Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s $100 million affordable housing sales tax isn’t dead in the water yet, but results updated on Thursday showed it still trailing by thousands of votes with a dwindling number left to be counted.
Ballot Issue 2R, a 0.5% sales tax increase to fund housing investments and programs in the city, was rejected by 51.3% of voters with more than 275,000 votes tabulated so far, according to results updated by the Denver Elections Division at 5 p.m. Thursday.
That’s a slight decrease compared to the 51.7% rejection rate in results late Tuesday. But 2R still had to make up a margin of 6,878 votes to pass, according to the latest results.
As of Thursday evening, roughly 61,000 ballots remained to be processed in the 2024 election, according to Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office spokeswoman Mikayla Ortega. The clerk’s office will update vote totals again no later than 5 p.m. Friday.
Johnston on Wednesday afternoon said there was still a path for 2R but added, “I think it’s more difficult than we thought it would have been 12 hours ago.”
ELECTION RESULTS: Live Colorado election results for the 2024 election
Supporters of Ballot Issue 2Q, a 0.34% sales tax increase aimed at stabilizing the finances of Denver Health, have had a much less stressful time watching returns roll in.
With that $70 million sales tax for her hospital holding a sizeable lead, Denver Health CEO Donna Lynne late Tuesday held fast to the cautious optimism she expressed earlier in the vote-counting process. The stakes were too high to celebrate early, she said.
“We’re waiting for somebody else to declare victory. That’s how it usually goes,” Lynne said after having already left the Ballot Issue 2Q watch party at Spangalang Brewery in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood.
Issue 2Q maintained a 57% support rate in Wednesday’s update, amassing a lead of more than 32,700 votes over those opposing it.
Despite her hesitancy to call the race over, Lynne was willing to talk about what comes next for Denver Health should 2Q pass.
By Tuesday night she had already had a phone conversation with Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero — whose district is set to receive $975 million in bond money thanks to voters this year — about plans to open a new Denver Health clinic at .
She indicated that adding even more clinics in the state’s biggest school district was a possibility in the now-likely event 2Q passes.
“Denver Health will be stronger because we won’t be in a negative position,” Lynne said simply of 2Q’s impact.
She also vowed to make good on a commitment she made to the Denver City Council to open 28 more mental health and substance-use treatment beds, on top of 50 the hospital currently provides for some of what she deems the city’s most difficult-to-serve patients.
“We lose money on every bed that we have open,” Lynne said. “(But) thatap what we’ll do with some of this money — is open up all those beds.”
As 2R hung in the balance, Johnston said affordable housing is a difficult issue. People often have concerns about where income-qualified housing will be built and the impacts it will have on surrounding property values. Supporters knew that a large sales tax increase would also be a big ask at a time when many Denverites have concerns about the economic environment.
If 2R fails, the mayor said his administration will remain committed to creating more affordable housing opportunities in the city.
“We’ll be delighted if we close that gap — and if we don’t, we’re not going to give up on it,” Johnston said. “We will go about other ways of trying to solve this problem.”
