The closely watched District 9 Denver City Council race has remained a nail-biter as more ballots are being reported, but incumbent Candi CdeBaca began gaining a lead after initially trailing one of her two opponents.
On Thursday morning, the race was in a near tie. CdeBaca held at 43.95% of votes counted, while challenger Darrell Watson’s tally stood at 43.56%. A third candidate, Kwon Atlas, garnered 12.48% of the vote.
But by the 2 p.m. Thursday drop by the Clerk and Recorder — the latest numbers available — CdeBaca held the lead. She now has 44.2% of votes counted, while Watson’s tally stood at 43%. Atlas, garnered 12.8% of the vote.
If a city council district candidate does not earn a majority of the vote on election day, the top two candidates head to a runoff, which will be June 6.
CdeBaca celebrated the update on social media, one she had predicted on election day. She had trailed Watson by roughly 3 percentage points as of the first drop of ballots on Tuesday, a margin that moved little during election night reporting.
The councilmember could not be reached for comment on Thursday but spoke to a room of supporters at her Tuesday watch party with confidence about what the coming ballot drops would hold for her campaign.
“Our people are going to come for us. They’ve got our back. They’re busy, they’re working, and that’s why we’re fighting. But they’re showing up today,” she said.
Her campaign was ready to “build power in our cities, to build a movement that is strategic.” The councilmember also announced a pregnancy at her watch party, saying “what I feel in my body is what I feel about this race. We’re creating something brand new in this city.”
The councilmember is known as Denver's most progressive councilmember whose campaign priorities span from addressing housing to taking a public health approach to safety.
She was raised by a single mother and her grandparents in Swansea, an upbringing that taught her “the importance of putting people and the planet at the center of city policy,” according to her website. Before winning office, she previously worked as a social worker and founded several organizations that worked to support her district.
As she asks voters to keep her in office, CdeBaca is touting her work pushing Denver to divest from halfway houses run by private prison companies and her co-sponsorship of ordinances she says strengthen worker protections, among other initiatives.
CdeBaca has previously sought to replace the Denver Police Department with a “peace force.” She was also a vocal opponent of the redevelopment proposal to turn the former Park Hill Golf Course into affordable and market-rate housing, along with park space and a grocery store. The proposal, ultimately put to the voters on Tuesday as well, was handily rejected.
But voters are watching CdeBaca’s track record working with other city leadership too, Watson told The Denver Gazette.
“This election is a referendum on the current city councilmember,” he said.
His performance on Tuesday is exactly where he wanted to be, Watson said.
Not only did he expect to be separated from the incumbent by roughly 200 votes, but he expects the same razor thin margin in the June 6 runoff election, Watson said. That’s why Watson is imploring “every single eligible voter to vote.”
“Every vote counts,” he said.
Watson will approach the runoff campaign “just like we approached the last eight months,” he said, by prioritizing speaking to every community member in each district neighborhood.
Watson, who has run for city council before, bills himself as a problem solver who will work with the community, councilmembers and elected leaders. He vows to fight for District 9 residents “who can’t wait another election cycle to see progress,” his website says. “District 9 can no longer wait for solutions while our elected officials tweet their way to failed legislation or disengage from the process when it doesn’t go their way,” his website says.
Watson names his priorities as social equity, housing, homelessness, public safety, economy, transportation and the climate, but housing is his number one priority, he said.
Residents have made abundantly clear that they believe “housing is a right,” he said.
District 9’s next leader will also have a host of work waiting for them to address the environment and climate crisis, Watson said.
Watson’s climate plan calls for increasing the tree canopy, boosting residents’ access to green space by keeping parks within a 10-minute walk, transitioning large buildings from natural gas to electric heat pumps beginning in 2025, designating the Welton Street corridor and Larimer Street in Five Points as EV charging hubs, reducing non-native lawns, and expanding bike use.
Watson said his background has given him real-world experience with some of Denver’s most pressing issues.
Watson is the youngest of seven siblings and was raised by his single mother on the island of St. Thomas. As his mother worked by day and went to school at night, she struggled to pay bills and put food on the table, which meant Watson experienced firsthand issues such as food insecurity and housing instability. He credits his life experiences during childhood and his mother’s example with teaching him about the value of hard work.
He went on to become a first generation graduate at the University of Colorado at Denver and has lived in Denver for 30 years. He also led a 30-year career in finance.
Watson retired from finance to launch a small business with his husband. They now run a consulting company focused on assisting nonprofits and for-profit organizations with justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
He serves as chair of the Housing Stability Strategic Advisors board, where he has sought to address policies that contribute to homelessness and the housing crisis. He also worked as co-chair of the Denver Game Plan for a Healthy City seeking to increase parks and open space in Denver. He served as co-chair of the Denver Biased Policing Task Force, where Watson says he worked alongside both the community and police officers to bring in new training to curb biased policing.
The election in June will define Denver for the next decade, he said.
Solving the city’s challenges requires a regional approach and working collaboratively with other council members, Watson said. He’s expecting to continue garnering support of a majority of current and former councilmembers, he said, adding he’s the candidate who can be a unifier.
“It is clear that District 9 is ready to elect a councilperson who is focused on progress, not division,” Watson said.
