The Denver Gazette asked 17 candidates for Denver mayor why they want to replace Michael Hancock, what they believe are the city's more pressing problems and their top spending priorities if elected.

Of the 17, 16 responded. 

Here are their responses. 

Why did you decide to run for Denver mayor?

Renate Behrens:

A change is needed: Woman power and wisdom. It is my turn now. And last but not least: I need this job, need an income and health insurance to live a life with dignity.

Kelly Brough: 

I love this city and I know how to lead it. I’m ready to tackle our toughest issues and create a brighter future, one where: We all feel safe and take pride in our neighborhoods, everyone has access to shelter and housing, parents can age in the houses where they raised their kids and those kids can afford to buy homes in Denver too. My personal and professional experiences have prepared me to lead this city, in this moment. This is my first time running for public office and I won’t run for another. I’m committed to realizing the Promise of Denver.

Lisa Calderon: 

I am running for Denver mayor because it’s time that we reimagine what is possible outside the false binary choices fed to us by the political and economic elite. Our “strong mayor” system is a legacy from Denver’s racist past, and I am committed to scaling back mayoral powers and co-governing with community groups across the city. Denver became a city in which special interests took priority over workers, residents, and small business owners. This widened racial and wealth inequality and hastened the displacement of marginalized communities. I’m running for mayor to build a transparent city government that shares power by decentralizing city hall and moving representation into neighborhoods.

Chris Hansen: 

I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with what is happening in Denver. The city is not living up to its full potential. As a systems engineer, I love to solve problems and find solutions and I plan to do just that as Denver’s next Mayor.

Leslie Herod: 

Denver is struggling as it changes, and there is a lack of clear leadership and attention needed to solve the issues impacting people’s lives. Denver is ready to do better. I’ve spent my career putting results over politics, and I look forward to bringing people together to create real change.

Mike Johnston: 

I’m running for mayor, because I believe in Denver. I hear people’s different hopes. And I see practical, pragmatic ways to bring us all together to make our city work again. I offer a proven track record of real results — as a public servant, a state senator, and a CEO. In each of these roles, we’ve tackled complex problems, built unlikely coalitions, and delivered meaningful progress. I’m running for Mayor because I want to make Denver America’s best city.

Aurelio Martinez: 

Living in Denver my entire life in Curtis Park, Five Points neighborhood, I’ve been through many changes affecting the neighborhood. Residents living in Denver have always had to battle with the administration in order to keep control in their neighborhoods. It has gotten to the point where neighborhood residents have lost their voice. This has to change; I believe your neighborhood has to be your safe haven.

Debbie Ortega: 

Denver needs to chart a new course: Community safety concerns have drastically increased, homelessness has reached a crisis-level, and our lack of attainable housing has made living, working, and thriving here out of reach for far too many. Denver deserves an experienced candidate who can bring us to a better place. As the only candidate in this race who has four decades of experience in public service, I am running to improve the lives of Denver residents while creating a safe, affordable, and prosperous future for our city.

Terrance Roberts: 

Denver could be the best city in the world with the right type of leadership. We need a mayor in office who is not afraid to say, ‘We need more public housing,’ owned by constituents, not just affordable housing, owned by developers. Denver needs a mayor who will change the City Charter to restrict the consolidated power of the mayor to two terms. We need a public banking system in Denver to help generate the additional income needed to add housing and to get our most vulnerable residents banking services.

Trinidad Rodriguez: 

Growing up in west Denver with a single mom, we faced housing insecurity, violence, and mental health struggles. So, I’ve dedicated 23 years working in finance and with nonprofits and civic groups to secure funding for schools, health clinics, and affordable housing. I believe in Denver, and I’ll bring proven leadership to build a city where every Denverite, regardless of neighborhood, can achieve their dreams.

Andy Rougeot: 

I’m running for Mayor to enforce the camping ban to get the homeless into mental health and drug addiction services, to increase funding and training for Denver’s police, and to make it safer and more affordable to raise a family in Denver. The people of Denver deserve better, and I will use my experience as a US Army officer, small business owner, and father to Deliver for Denver by reducing crime, homelessness, and the cost of housing.

Kwame Spearman: 

I’m running for office because I have a unique background that is a perfect fit for what Denver needs right now: I am a small business owner and CEO. Saving the Tattered Cover from bankruptcy in 2020 and leading it through the pandemic has helped me understand the key issues facing the city — homelessness, affordability, and crime. Bringing back a business leader into the Mayor’s office – with a clear focus on our local economy – can provide the strategic guidance needed to get Denver back on track and address these issues.

Ean Tafoya: 

I’m a fourth generation Denverite who loves this city with my whole heart. I’ve worked my entire life to advance justice here as a community organizer, a teacher, and in three branches of local government. We need a Mayor who knows the day-to-day struggle residents go through, and fights for the people with the urgency they deserve.

Robert Treta: 

I decided to run for mayor when I was giving a speech on the steps of the capitol building during the George Floyd protests. My main concern was to keep the protests peaceful. As I gazed across the street, I was amazed at the amount of homeless people camping . At that moment I had decided to run and make change for real . I would build housing even if I had to do it myself.

James Walsh:

I decided to run for Mayor because I believe that wage earners who build, clean, and carry our city deserve to live here and to make a living wage. I decided to run because I have been an educator at the University of Colorado Denver for the past 25 years. My campaign is run entirely by young students who wish to see a more reasonable disparity of wealth in our city.

Thomas Wolf:  

The short why, is because I want Denver to be safe, clean and smart, and I believe that requires fresh strong competent leadership. Leadership with applicable skill, experience, and new ideas for the task with laser-focus on Denver, and to offer voters a better choice instead of the same old tired career politicians working their way up the political ladder.

Describe what you believe to be Denver's three biggest problems and how you would solve them. 

Renate Behrens:

  1. Air, noise, water pollution and the brown cloud: Turn parking spaces into gardens or parks. Make transportation free for all now.
  2. Homeless population: Empty suitable buildings have to be turned into apartments. 
  3. Road construction: Improve road construction, maintain sidewalks and shovel snow and ice from sidewalks. Use prisoners to do this community work. 

Kelly Brough:

  1. Community Safety – Ensure a broad array of police and non-police approaches to incident response. Build a policing culture based on best practice, transparency, and accountability. Address the drivers of community safety by ensuring strong educational and economic opportunity and access to housing and health care
  2. Homelessness – Denver can’t solve this alone. Build a regional strategy based on data,focused on housing and sheltering people.
  3. Housing – Build more housing, including on city-owned property. Increase density, especially along major transportation corridors. Fundamentally change the approach to development review to create more efficient and effective processes.

Lisa Calderon

Housing/homelessness, affordability, and community safety. As mayor, I will use data and feedback from community members and advocacy groups to ensure we are addressing the root causes of issues, not simply coming up with band-aid solutions. Residents have been forced to choose between affordable housing or green spaces; police expansion or racial justice; small businesses or workers. Instead, we can reimagine Denver where everyone thrives.

Chris Hansen:

  1. We need to increase public safety in all neighborhoods. We need to invest in the Police Department. I will increase the STAR program’s budget so we can send the right people to the right emergencies. There needs to be a culture shift in DPD so both the employees and the people they serve are treated with appreciation and respect.  
  2. I will focus on addressing and alleviating the cycle of homelessness by prioritizing mental health services, building additional affordable housing, and making sure folks can access substance use treatment programs. 
  3. I envision Denver as the greenest, most sustainable city in the country. We can build this vision by electrifying our heating and cooling systems and our fleet of vehicles. I will ensure Denver transitions to 100% renewable energy by 2030. 

Leslie Herod:

  1. Everyone deserves to live in a safe city, and too many people feel unsafe today. I will make it a priority to ensure Denver is one of the safest major cities in the nation.
  2. Ensuring we have affordable housing options for all allows the people who make up a community to have the ability to live here. Together, Denver is ready to tackle affordable housing to ensure that we have a city for everyone.
  3. We can do better for our unhoused neighbors, because living on streets and in parks is not dignified and doesn’t represent who Denver is. We will implement real housing solutions and mental health/substance misuse services for those who need them. 

Mike Johnston:

In no order, I’d say Denver’s three biggest issues are homelessness, affordable housing, and public safety. While I have and will release comprehensive policies to solve each one of them, the core solution framework is to first identify the overlapping crises that cause the issue, address them in a coordinated way, and then understand how to pay for those solutions in an ongoing, comprehensive way. You can access my comprehensive plans on homelessness and affordable housing here.

Aurelio Martinez: 

The three biggest problems for me would be Housing and Gentrification, Youth, and Homelessness.

Debbie Ortega: 

While these challenges are not unique to Denver, affordable housing, homelessness, and public safety are our biggest challenges. With a historic sum of money in our city’s coffers, we need to be more strategic and targeted in our spending. There are a multitude of ways to go about making inroads on these issues, and doing so starts with coordinated efforts across agencies — instead of the current siloed approaches that hold our city back from its full potential.

Terrance Roberts: 

Housing and Rent issues, Crime, City Services mismanagement. I am the only municipal candidate I know of saying, 'We need more public housing.’ We need more housing options, housing needs are tiered and there needs to be availability at all levels. Most of our crime is attached to our housing issues. It is youth related, unhoused neighbor related and domestic related. With more housing, mental health, addiction programs and youth centers we could have a drastic reduction in crime. City Services like snow removal and trash removal, need more hands-on management and resources. They can also be contracted to smaller businesses to get services to places the city cannot go.

Trinidad Rodriguez: 

"Homelessness, public safety, affordability. We need humane, compassionate, and adaptable tools to protect unhoused people. First I’ll declare a state of emergency and open a temporary field treatment hospital providing voluntary and involuntary treatment to unhoused people who may pose a danger to themselves. While Denver grows, our officer ranks don't. We must hire more officers, expand the STAR program, and raise standards for equity in policing with rigorous training programs. The cost of living has soared 200% over the last decade. As a board leader at the Denver Housing Authority, I worked with investors to increase housing supply, including restricted affordable units and as mayor, I will also boost income potential."

Andy Rougeot: 

  1. I will aggressively enforce the camping ban to reduce unsheltered homelessness in our city.
  2. I will add four hundred police officers to make our city safer and combat crime, eliminate 911 emergency line wait times, and aggressively target convicted felons in possession of illegal guns.
  3. I will fix a broken permitting department and eliminate costly barriers to housing construction so that we can finally make housing more affordable in Denver.

Kwame Spearman: 

My biggest priority as mayor is to change how we think about our city. Denver is finally too large for a one-size-fits all solution. Instead, we need to segment the city into different parts to put strategy, goals, and resources in place to accomplish change. We will do this via our neighborhoods. Consequently, each neighborhood will have a neighborhood plan that both addresses the area’s biggest needs from the city, but also how we should tackle growth in the respective area. In short – I believe we can change the organizational structure at the city to remove the unnecessary red tape that is plaguing projects."

Ean Tafoya: 

We must use regional cooperation to address our environmental, housing, and public safety crises. We need to make sure that every single resident has access to clean air and water, food, a good fair-wage job, and an affordable home."

Robert Treta: 

  1. Homelessness and affordable housing: I will build adjoining cubicle construction out by the airport for five percent of what Denver is currently spending. I want to allow [Accessory Dwelling Units] city-wide.
  2. Air quality: I want to create a directional boring project to get EV chargers in public right of ways.
  3. Renewable energy: I will provide local Incentives for solar and will amend the building code to ban plumbing penetrations on south facing roofs.

James Walsh:

Denver's greatest problem is the disparity of wealth and income inequality. There are two Denver's: One for those who can purchase property here and another for those who cannot and must pay exorbitant rental costs. The issues of gentrification, low income housing, and the unhoused are all directly related to this; they are symptoms of a much greater problem of economic injustice. I believe that the issue of substance use must be channeled through the practices and philosophy of harm reduction, decriminalizing and destigmatizing this community.

Thomas Wolf:

We will confront and control encampments by delivering city provided shelter within vacant city buildings and land. Doing so acknowledges the humanitarian crisis on our streets and is the most immediate and compassionate way to stop neglecting our city’s most needy. Aside from being the most empathetic, it also makes the most economic sense. Due to encampments, commercial real estate values are plummeting. As property values decline so do property tax revenues, which fund Denver Public Schools, affordable housing, capital improvements and maintenance. Encampments are a gaping and expanding hole sinking Denver and the only proven solution is shelter. It will take strong, tough leadership. 

What are your Top 3 spending priorities if elected as mayor?

Renate Behrens

  1. Public Transportation
  2. Green spaces
  3. Apartments for homeless

Kelly Brough: 

  1. Community Safety
  2. Homelessness
  3. Housing

Lisa Calderon

My top three spending priorities are investing in housing first policies, root cause solutions to over-policing, and convenient public transit and walkable and bikeable spaces.

Chris Hansen: 

  1. Making sure DPD is well trained, well resourced, and accountable
  2. Improving and digitizing city services
  3. Electrifying city buildings and automotive fleets, creating good jobs 

Leslie Herod: 

  1. Real housing solutions and a strategic plan to address homelessness and provide mental health support
  2. Safe and strong neighborhoods
  3. A plan to invest in our employees and ensure they have the resources they need

Mike Johnston: 

  1. Homelessness
  2. Affordable housing
  3. Public safety

Aurelio Martinez: 

  1. Keep up with the demand for the public safety department needs
  2. Denver’s initiatives on homelessness
  3. Restructure existing buildings for affordable housing and assisted living

Debbie Ortega: 

  1. Funding programs to holistically address homelessness
  2. Investing in affordable housing developments and services
  3. Equipping law enforcement, mental and behavioral health professionals, and our first responders with additional resource to improve critical services

Terrance Roberts: 

  1. Create a public banking system 
  2. Lowering crime and violence by expanding services, with a focus on youth and elderly programing
  3. Democratize the city: Give residents and city council a louder voice. Expanded elected offices

Trinidad Rodriguez: 

  1. Revamp aging infrastructure
  2. Enhance the public realm, boosting livability
  3. Pivot our built environment, e.g., office buildings, schools, for future needs

Andy Rougeot: 

I will eliminate the $12,000 no strings attached payments to the homeless, and redirect that funding towards enforcing the camping ban. I will hire four hundred additional police officers, and properly fund our 911 call centers so that are not hold times in life and death situations.

Ean Tafoya: 

  1. Environmental justice is about more than “the weather — it’s about lowering our energy bills, replacing lead pipes, expanding public transportation, and developing sustainable, walkable, accessible neighborhoods.
  2. We can address the housing crisis by developing transitional, low-income, and housing that’s truly affordable for the average family and elders. We need to support rent control and tenants unions to combat gentrification and ensure people can stay in the housing that already exists. 
  3. Public safety includes fighting for a clean environment, safe working conditions, and enacting data-driven policies to prevent violence, and make our neighborhoods more resilient and safe to live in–together.

Robert Treta: 

  1. Homelessness and affordable housing
  2. Clean air. Put the 1/4 percent sales tax increase towards construction projects such as curb EV chargers.  
  3. Renewable energy. Incentives for architectural designs to prioritize solar feasibility. Incentives for homeowners to go solar. 

James Walsh:

  1. Bicycle infrastructure
  2. Advocating strongly for a minimum wage that is a living wage
  3. Strengthening our public schools with more resources and increased teacher salaries

Thomas Wolf:  

  1. Confronting and controlling encampments
  2. Health insurance for needy Denver citizens,
  3. Re-investment in our parks and greenways

Editor's note: Some of the answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.