. "A combative style won’t get much traction."
