Martin, who is from Minnesota, gave brief comments during a news conference at Ball Arena, the only part of the three-day visit open to members of the media. The visit started Tuesday.

“The mayor has been working tirelessly to get this convention here,” he said of Mayor Mike Johnston. “They have rolled out the blue carpet, as I say, and it����ap been terrific.”

Denver is the third of five cities that Martin and the DNC team will visit on scouting trips before they decide which will host the 2028 convention. The other contenders are Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. The winner will host the four-day convention in August 2028, bringing in tens of thousands of visitors and giving the city a national stage to show off its attractions.

Martin hinted that his team may also choose a host city for the 2032 convention.

“While we are here to tour and discuss the various logistical and administrative requirements for hosting the Democratic National Convention, we also seek a city that tells a story, that shares our values and will be a true partner with us,” he said.

Johnston led the press event, which also included comments from Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib.

“This is a state (where) we’re successfully showing not only (that) Democrats win and continue to win, but we’re governing effectively,” Polis said. “We’re happy to share that with our colleagues … and many others from across the entire nation to make sure that more of the country can really look west for the future.”

Denver and Colorado officials have focused on highlighting the city’s transportation and logistical advantages during their pitch. They’ve also pointed to Democratic policy wins locally, including free kindergarten and preschool, decreases in street homelessness and improved public safety.

Johnston shared some details of the visit so far, including taking the DNC officials to the Colorado Avalanche’s playoff game Tuesday night — the team beat Martin’s home-state Minnesota Wild 5-2 — and singing karaoke at the Capitol Hill bar Charlie Brown’s.

During what he jokingly called his “closing argument” Wednesday, he called back to the last time Denver hosted the Democrats’ convention. That was in 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted his nomination for president.

“This city and the ’08 convention made famous the idea of hope and change,” he said. “As we think about this coming convention, it is true that often hope inspires change. But it is more profoundly true that change drives hope.”

The DNC visit coincided with a heavy spring snowstorm that left several inches of snow over the city. The storm didn’t majorly impact the planned tour, though. City officials did have to pivot away from their plan to bring Martin and the rest of the team to a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a spokesman said.

One of the key factors in the decision will be whether Denver bid leaders are able to sufficiently fundraise for the event. Johnston said the city has built out a “detailed financial plan” to raise the resources but that the process wouldn’t fully kick off until the city is actually named as the host.

The mayor also said the city hasn’t used any of its own resources in trying to bring the convention to the city. Instead, bid leaders have worked with a nonprofit that serves as the city’s tourism sales and marketing agency. It receives both private dollars and some tax dollars from the city’s lodging tax.

Whatever political direction Democrats plan to take their party in two years at their National Convention to elect a presidential nominee, Denver offers a shining example of what a city looks like when governance goes right for many decades, led by heart and hard work.

And we don’t mean to brag, but the results have been a lot of fun. Denver boasts one of the nation’s finest cities with the perfect mix of outdoor adventure and recreation; entertainment and world-class dining; easy transit and walkable downtowns, and the business utility of a fully renovated convention center all within a mile of the city’s urban core.

A long successive line of Denver mayors — all Democrats — have helped get the city to this point. None of these men has been perfect; like all politicians, they made mistakes. But the remarkable thing is even the mistakes — the airport’s abandoned automated luggage transit system, the commuter rail’s hiccups and headaches upon opening, the 16th Street Mall’s reconstruction coinciding with COVID — have helped create something unrivaled.

When members of the Democratic National Committee land in Denver on Tuesday, their journey from the airport to downtown will tell the story of success. The story begins in 1983 with Mayor Federico Peña, the city’s first Latino mayor, having the gumption to create a stunning work of art that rises from the Eastern Plains like snow-capped mountains, welcoming more than 80 million travelers a year.

The story continues in 2014 at Union Station, where Mayor Michael Hancock, the city’s second Black mayor in less than a decade, oversaw the public-private partnerships needed to finally get fast commuter rail service from the airport to a Union Station saved from dereliction and decay.

The story ends in a safe walk from Union Station to hotels, the convention center, Ball Arena or any of our restaurants, bars and other venues — a walk that could have felt much different without Mayor Mike Johntson’s leadership in 2023.

But members of the DNC should not let Denver’s glistening new infrastructure and bustling nightlife convince them that Denver is nothing but the next urban renewal nightmare, concrete stamped into existence by private equity at the expense of the people who live here and love it.

Just a few blocks from Union Station sit Denver’s largest homeless shelters, which have remained steadfast in their mission even as the community gentrified around them. Then, farther north, there are Five Points and Elyria Swansia, nearby neighborhoods that have held fast to their historically Black, Latino and blue-collar roots in the face of housing inflation and economic pressure to change. And a few blocks farther north is the National Western Stock Show, where our hard-working agricultural families gather every year to show off the bounty of their work at a new taxpayer-funded venue.

Denver is an authentic city that has struggled alongside this nation. We bled with America during the destructive George Floyd protests, and our police force reckoned with its own legacy of police brutality and instances of violence during the protests.

Vandalism took its toll downtown, but worse were the hundreds of people who remained in the city as homeless campers, at first gathering in protest, and then staying through the COVID lockdowns.

The city elected Mayor Mike Johnston on his promise to house the homeless, clean up the encampments with compassion and handle the refugee crisis from Venezuela with a humane and fearless approach.

Much to our surprise, and despite our deep skepticism, Johnston has rescued downtown Denver from a dangerous out-of-control spiral. Denverites spent millions on housing the homeless, we backed the mayor as he helped asylum seekers obtain work permits so they could begin their new lives in Colorado, and we did it all while continuing to be a bustling economic hub. We are a city that never lets go of its true North in the grip of challenging times.

Certainly, for the members of the DNC who visit the city this week, the pitch will be about Denver’s incredible infrastructure — the airport, the light rail, the Convention Center’s new rooftop space, the reimagined 16th Street Mall and our countless unique restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.

But for us, the pitch is about a city with authenticity and heart, a city that will never waver in our beliefs and our resolve, a city that can help America find its way through this deeply trying era of politics.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

If he’s successful, it will mean 50,000 people will pour into Denver for four days in August of that year.

“It����ap kind of like four Super Bowls in a row,” Johnston said in an interview with Denver Post journalists in advance of the delegation’s site visit.

Throughout the visit, much of which could happen during a spring snowstorm, Denver city leaders will attempt to demonstrate the city’s logistical, financial and merriment potential.

Denver is the only one of five finalist cities that is located west of the Mississippi River. The other options are Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. DNC leaders, including chair Ken Martin, have already visited Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Atlanta’s mayor recently called out most of the other bidding cities, saying, “Boston is history. Philadelphia is played out. Denver is nostalgia. Atlanta is now,” .

Johnston responded to that, saying: “Of all the disses, I thought ours was actually the best.” It refers to the city’s much-lauded hosting of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination on his way to becoming the nation’s first Black president.

Denver’s plan is to focus on what the city has to offer instead of attacking the others, Johnston added. He did take a few jabs throughout the conversation, though.

“(Denver) is cool in the summertime and it����ap not 110 degrees in August, like it is in some other places that I won’t name,” he said.

Talking about some of the criteria the DNC will consider in the decision, he said: “It����ap very much like, you either have a 20,000-person arena or you don’t. Atlanta does not.”

The visit plan

During the site visit, Johnston and other city leaders will try to infuse “little moments of joy” while also showing off the city’s infrastructure. That will include visits to some of the city’s best restaurants and bars, along with a tour of Rockmount Ranch Wear in Lower Downtown.

If Denver wins the bid, the city plans to host excursions for the delegates in two years. While they’re in the city, visitors are likely to have downtime to explore the region. For their entertainment, Denver will offer things like craft beer tours, history courses on neighborhoods like Five Points and a trip to the city’s mountain parks, Johnston said.

Different bars would be dedicated to delegates from each state — including miniature versions of Denver’s big blue bear in front of each, with a painted flag from their state.

This week’s site visit won’t all be about bid leaders’ ideas for fun, though.

Johnston’s team will also have to show that hosting the convention in Denver will make things easier on the event planners.

After the representatives land at Denver International Airport, Denver officials will show them how to use the A-Line train to travel into the heart of the city — an option that didn’t exist in 2008. Once there, they will lead them on a short walk to some of the nearby hotels.

Johnston said that when he’s spoken to other delegates about past conventions, their biggest complaints have been mostly logistical, such as long commutes between venues. Ball Arena’s easy proximity to downtown is a strong suit of the bid.

Beyond logistical concerns, Denver’s bid team will talk about the city’s hotel offerings, space available for the convention, security options and parking spots. The city’s recent expansion of the Colorado Convention Center is also a major selling point, he said.

Another important focus will be the city’s fundraising capabilities, though officials haven’t cited a specific dollar figure they’re aiming for or disclosed their progress in securing commitments.

“I actually feel very confident about our path. … We are ahead of our projection for what we can raise,” Johnston said.

They’ll be part of a contingent of local Democratic heavy-hitters — also including Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib — visiting the Crescent City to bolster Denver’s bid as it competes against four other cities.

Crow said the fact that Denver has done it before means it’s more than prepared to do it again. Denver hosted the Democratic convention in 2008, when a fresh-faced U.S. senator from Illinois named Barack Obama accepted the party’s presidential nomination.

“We know we can do this and do this well,” the congressman from Aurora told The Denver Post in an interview on Thursday. “We have the capacity. We have the infrastructure.”

And Colorado, he said, has the blue credentials to excite the base and put them to work making sure the next occupant of the White House is a Democrat.

“At a time when the Democratic Party is facing a crisis of confidence in so many places, and in so many ways, Colorado is a beacon of how to do it right,” Crow said.

Early last month, the national party announced that Denver to host the Democratic National Convention — joining Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. The nominating convention for the party’s presidential ticket is set for Aug. 7-10, 2028.

The party and potential host cities are working out site visit plans for each in the coming weeks. A decision on which city wins the bid will likely be made this summer.

Johnston and other city representatives have lobbied for the event both formally and informally in recent months. The mayor’s spokesman, Jon Ewing, confirmed Johnston’s appearance in New Orleans this weekend and said the mayor recognizes the manifold benefits of steering the event to the Mile High City.

“Landing the DNC would be an enormous economic boon for Denver, bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Colorado and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in activity for the city and local businesses,” Ewing said.

Murib spoke to The Post by phone from New Orleans, where he’s been since Monday. He will join Crow and Johnston in speaking to the delegates at the spring meeting on Friday evening.

“We’re hoping to show them why Denver is the best place for the 2028 convention,” he said. “We want to emphasize the seamless experience they will have in Denver — from the airport to the hotels to the convention.”

Each of the finalist cities has hosted at least one past Democratic convention — Philadelphia in 2016, Boston in 2004 and Atlanta in 1988. Chicago hosted in 2024, the most recent of its dozen times playing the role.

“We want to show how the convention could be one for the history books again,” Murib said, alluding to the nomination of America’s first Black president 18 years ago.

Murib said three Denver City Council members — President Amanda Sandoval, Chris Hinds and Darrell Watson — will be at the national Democrats’ meeting as well.

Crow, an Army veteran who represents a Colorado district that takes in the eastern and southern suburbs of Denver, is serving as battleground co-chair for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2026 election cycle.

Colorado was among the top states in the nation for Democratic performance in the 2024 election, bucking what was otherwise a red wave that handed control of the White House and Congress to Republicans. Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris beat now-President Donald Trump in Colorado by a margin of 11 percentage points.

“We’re a model for the country,” Crow said.

He said this week’s gathering of party leaders is a critical moment in the push to get Denver back on the national stage two years from now.

“This is the biggest gathering between now and when the (convention) decision is made,” Crow said.

Murib said the meeting in New Orleans won’t be all serious business, though.

“It’s a little bit of a party — and a pitch,” he said.

Someone dressed in a big blue bear costume — an homage to the 40-foot ursine behemoth who peers into the Colorado Convention Center along 14th Street in downtown Denver — has already been getting a lot of attention from attendees, the party chair said.

“Everyone is getting a picture with the big blue bear wearing Mardi Gras beads,” he said.

The event could mean a major economic boost for the city, which has faced a steep budget crunch recently as sales tax revenue has stagnated. Denver will compete against Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia for the convention. National Democrats will visit each city this spring as they consider options.

The Denver Post first reported that the city was preparing a bid to host the convention in January. This is the first time the city has formally confirmed its bid.

“I’m thrilled the Democratic National Committee is considering Denver as the host city for the 2028 convention,” Mayor Mike Johnston said in a news release Monday. “Denver not only offers everything a successful convention needs, but we are a shining example of how to lead America forward by dreaming big and delivering bigger.”

The convention will be from Aug. 7-10, 2028,

“The DNC is proud to be moving forward with our 2028 Democratic National Convention plans, another critical step toward retaking the White House and finally putting an end to Republicans’ betrayal of working families,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating our future nominees on the national stage and highlighting Democrats’ commitment to building a better, safer, and more affordable future for our country.”

DNC leadership and representatives of the party’s “Technical Advisory Group” will come to the city for the site visit. They will “assess the logistical and operational components of each city’s bid,” according to the news release.

According to the release, the party will consider things like:

• The importance of “forging a strong partnership between the DNC and the host city, including its community, political, and business leaders.”
• A city that “shares Democratic values.”
• “The value of utilizing new and innovative approaches in response to the challenges and opportunities that arise from hosting an event of this magnitude.”

Presidential nominating conventions, which happen every four years, are where Democratic and Republican party delegates formally select their presidential candidates.

Denver last hosted the event in 2008 when President Barack Obama accepted his nomination at Empower Field at Mile High, then called Invesco Field.

Each of the other competing cities have also hosted the event before, with Chicago doing so 12 times already. The DNC was also in Philadephia in 2016, Boston in 2004 and Atlanta in 1988.

When Chicago held the event in 2024, it brought in an estimated $200 million in spending, The event would also have costs with thousands of visitors straining the city’s resources, including its infrastructure and law enforcement.

The DNC didn’t specify in its news release when the organization would make its decision. The Republican National Committee in 2023 announced that it had selected Houston for its 2028 convention.

Several prominent city and state leaders, including Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib provided supportive statements in the news release Monday.

“Denver and all of Colorado is convenient to get to and is a must-visit destination for people around the country and around the world, and it makes perfect sense that Denver would be considered a finalist to host the Democratic National Convention,” Polis said. “Denver has already proven that we can host an incredible Democratic National Convention, having hosted one of the most memorable in recent history, and I have no doubt that when the committee visits they will see the same opportunity for 2028.”

also included statements from City Council President Amanda Sandoval, Denver Area Labor Federation President Jon Alvino, Downtown Denver Partnership CEO Kourtny Garrett and Visit Denver President & CEO Richard W. Scharf.

Denver about the city when submitting its bid, according to the city’s news release.

Re: “Trump vetoes bill to fund pipeline,” Jan. 1 news story

In his epic recounting of the AIDS crisis in “And the Band Played On,” Randy Schilts wrote, “Politics knows only two principles: loyalty and revenge.”

Congress did its job, writing a bipartisan bill to ensure clean water to southeast Colorado. However, Trump is angry at Lauren Boebert for demanding the release of the Epstein files and he is mad because Tina Peters is getting the justice she deserves.

Even worse, southeast Colorado is strong Republican territory. Trump hurt his own constituents.

If the Republicans in the Senate had done the right thing at both of Trump’s impeachment hearings, he never would have run for a second term. It’s brutally apparent — and this began with Watergate — that Republicans are the “win elections at any and all costs” party.

The only way for this to stop is a massive blue wave at the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

Mike Filion, Lakewood

Re: “Veto is Trump’s latest targeted hit on Colorado water,” Jan. 2 news story

The article described Donald Trump’s latest targeted hits on Colorado. It was suggested that some Colorado Republicans blame our state’s Democratic leaders for provoking Trump’s wrath. Examples provided were Attorney General Phil Weiser’s 49 lawsuits against the administration and Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s rejection of requests from the Justice Department to share sensitive voter information.

Totally irrelevant! No president of our United States should exact any wrath against any state at any time for any reason. Full stop!

Terri Tilliss, Parker

As a registered Republican and longtime Coloradan, it pains me to hear you, President Trump, ridicule our state. Our very intelligent voters, jurors, and even our immigrants understand things like the Constitution and even the way birds die ( a billion deaths a year from Buildings!) at a much higher level than our country’s leader. Please pick up a book, a newspaper (like our Denver Post), or watch a PBS show like “Nova.”

Tina Peters broke the law, and jurors, likely many Republicans given the district, found her guilty. She is where she belongs. Pay attention to the important things of running a country.

Steve Lorenz, Littleton

We do not need the DNC in Denver to boost the mayor

Re: “Denver seeks to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention,” Jan. 4 news story

We are living in an attention economy where attention drives capital at least as much as capital drives attention, but national attention will not make Denver vibrant.

Denver’s Vail-to-Yale mayor wants you to believe hosting the DNC would be “for Denver.” Denverites are smarter than that. We know the play, and it isn’t that attention will put money in our pockets. It����ap that our public dollars will buy attention — political capital — for Johnston. No one who actually reads The Denver Post is gullible enough to believe the federal government under Donald Trump will backstop a DNC, let alone a DNC in Denver, the way it did for Chicago under Joe Biden, right?

After all, since Mayor Mike Johnston has pitched Denver’s bid, the Trump administration has announced plans to freeze $10 billion in funding for childcare subsidies, social services and cash support for low-income families in five states controlled by Democrats, including Colorado, claiming widespread fraud throughout those states.

Let����ap be honest with ourselves and clear-eyed about what Denver’s mayor is proposing. Hosting the DNC won’t fix downtown. It won’t deliver “vibrancy.” Hell, it won’t even generate meaningfully more direct consumer spending than Taylor Swift����ap two Denver Eras Tour shows did in 2023 — estimated at $201.7 million, per the Common Sense Institute.

Chicago’s 2024 DNC generated only $200 million in direct spending, as The Denver Post re-reported. Denver already hosts big events that drive hundreds of millions in spending. We don’t need to subsidize a political spectacle to appease Johnston’s ego.

Hosting the DNC is a distraction that neither Denver nor an administration with a poor fiscal-management track record, scrambling to close a massive budget gap with layoffs and furloughs, can afford.

Greg Whitman, Creede

Xcel’s power move was the right call

Re: “Xcel’s power shutdown in Boulder County was unacceptable,” Jan. 4 commentary, “,” Jan. 4 commentary and “Implementing power outages doesn’t solve Xcel’s underlying safety issues,” letter to the editor

There is much vitriol aimed at Xcel for the recent power outages. The guest commentary in Sunday’s paper wrote, “The shutdown appears to have been a precautionary measure to limit Xcel Energy’s liability should aging or insufficiently maintained power lines fail and spark a fire.” I saw photos of power poles toppled by the wind. The poles did not look aged.

Many people seem to think the outages were performed only to limit liability. Of course this is a component, but the actions were to prevent another fire, perhaps not of Marshall proportions, but any fire.

Directly adjacent to this commentary was an article detailing how recovery from the Marshall fire is far from complete, with issues not limited to rebuilding but including the state of survivors’ physical, mental, and economic health.

For the first author attacking Xcel to state that there have been stronger wind events in Boulder, you can proclaim that there has never been an incident until there is. That����ap what happened Dec. 30, 2021.

For people who say there was no wind in their area, do you know about meteorological data collection, how the grid is set up, and what is involved in shutting off areas?

For the letter writer who states that “Xcel needs to be held responsible for improving and upgrading their infrastructure (at their expense)” — read our expense. Could the process have been managed better? Yes. Were the outages damaging to many? Yes. But this does not compare to what we witnessed four years ago.

C. Greenman, Lakewood

Anything bad can happen in gubernatorial race

Re: “Oltmann for Colo. governor? Spare us,” Jan. 4 commentary

As much as I admit to Krista Kafer’s integrity, I think she is in need of a reality check. Joe Oltmann for Colorado governor, or someone who shares his beliefs, is not so far-fetched.

Your once proud Republican brand is now morally bankrupt. It has now become the party of insurrection and sedition, election interference and delusional election peddlers, Trump loyalists and toadies.

If mainstream Republicans and right-leaning unaffiliated voters had any scruples, Trump would not have been elected for a second term.

Unserious candidates, I think not. Those who peddle conspiracy theories, defame innocent Americans and wish death upon their political rivals are parroting their maximum leader. Think again, Krista.

Leonard Juliano, Arvada

Follow the Firewise guidelines in home construction

As an insurance agent in Colorado for well over 20 years, I am very well-versed in Colorado’s guidelines, which are recognized by most, if not all, municipalities and insurance companies as the most effective guide for preventing fires and mitigating fire damage.

I have heard many comments over the past three years regarding what started the fire and whose fault it is. But, I have never heard one comment about the building codes and how close we allow homes to be built.

In new areas, builders erect homes that are, in many cases, less than 15 feet apart. Firewise guidelines for homeowners state a minimum of 30′ of defensible space around your home. Insurance companies use these same numbers when considering whether to issue or renew an insurance policy.

Plus, there are many other recommendations about what can surround your property as far out as 100 feet.

So, until our city planners really want to get serious about fire control and mitigation, and start by requiring a greater distance between new construction, we will see this same disaster occur again. And the likelihood that a change in building codes and zoning requirements will happen is zero, as too much money is involved for everyone concerned,
except for the end user, which is the homeowner.

It’s time we stop speaking out of both sides of our mouths and get real about making a change that will matter.

Bob Lowry, Highlands Ranch

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

Twenty years later, Denver’s city leaders want to recreate : the thousands of eager visitors, the national focus on the Mile High City, the event that sparked a decade of Democratic political successes.

Mayor Mike Johnston’s office is preparing a bid to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention, according to a letter from Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress provided to The Denver Post by one of the signatories’ offices.

Presidential nominating conventions, which happen every four years, are where Democratic and Republican party delegates formally select their presidential candidates.

If Denver is successful, it could mean a major economic boost for a city still struggling to rebuild its downtown after the COVID-19 pandemic and years of construction on 16th Street. When Chicago held the event in 2024, it brought in an according to the Chicago Tribune.

The 2008 convention created a regional benefit of about $400 million in today’s dollars for the Denver area, then-Mayor John Hickenlooper

The event would also have costs, however. Thousands of new people all pouring into Denver at once would strain the city’s resources, including its infrastructure and law enforcement. The 2008 convention brought protests and a heavy police presence.

that the Windy City spent at least $75 million in federal dollars to strengthen its fire and police forces, and on construction.

Denver’s own budget has been strained this past year as stagnating sales tax revenue triggered layoffs and spending cuts.

So far, Johnston’s office isn’t providing details on the city’s bid, with spokesman Jon Ewing saying only: “We are honored to be in consideration to host the Democratic National Convention.”

But a from the state’s Democratic members of Congress to party chair Ken Martin confirms that the city plans to submit a bid.

“We would be honored to welcome the Democratic National Convention back to Colorado in 2028 and to share the incredible amenities, hospitality and spirit of our thriving state,” according to the letter dated Dec. 17. “We encourage you to give the bid submitted by the City and County of Denver your full and fair consideration consistent with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Denver’s DNC pitch

It����ap unclear exactly what Denver’s leaders will include in their proposal, but the delegates’ letter and input from political experts provide some clues into what officials may highlight.

The package is likely to present some practical necessities — like possible hotel, security and venue options — and an appeal to a grander political narrative about how Denver represents the future of the Democratic Party.

Colorado has become a Democratic stronghold in recent election cycles, a major change from its swing-state status in 2008. As national Democrats search for a new path to political success, returning to the place that launched the Obama coalition may offer a strong symbol. Colorado’s Democratic representatives in Congress nodded to that in their letter, calling Obama’s nomination “one of the most iconic moments in convention history.”

Part of what made Obama’s acceptance speech so notable was that it took place at Empower Field at Mile High, then called Invesco Field. Typically, nominating conventions are held in smaller, enclosed arenas. The last-minute change to the massive stadium created a unique, rockstar-like atmosphere that Democrats haven’t replicated since. While Obama’s campaign attempted to hold another open-air acceptance in 2012, .

The Congressional delegation also pointed to the convenience of most parts of the country having direct flights into Denver International Airport and the city’s A-Line commuter rail from the airport to Union Station.

“Beyond the city, Colorado’s natural beauty offers extraordinary opportunities for attendees who may wish to extend their stay,” they wrote.

Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, also declined to share details on the city’s application but confirmed that the party is working with Johnston’s office on it. In a statement, he nodded to recent election results that show Colorado voters are only getting more Democratic despite the opposite happening in many parts of the country.

“In 2024 and 2025, Colorado showed the nation how Democrats can win in rural and red areas alike with community-oriented candidates, year-round organizing and an across-the-board focus on saving people money and strengthening freedoms,” he said in a written statement. “That����ap what it����ap going to take to win back Congress and the White House.”

What national Democrats may consider

In the past, the Democratic National Committee has oscillated between hosting the event in swing states and safe Democratic areas. The last convention, in 2024, was held in Chicago, a deep blue city in a deep blue state. The 2020 convention was meant to be in Milwaukee — in the swing state of Wisconsin — before officials opted for a mostly virtual convention due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This would be less about trying to win over the state for the Democrats but could still be bringing attention to political organization in the Mountain West,” said Seth Masket, a professor of political science at the University of Denver.

Some of the other cities known to be submitting bids for the convention are �����Ի� . Those could become new rivals for Denver as the process heats up. In past election cycles, city leaders who were finalists for the event lobbed insults at one another, disparaging one another from across the country for a chance at the prestigious selection.

Masket said in the end, the party’s choices are often “surprisingly opaque.”

“I would think the city (Denver) would be very competitive with this,” Masket said. “It����ap also pretty vague how the party makes this decision in the end and what features they actually end up being most persuaded by.”

The Democratic National Committee didn’t respond to a request for comment by this story’s deadline.

Masket remembers the 2008 convention being a “very vibrant time to be in the city.” That would be good news for Johnston, who has made vibrancy his biggest tagline for Denver’s goals and who plans to run for a second term in 2027.

“Every sort of storefront and restaurant is kind of at its best and just showing people and trying to attract people. It����ap crowded but it����ap an exciting time,” Masket said.

The event would put Denver in the national spotlight, giving people from across the country a look at the city’s mountainous skyline and revamped downtown.

“It����ap very good advertising,” Masket said. “It����ap an expensive thing, but it is good promotion for the city.”

The timeline for when the national committee will choose the location hasn’t been announced, but the 2024 location was selected about a year and a half before the convention.

In an unusually early announcement, the Republican National Committee in 2023 announced that it had

Another factor that could come into play is that Denver has already hosted the event for Democrats twice before, and again in 2008. Several other cities have held the convention multiple times. It has been in Chicago 12 times, Baltimore nine times and New York five times.

While some of those cities re-hosted more than two decades apart, the event was in New York City in 1976, 1980 and 1992. That means it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Democrats to choose Denver again 20 years later.

“It����ap not far-fetched at all,” Masket said.

But housing also shaped her thinking — even though she’s an 81-year-old retiree who has lived in the same southeast Denver home for five decades.

“It just blows my mind, the cost of housing,” Dore said after depositing her ballot in the drop box outside the Cook Park Recreation Center last week. “I have grandkids who are working, and they are concerned. My one grandson said, ‘I’ll never be able to get a house.’ ”

In Denver and Adams County, local leaders have asked voters to approve sales tax increases that would raise significant money for affordable housing work, including new development. But Dore and other voters concerned about the state’s housing shortage, along with high rent and mortgage costs, are finding this year that the issues penetrate beyond those obvious measures on the ballot.

But just how effective that issue will be in swinging votes remains an open question.

Dore would not say how she voted on Denver Ballot Issue 2R, the 0.5% sales tax increase spearheaded by Mayor Mike Johnston that would raise an estimated $100 million per year for housing investments and programs.

But she emphasized that she was looking for candidates who, even if they do not make it a top issue, acknowledge the challenge housing costs pose for residents to make ends meet in the Mile High City.

“It����ap important. Are they talking about it?” Dore said.

Voters routinely identify housing costs as a top concern, including in the Voter Voices survey conducted in recent months by The Denver Post and other news outlets across the state; it was a recurring theme in responses about the cost of living.

A recent poll of the tightly contested 8th Congressional District found likely voters in Denver’s north suburbs and the northern Front Range were most concerned about the economy, followed by a virtual tie between housing affordability and immigration. And 89% of Coloradans surveyed by in May and June said housing affordability was an extreme or very serious problem.

That concern has sparked sweeping policy proposals. Housing has dominated Colorado’s last two regular legislative sessions, with a slew of reforms passing earlier this year. Candidates — Republican and Democrat, urban and rural — have also talked more openly, and often unprompted, about the need to address the issue.

Finding common ground

In the traditional Republican stronghold of Colorado Springs, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Vigil is seeking reelection to her State House District 16 seat by leading with housing and transportation as her top issues. One of her bills in the 2024 session banned municipalities from setting minimum parking requirements for new developments near transit — a move intended, in part, to drive down construction costs, with the savings potentially passed on to renters or commercial tenants.

“I found myself having some interesting conversations with a couple of community members and constituents and more conservative folks,” she said. “They’re excited (that) they have something they have in common with Democrats.”

Vigil’s Republican opponent, Rebecca Keltie, has emphasized lowering taxes and fees to improve affordability.

In Denver, Republican congressional candidate Valdamar Archuleta made bringing down the cost of living a central plank of his platform in his longshot bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. He said it was what voters kept talking to him about when he hit the campaign trail earlier this year, and he knows housing costs are the primary driver of Denver’s cost-of-living increase.

In the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris came out with before she even gave her nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in late August.

That plan to spur the construction of 3 million new housing units across the country. Harris is also proposing supporting qualified first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in federal down payment assistance. Her campaign projects that program would support 4 million households over four years.

Former President Donald Trump, again the Republican nominee, has talked about housing on the campaign trail, though he has offered few specifics on how he would address the problem in a would-be second term.

Trump has while hammering on his campaign’s central theme of curtailing immigration and deporting potentially millions of undocumented immigrants. Housing industry groups and economists have said such large-scale deportations would cut into the immigrant labor force that is needed to build housing.

For longtime housing advocates and experts in the state, the fact that candidates are even discussing housing policy is notable.

Peter LiFari, the executive director of the Adams County housing authority, called , said he learned early in his career that “if you’re an elected official and you’re a proponent of affordable housing, you (won’t be) an elected official for very long.”

Housing shortage has raised issue’s profile

LiFari and others said the pandemic helped change that by spreading eviction and housing insecurity pressures to a broader swath of the American public.

So, too, did trends that predated COVID-19: Housing, in the wake of the Great Recession, had already become increasingly unaffordable and unavailable as new home development lagged behind the demands of a growing Colorado. The result now is higher prices, record evictions and a stretched dynamic in which half of Colorado renters say they spend at least 30% of their income on rent.

Robin Kniech, a former Denver city councilwoman who has worked extensively on housing policy, said the issue became more prominent in politics as those pressures began to build.

When she talked about affordable housing during her first campaign in 2011, she recalled, it stuck with voters who had compassion for people who were poor or experiencing homeless. By the time Kniech ran again 2015, the issue had come home for more voters, many of whom worried about their children’s ability to afford to live in Denver, she said.

Alex Goldstein, 28, a Denver voter, said she was more than happy to support the Ballot Issue 2R tax as she dropped her ballot in the box at the Cook Park rec center on Wednesday.

Both she and her husband are lawyers. She practices family law and he is a public defender. But the couple needed family help to buy their first home earlier this year, Goldstein said. Her husband’s grandmother moved into assisted living, she said, giving them the opportunity to buy her house at a more affordable price.

“We were really lucky to do that. We were renters before that and were always worried about the next rent increase,” Goldstein said. “Any way we can make housing more affordable for everyone in Denver — not just those who are more fortunate — is really important.”

Though legislators and political candidates are increasingly tackling housing policy, the issue does not fit neatly within ideological boundaries, and policy solutions can differ dramatically within one party’s ranks.

While Montana Republicans passed sweeping land-use reforms last year, Colorado Republicans have almost uniformly opposed such efforts here. And progressive Democrats in the state have embraced more immediate interventions to blunt evictions and rent increases, but Gov. Jared Polis has instead backed zoning reforms to kickstart development.

“The lack of true ideological centers within the parties make this really difficult because, no matter what solutions you are proposing, you are going to upset people within your coalition,” said Matt McGovern, a veteran Democratic campaign consultant. “And that makes it very tough for it to be the … unifying issue that is popular to both your base and the swing voters that remain.”

Paul Teske, a professor who’s dean of the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs, isn’t convinced housing will be effective as a differentiator in the presidential election. Most voters, he suggested, see the housing market as a private-sector issue driven by the forces of supply and demand.

That sentiment echoed Kniech’s belief that “people are skeptical about our ability to solve housing.”

“At one level,” Teske said, “I don’t think it’s going to change the results in many elections as a policy issue. It’s obviously an important issue out there — but so is the broader economy.”

Megan Verlee of Colorado Public Radio contributed to this story.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — on Thursday defended shifting away from some of her more liberal positions in her first major television interview of her presidential campaign, but insisted her “values have not changed” even as she is “seeking consensus.”

Sitting with her running mate, , Harris was asked specifically about her reversals on banning fracking and decriminalizing illegal border crossings, positions she took during her last run for president. She confirmed she does not want to ban fracking, an energy extraction process key to the economy of swing-state Pennsylvania, and said there “should be consequence” for people who cross the border without permission.

“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris said.

She went on to say: “I believe it is important to build consensus. It is important to find a common place of understanding where we can actually solve the problem.”

The interview with came as voters are still trying to learn more about the Democratic ticket in an unusually compressed time frame. just five weeks ago. The interview focused largely on policy, as Harris sought to show that she had adopted more moderate positions on issues that Republicans argue are extreme, while Walz defended past misstatements about his biography.

Harris hadn’t done an in-depth interview since she became her party’s standard-bearer five weeks ago, though she did sit for several while she was still Biden’s running mate.

She said serving with Biden was “one of the greatest honors of my career,” and she recounted the moment he called to tell her he was stepping down and would support her.

“He told me what he had decided to do and … I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and that’s how I learned about it.”

She said she didn’t ask Biden to endorse her because “he was very clear that he was going to endorse me.”

Harris defended the administration’s record on the southern border and immigration, noting that she was tasked with trying to address the “root causes” in other countries that were driving the border crossings.

“We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequences,” Harris said.

Asked about Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Harris said, “I am unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself.” But the vice president also reiterated what she’s said for months, that civilian deaths are too high amid the Israeli offensive.

She also brushed off Republican Donald Trump’s questioning of her racial identity after he suggested falsely that she changed how she presents herself for political reasons and Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, said Trump’s suggestion was the “same old, tired playbook.”

“Next question, please,” she said.

Trump and Harris are set to debate on Sept. 10. In a post Thursday evening, it appeared Trump was paying close attention to the interview. After the debate was mentioned, he posted, “I look so forward to Debating Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is.”

Trump went on to say that his Democratic opponent “has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything. America will never allow an Election WEAPONIZING MARXIST TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.”

The debate will be the first-ever meeting for Harris and Trump. The opponents had only been in the same space when Harris, as a senator, attended Trump’s joint addresses to Congress.

During the early parts of the interview, Walz watched quietly and nodded when Harris made her main points. He was later asked about misstatements, starting with how he has described his 24 years of service in the National Guard.

In a 2018 video clip that the Harris-Walz campaign once circulated, Walz spoke out against gun violence and said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

Critics said the comment “that I carried in war” suggested that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone. He said Thursday night that he misspoke after a school shooting, adding, “My grammar’s not always correct.”

Asked about statements that appeared to indicate that he and his wife conceived their children with in-vitro fertilization, when they in fact used a different fertility treatment, he said he believes most Americans understood what he meant and pivoted to Republican opposition to abortion rights.

Democrats’ enthusiasm about their vote in November has surged over the past few months, according to . About 8 in 10 Democrats now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared with 55% in March.

This gives them an enthusiasm edge they did not have earlier this year. Republicans’ enthusiasm has increased by much less over the same period, and about two-thirds of Republicans now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting.

At a packed arena for a rally Thursday in Savannah, Harris cast her nascent campaign as the underdog and encouraged the crowd to work hard to elect her in November.

“We’re here to speak truth and one of the things that we know is that this is going to be a tight race to the end,” she said.

Harris went through a list of Democratic concerns: that Trump will further restrict women’s rights after he appointed three judges to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe, that he’d repeal the Affordable Care Act, and that given new immunity powers granted presidents by the U.S. Supreme Court, “imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”

in southeastern Georgia. Harris has another campaign blitz on Labor Day with Biden in Detroit and Pittsburgh with the election rapidly approaching. The first mail ballots get sent to voters in just two weeks.

___

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sagar Meghani and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.

Oh, and Polis cracked a Taylor Swift reference, continuing his emerging tradition of shoehorning in Swifty humor whenever possible.

The three Colorado Democrats each delivered roughly two-minute speeches at the Democrats’ Chicago convention — Polis spoke Wednesday, Neguse and Crow on Thursday — as the party formally nominated Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as its presidential ticket for November.

The trio formed the de facto face of a Colorado delegation that featured both U.S. senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, as well as Attorney General Phil Weiser, Treasurer Dave Young, and several state lawmakers, among others.

In their speeches, Polis and Crow both wielded giant book-sized versions of Project 2025, drawn up by Republican groups for a second Trump term. Among other things, the plan includes recommending that the Food and Drug Administration reverse its years-old approval of mifepristone, which is used in medication abortion.

Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025.

Polis’ comments largely focused on the plan’s references to abortion access, while Crow — a former Army Ranger — criticized its provisions related to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and NATO.

“Democrats welcome weird, but we’re not weirdos telling families who can and can’t have kids, who to marry or how to live our lives,” Polis said Wednesday, leaning on a Walz jab of Republican policies as “weird.” “These Project 2025 people like Trump and (running mate Sen. JD) Vance are not just weird; they’re dangerous. They want to take us backwards, but we aren’t going back — like ever, ever, ever.”

(That’s the .)

Polis has been a public supporter of Harris — and, now, Walz — since President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection last month. Asked before his speech if he would serve in a Harris cabinet, Polis told The Denver Post that he planned to finish his term as governor, which ends in 2026.

Neguse, the fourth-ranking member of the U.S. House’s minority leadership, used his brief speech Thursday to praise Harris and her past work on education. He pointed to her support for historically black colleges and universities and to her time as California attorney general, when she secured a $1.1 billion judgment against a for-profit secondary education company over its predatory practices.

The convention ends Thursday night.