Ten candidates for mayor will be on the May 3 mail-in ballot, the most in 43 years.
The field includes three Denver City Council members, two city workers, a former state senator and a man who sought to create a commission to probe for the existence of extraterrestrials.
“It’s annoying. It’s a sign of a weak field and maybe a bad economy,” said former City Councilwoman Susan Barnes-Gelt, now a political observer. “There are five or six people who can’t use their time more effectively?”
Thursday was the final day to get on the ballot.
A field of 18 who had submitted paperwork saying they intended to run for mayor was winnowed to 10 people who made the ballot by gathering at least 300 signatures from registered Denver voters.
In 2003, seven people vied for mayor in the general election, with John Hickenlooper winning in a runoff.
Seven also entered in 1991, and Wellington Webb, too, won in a runoff. Federico Peña in 1983 was victorious in another field of seven, including incumbent Bill McNichols. In 1971, McNichols won in a field of five in the general election.
Every city-elected position is up for a vote this spring, including all 13 City Council seats, the auditor, and the clerk and recorder. Six incumbent council members are running unopposed.
A lottery drawing for positioning on the ballot was held at election headquarters Thursday evening.
In the mayor’s race, at-large council members Doug Linkhart and Carol Boigon nabbed the first and second spots, respectively.
“I don’t think it makes a lot of difference,” Linkhart said of the positioning. “People are educated enough to know to look for the ones that they want to support.”
He was a bit more exuberant later, tweeting: “Just got first position on the ballot to be the next mayor of Denver!!!”
All of the candidates who gathered to see their ballot placement put a positive spin on their spot.
Chris Romer, former state senator and the son of three-term Gov. Roy Romer, said his daughter Grace’s favorite number is 3.
“It’s great to be third,” he said, adding that he will not have the same thought come the night of the election.
If no candidate in the general election receives at least 50 percent of the votes, the top two finishers will have a runoff June 7.
James Mejia, whose name sits in the No. 5 slot, said the position doesn’t matter.
“If we do our job right, people will seek you out on the ballot,” he said. “Though I would trade for the top spot.”
Theresa Spahn was calling her position “lucky No. 7.”
“I think people are going to be spending a lot of time with this ballot because it’s a mail-in ballot,” she said.
Councilman Michael Hancock was calling his spot “the lucky 8 ball.”
“The 8 ball,” he said, “always wins the game.”
Hancock said he came from a family of 10 and, after losing two siblings, is the eighth surviving member.
“I feel this is my brother and sister smiling down on me,” he said.
Kenneth Simpson, who works for the city’s 311 service, showed little emotion over his No. 10 slot.
“They’ve always regarded me as the underdog,” he said. “I’m a nobody against a bunch of somebodies. But everyone said I wouldn’t make it this far.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Names and numbers
Candidates and ballot order for Denver’s May 3 mayoral election:
1. Doug Linkhart
2. Carol Boigon
3. Chris Romer
4. Thomas Andrew Wolf
5. James Mejia
6. Jeff Peckman
7. Theresa Spahn
8. Michael B. Hancock
9. Danny F. Lopez
10. Kenneth R. Simpson
And the candidates for other offices (City Council incumbents in districts 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 are running unopposed):
AUDITOR
Dennis Gallagher *
Marcus D. Richardson
Bill Wells
CLERK AND RECORDER
Tom Downey
Debra Johnson
Sarah McCarthy
Jacob Werther
AT-LARGE CITY COUNCIL
Josh Davies
Rich Gonzales
Robin Kniech
Deborah “Debbie” Ortega
Jesse Kyle Shelmire
COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Larry Ambrose
Katherine K. Cornwell
John E. Haney
Ken Padilla
Samantha Padilla Scheitler
Jeffrey Schitter
Susan Shepherd
COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
Jeanne Faatz*
Edward S. Valdez
COUNCIL DISTRICT 5
Michele Fry
Meredith Voigt Hartigan
Steve Saunders
Mary Beth Susman
Ted Tompkins
Leslie Twarogowski
COUNCIL DISTRICT 9
Juanita Gable
Judy H. Montero*
Michael P. Sanchez
COUNCIL DISTRICT 11
Chris Herndon
Chris Martinez
*Incumbent
