Denver Post reports on the May election

The Denver dailies did, in fact, commit at least an article apiece to trumpet the results in Denver's municipal elections.

George Merritt of the Denver Post submitted an article which found the big story to be the virtual cakewalk in the mayoral race. In "Hickenlooper coasts to second term", he wrote:

Four years after taking the mayor's office as a political novice, John Hickenlooper coasted to a second term Tuesday as one of the most popular political figures in the state.

The mayor held an overwhelming lead on election night with 88 percent of the more than 68,000 votes counted...

"I'm not sure we have seen this level of popularity in the modern history of Colorado," Democratic political consultant Steve Welchert said.

He then mentioned the far more pressing story, sandwiching these details between Hickenlooper tributes:

Three open City Council seats were headed for runoffs, though Paul Lopez in District 3 and Chris Nevitt in District 7 had more than 40 percent of the vote in their respective races. Candidates must have more than 50 percent to be elected; otherwise the top two vote-getters compete in a runoff.

As of press time, JoAnn Phillips, with 16 percent, would square off with Lopez in the 3rd and Shelly Watters, with 28 percent, would battle Nevitt in the 7th.

In District 8, Sharon Bailey had 37 percent and will be in a runoff with either Carla Madison or Darrell Watson. Madison and Watson were separated by just 73 votes.

The silliest quote award goes to Danny Lopez:

Mayoral challenger Danny Lopez, a public works employee, said he was disappointed he did not receive more attention in the media.

"They didn't take me as a serious candidate because I did not want to spend $100,000," he said.

No, silly. They didn't take you seriously because you didn't want to spend $1,000,000! Hickelooper raised nearly $800,000 without even breaking a sweat. $100,000 wouldn't even have gotten you in the door, my friend. That's why raising nothing was a much better strategy - and I think you know that.

Channel 9 mayoral profiles

Adam Schrager of Channel 9 News boldly offers a profile of one of the the least competitive races in Denver: "A Look at Denver’s Mayoral Candidates."

Mayor John Hickenlooper's profile aired on April 24th at 4 pm ; challenger Danny Lopez's profile aired on April 25th. Both are presented as a single article online, as excerpted below:

John Hickenlooper

...Hickenlooper came from a career running restaurants to win a resounding victory in June 2003. He promised better relations with the city of Aurora and with the state of Colorado and by all accounts, has delivered. However, his biggest campaign pledge was to do business differently; to treat Denver city government as a business.

He sees this re-election campaign as a referendum on whether Denver voters think he's come through on his goals...

Despite significant popular support (poll results show his approval ratings in the 70 percent range), his administration has made decisions that have been challenged. He entered office with a budget deficit and vowed not to cut city services to balance it. His decision to put all city workers on unpaid leave for three days left numerous employees angry. Plus, the fact the city was crippled for a period of time during last winter's blizzard opened Hickenlooper's administration to criticism that he was out of touch.

He says he hopes Denver residents realize his administration may not have been perfect, but it worked as hard as possible to create a better, more accountable city...

Danny Lopez

Danny Lopez realizes the odds he's facing taking on incumbent John Hickenlooper, but the Public Works employee is drawing inspiration from the smallest Denver Nugget as he seeks to make history.

"I'm out there to give voters an alternative choice to Mayor Hickenlooper," said Lopez. "If there are people out there not satisfied with the job he's done, they at least have an alternative choice. If Allen Iverson is the 'Answer,' Danny Lopez is the 'Alternative.'"...

"I think there are some poor neighborhoods this administration has forgotten," Lopez said. "The city workers are clearly forgotten. Forty percent of the workforce hasn't seen a raise in four years."

Lopez is not one of that 40 percent, but believes it is his responsibility to stand up for those who don't feel capable of standing up for themselves...

The self-described underdog wants to be known as the "Alternative" and if he proves successful, he says his victory will be remembered as Denver's "great miracle."

Ho hum... mayor's race

In a politics without season, I guess the Denver Post has decided that the campaign of a mayor "who does not face serious opposition in his bid for re-election" deserves attention without further review.

Nevermind that Danny Lopez has offered an alternative, and that John Wren is working furiously on write-in candidates.

George Merritt's "Mayor touts tenure without politics" leaves us to suspect (but not understand) issues in the article's final sentence:

Danny Lopez, a public works employee, is Hickenlooper's only challenger in the May 1 mail-only election.

Thanks for the public service announcement.

Profile: Danny Lopez (Mayor)

Articles on YourHub.com are often jejune and unhelpful, but this afternoon's post by James Syring is important enough to quote in its entirety. The topic and style of the story are clearly indicated in the title: "Lopez For Mayor."

Danny Lopez is somewhat of a rarity in politics. He's a native of Colorado and not a carpetbagger. He was born in Alamosa and grew up in the Denver metropolitan area. He's lived in North Denver and Montbello and presently lives in Bear Valley. He went to Thomas Jefferson, graduated from Ranum and attended The University of Colorado.

I like the idea that he has lived in regular neighborhoods and not some enclave of million dollar lofts or scrape-offs. Another thing I like about him is that he comes from a working class background. His folks were both union workers and he's a long time employee of the Denver Department of Public Works. I feel strongly about elected officials having his kind of background because I believe that people like Danny have more in common with the majority of the citizens of a city like Denver and they understand what it's like to try and get by in a city where the movers and shakers are more concerned about what upscale restaurant to take their friends to instead of worrying about rising property taxes or how safe the neighborhood streets are.

Danny and I talked about what he thought he could accomplish for the city. One advantage he felt he had was that since he didn't have any big time contributors, he wasn't obligated to anyone who had their own agenda and he could concentrate on what was best for all the people of Denver.

As a city worker, he feels strongly that there should be what he calls a "Trickle Up" economy. He thinks that there is a greater chance to improve the local economy if workers get raises and if Denver raises the minimum wage. Forty percent of city workers have not had a raise since the Webb administration. Danny feels that now that the economy has rebounded to the point where the present city administration is ready to spend 1.7 million dollars for a miniature golf park and raises have been given to the city council, that working folks should also benefit.

He agrees with the "Broken Windows" system of policing that relies on prosecuting minor crimes in order to head off major crime. As part of this program, he would like to see harsher penalties for graffiti vandals.

A long time coach of youth sports, Danny has seen the benefits for young people and he would like to see more affordable youth programs. His acronym for dealing with youth crime is: PETA. Prevention, Enforcement, Treatment and Aftercare.

He disagrees with the closing of Manual High and believes that the community should have been responsible for devising a plan to restructure and save the existing school.

He thinks that the people who believe that a city should be run simply as a business, too often overlook the importance of the culture and values of individual neighborhoods.

Danny Lopez knows that his chance of winning the election is slim but I reminded him that he has one big advantage over his opponent and that's the fact that, with his experience at Public Works, he knows a heck of a lot about how to handle snow removal and that might be enough for us to give him a shot at the job.

Profile: Danny Lopez (Mayor)

The television studios have suddenly realized there's a municipal election starting in 2 weeks. To prepare, Eli Stokols of Channel 2 News has offered a profile of Danny Lopez, who may well be the least-covered official candidate in the entire campaign.

Excerpts from the piece, entitled "Meet Denver's other mayoral candidate: Danny Lopez has a mullet and a mission," are quoted below:

He's a public works supervisor named Danny Lopez.

He's a youth baseball coach and a disc jockey known as "DJ Muscle."

And, he's the only person in all of Denver with the cojones, not to mention the requisite 300 petition signatures, to challenge Mayor John Hickenlooper's re-election bid.

"Voters need an alternative choice," said Lopez. "He's going to spend $500,000 to beat me. I'm going to spend nothing to beat him.

... "If I'm elected to be mayor of this city, I want to return government to the common, hard-working family man," Lopez said. "There are some neighborhoods out there that have been forgotten by this administration. The city workers have surely been forgotten."

Lopez, a supervisor for the public works department's television unit and an emergency snowplow driver during the winter's snowstorms, wants to give his co-workers a raise and the power of collective bargaining.

"Over the last four years, there's been 40 percent of the workforce that has not seen a raise," he said. "I'll govern from the heart. I'll do what I think is right."

Friday, clad in synthetic yellow alligator boots, Lopez said he thinks voters will appreciate all the miles he's walked in a working man's shoes.

"I want those people out there who think politicians spend too much money to get elected to office, I hope they identify with me and vote for me," he said. "I want those protest votes. Those people who want to send Mayor Hickenlooper a message, I want them to vote for me."

A frothy campaign season

Not to be outdone in the media's search for vacuous electoral comment, Rocky Mountain News' Daniel Chacon has found another hard-hitting story on the 2007 Denver municipal elections.

The story is entitled "Mayoral Hopeful Has a Beer Whoopsie":

The first meeting between Denver's mayoral candidates got off to a splash Tuesday.

Danny Lopez, who is challenging Mayor John Hickenlooper in the May election, spilled beer on Hickenlooper's lap when the two rivals met for lunch at Pints Pub, a couple blocks south of City Hall.

Really? That's the extent of our political conversation just a few weeks before the ballots are mailed? Perhaps there's some deeper meaning to the story, or political ill-will to be exposed.

Lopez, a supervisor in the city's Public Works Department, said he didn't do it on purpose.

"No, it was an accident," he said. "I have the utmost respect for him, both as the mayor and as my boss, and just as a fellow human being out there."

Chacon reports (via Hickenlooper) that candidate Danny Lopez wanted to get into the race in order to offer voters a "choice," but offers no hints as to the issues or concerns that define the political debate.

Which begs the question: What's our choice?

What are we voting on in May, if candidates and the media refuse to discuss issues?

On a related note, please visit the candidate questions below. As of this writing, only Council District 8's Carla Madison seems eager to engage substantive issues in this public forum.

Good for her. And for us. If only there were more like her, we wouldn't have to cry over spilled beer.