Write-in candidates Wil Alston and Albus Brooks were the early leaders Tuesday night in the 38-person District 8 race.
The top two finishers will square off in a June 7 runoff to become the district’s next city councilman.
Initial returns showed Alston in the lead with 653 votes and Brooks a close second with 573.
“There’s a lot of votes that still have to come in,” Alston said by phone from an election night party at his Park Hill home. “It’s still hard to tell, but we really like our chances,”
Alston is currently the executive director of the Five Points Business district.
Not far from Alston, Brooks watched the returns from his home in the Cole neighborhood.
“I am humbled and hopeful. Humbled that so many of my friends and neighbors have supported me in this process, and hopeful for the results of the night,” he said.
Candidates in the race garnered a number of high-profile endorsements from former mayors and a former governor.
Alston received the support of former Gov. Bill Ritter and former District 8 City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth.
Former Mayor Wellington Webb backed Brooks, a former University of Colorado football player, saying Brooks has the youth and ability to bring all the diverse aspects of the district together.
City Councilwoman Carla Madison was running unopposed for a second term when she died April 5. District 8 encompasses Five Points, Park Hill, Lower Downtown and City Park.
Before Madison was elected in 2007, the seat was a stronghold for black politicians. Elbra Wedgeworth, Hiawatha Davis, King Trimble and Elvin Caldwell held the seat prior to Madison.
Caldwell represented the district for 25 years, from 1955 to 1980, and was Denver’s first black City Council member.
“District 8 has always been historically ethnically diverse, way before many other communities in Denver,” said Wedgeworth, who represented the district from 1999 to 2007.
Both Alston and Brooks are black candidates.
Paul Weiss, Madison’s surviving husband, is trailing in third place with 468 votes.
“The challenges are going to be considerable,” said Alton Dillard , spokesman for the Denver clerk and recorder.
“Mainly the challenge is that write-in votes have to be hand-counted. We are shoring up our existing procedures to accommodate the volume of write-in candidates.”
Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655 or klee@denverpost.com
