Dennis Gallagher has won a third 4-year term as Denver Auditor, easily beating back challenges from Marcus Richardson and Bill Wells.
The 71-year-old Gallagher, a former Denver City Council member and long-term state legislator, dominated the contest, recording 67.6 percent of the vote in returns released by Denver election officials as of 10 p.m. tonight.
He had the support of former Denver mayors John Hickenlooper and Wellington Webb.
Gallagher was first elected to the auditor’s post in 2003 and because of term limits will not be eligible to run again.
“We’re going to continue on the road to accountability that we started in our first two terms,” Gallagher said tonight.
He said the auditor’s office, which has a staff of about 43, set an example last year when it returned about a half-million dollars to the city’s general fund as a result of consolidations and holding off on new hiring.
“I look forward to working again to make the city more fiscally sound than we found it,” Gallagher said, adding that he plans to meet with department heads in the new mayoral administration to explore where they may see weaknesses in internal controls on finances.
Gallagher taught at Regis University for 37 years and his academic specialities included Latin, Greek, speech, persuasion and media.
He is professor emeritus at Regis, and Gallagher said this summer, he will teach a class on the Irish rhetorical and oral tradition, in Ireland.
Wells, 64, who ran in part on his experience as a certified government auditor, said of Gallagher, “He’s a seasoned politician, probably the No. 1 politician in Denver.”
This marked the third consecutive campaign for auditor that Wells had run against Gallagher and lost.
Richardson, in his campaign, had cited more than 27 years of auditing experience on his résumé, and his specialty with performance audits focusing on contract compliance.
RESULTS
Marcus D. Richardson17.1%
Dennis Gallagher67.6%
Bill Wells14.9%
