Washington has led DIA for five years through its growth into an emerging international hub with 34 nonstop flights to 18 countries, along with 202 nonstop flights to domestic destinations. Previously, Washington led metro Denver’s Regional Transportation District and served in the U.S. Army.

“I am honored to have served the public for so many years,” Washington said in a statement, saying he made “a long-planned decision” to step back on Aug. 1.

“I’ve worked in transportation and infrastructure, and we have accomplished so much, but my greatest accomplishments have been about building world-class organizations driven by vision, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to people. I am deeply proud of the work we have done and know that DEN remains in good hands with a talented team of dedicated professionals.”

Washington guided the airport through “an extraordinary period of growth and opportunity,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said.

“His leadership has had a transformational impact on DEN and the aviation industry, helping position our airport as a global leader in innovation, connectivity, and customer experience,” he said. “Phil’s legacy will be felt for generations.”

In 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Washington to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. Washington withdrew his name in March 2023, after delayed Senate confirmation votes, facing severe political pushback. After running RTD from 2009 to 2015, Washington ran the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 2015 to 2021.

If Democrats regain control of the House this fall, DeGette could lead . She says she would have the chance to bring a “Medicare For All” bill — one of the Democrats’ white whale policies — to a vote. She also vows to use that position to make strides toward banning government restrictions on abortion access.

But her opponents in the June 30 primary, lawyer Melat Kiros and University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, say it����ap too little, too late.

“She’s not really done anything effectively in the last 10 years,” said Kiros, also a barista who’s pursuing a doctorate in public policy.

“We don’t have leadership in Congressional District 1,” said James, who is also a marijuana entrepreneur. “Seniority, when you have done nothing and not been effective, is not good.”

But DeGette is fiercely defending her record, saying her opponents don’t understand what the job actually takes and that she’s accomplished plenty in her three decades in Congress.

“I’ve never seen anybody pass a piece of legislation to lower costs through ‘disruption,’ ” she said in an interview with The Denver Post, referring to her opponents’ strategies.

The Democratic primary in dark-blue Denver for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. The three-way race heated up earlier this year when Kiros soundly defeated DeGette in the Democrats’ Denver County assembly. Though the party assembly process isn’t typically representative of the people voting in the full primary election — in which Democrats as well as unaffiliated voters can participate — the event raised eyebrows among political observers.

It was the first time DeGette, 68, had lost a county assembly vote since she was initially elected in 1996.

“I think she has lost some contact with her constituents based on what you saw at the county assembly,” said former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who has endorsed James. “It����ap just time for a change.”

DeGette went on to narrowly earn her place on the ballot in late March at the 1st Congressional District party assembly, just clearing the eligibility threshold while Kiros, 29, won top billing. James, 62, landed on the ballot through a petition process.

Whoever wins the nomination will become the favorite in the November midterm against other general election candidates, including presumptive Republican nominee Christy Peterson.

If DeGette loses, the new representative would enter Congress as a freshman lawmaker. Karen Middleton, the president of the Cobalt Abortion Fund, an abortion-rights advocacy group based in Colorado, said that could be a problem during a critical moment in healthcare policy.

“Every time you turn over a member of Congress, you lose seniority, you lose committee assignments, you lose leadership,” she said. Cobalt hasn’t endorsed any of the three primary candidates.

A look at DeGette’s accomplishments

One of the main criticisms lobbed at DeGette in the primary campaign so far has focused on the .

During her time in Congress, DeGette has been the primary sponsor of 205 bills. Seven of them either became law or were incorporated into other bills that later became law, according to .

But focusing on that figure alone shows a fundamental misunderstanding of civics, said James Owens, a spokesman for DeGette’s campaign. Members of Congress do far more work than just introducing bills, he pointed out. They secure funding for projects in their districts, serve on committees, provide services to constituents, bring amendments, and work behind the scenes to build coalitions and shape policies.

Lawmakers can also find ways to weave their policies into other bills that may not bear their names.

“The effectiveness of a legislator is in their ability to get policy passed. And she’s been able to do that through all these different mechanisms, and those various avenues aren’t captured by a simple Google search,” Owens said. “Folks in Denver don’t care if your name is on the bill or if you were pushing to get it included in another bill, they just want the legislation to pass.”

Owens said by his count, DeGette has had a major role in passing more than 40 pieces of legislation for things like , tightening , allowing the Food and Drug Administration to , and funding for projects in the district. Her team says she also played a role in shaping parts of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

DeGette was an architect of the 21st Century Cures Act, . That’s another bill that doesn’t include her name because a Senate version of the legislation, which was designed to accelerate biomedical research, is what eventually passed, Owens said.

DeGette says she’s also been instrumental in educating fellow members of Congress and building coalitions on complex issues like abortion access. She’s been one of two chairs of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus since 2005.

“The next day after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, I called (then-Speaker) Nancy Pelosi on her cell phone … and I said, ‘Nancy, we need to put the Women’s Health Protection Act on the floor next week — and I will guarantee you I have the votes.’ ”

The House later passed that bill, but ultimately it failed in the Senate. DeGette said she has begun working on a plan to bring that legislation back if Democrats regain the House majority.

“I’m sure both of my primary opponents are pro-choice,” she said. “… But if you have a brand new person coming in saying, ‘Put my bill on a very important topic on the floor next week,’ they’re not going to have any ability to do that.”

DeGette is one of 45 members of the Democratic caucus on the litigation task force, which files legal motions and amicus briefs to support and challenge certain efforts in the courts. Earlier this month, to the U.S. Supreme Court that encouraged the justices to protect access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

DeGette has been the prime sponsor on eight unsuccessful bills related to stem cell research but was able to work with Obama on his executive order to .

Despite those actions, the a joint project from Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia that analyzes items moving through Congress, ranked DeGette as below average in effectiveness in eight of 14 terms analyzed.

The center rated five of her terms as average. Only one term, her first, was rated as above average.

The group considers how skilled members of Congress are at moving their agenda items forward. It has ranked U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, as one of the most effective lawmakers in the House. Neguse, a Lafayette resident, is the House’s assistant Democratic leader.

But DeGette’s team says rankings like that lack context and don’t take into account all legislative accomplishments.

For instance, DeGette  in 2019. to be one of the nine impeachment managers for Trump’s 2021 impeachment trial in the Senate.

Promises for her next two years

If her fellow Democrats regain the majority, DeGette believes that, as the current ranking Democratic member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s , she would become chair of that subcommittee.

Then, she would be able to decide which bills come before it. She would set the agenda, which would allow her to bring legislation implementing Medicare for All to the committee. For it to be successful from there, she said, she would lean on her connections to build a support group.

“It����ap having the vision and the ability to write the legislation, and then to push the legislation through and having the contacts to make that happen,” she said. “Legislative politics is a team sport, so you have to be able to be the captain of the team.”

Both James and Kiros are also supporters of Medicare For All, a proposal that can vary in details but typically means single-payer health insurance coverage for all Americans in a program run by the government.

DeGette said her hope is for Democrats to use the next two years to regain power on the national stage.

If the party wins a majority in the House or Senate in the midterms, she said that will allow Democrats to begin developing major policies that they can enact if they then win the presidency in 2028.

“I actually see the next two years as a huge opportunity,” she said.

DeGette has defeated primary challengers before, but this time her opponents have lined up long endorsement rosters. Kiros and local elected officials, including Reps. Javier Mabrey and Denver City Councilwoman Sarah Parady. James counts Webb and his wife, Wilma, as well as Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator and Interior secretary, along with .

Both challengers also have fundraising in the six figures, with Kiros reporting about $375,000 in contributions through March 31 and James reporting about $234,000.

But DeGette has more than held her own, reporting contributions approaching $1 million, including heavy support from political action committees. And she from a litany of labor unions, abortion-rights groups and other organizations on her website.

Kiros and James offer something new

If Kiros is able to continue her momentum from the assembly process and win the primary, she would join a wave of young Democrats nationwide who are seeking to oust longstanding political figures.

Kiros, a Democratic socialist, sees herself aligning with members of Congress like U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.

She said that after Democrats lost the 2024 presidential and many congressional elections, she believes the party needs more competitive primaries.

“We need to make sure that we’re sending the best of the best to the general. And particularly looking at Democrats that have been there for decades — and so I looked at the congresswoman,” she said, referring to DeGette. “There’s nothing in her record to point to that shows that she’s fighting for working people right now in a way that����ap meaningful and tangible.”

DeGette responded to criticism that she has been in office for too long during her interview with The Post.

“I think there are people in Congress who’ve been there too long. But I think the voters of the 1st Congressional District know me, and they know that I’m a fighter for their values, and you need both,” she said. “You need people who have the experience and the leadership roles to know when the time is right to get these things done, and that����ap where I’m at.”

While Kiros is aligned with some of DeGette’s values, she has distinguished herself with her views on the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. While DeGette has focused her comments on the need for humanitarian aid, Kiros has more directly criticized Israel and questioned its legitimacy as a state.

She said in a recent interview that she wouldn’t support providing offensive or defensive weapons to the country.

James, a Navy veteran and the owner of the cannabis company Simply Pure, said that if she was elected, she would do a better job of using the bully pulpit than DeGette does.

“I’ve lived here now for 20 years, and I don’t think that I have ever seen my congresswoman being interviewed on any television show,” she said. “I don’t believe I have ever seen my congresswoman stepping out and holding Congress or the other party to task anywhere.”

DeGette has taken a somewhat lower-profile approach to her position than some of her colleagues. She is less active on social media and appears at public events less often than some of her colleagues in Colorado’s congressional delegation.

She was absent, for instance, during a recent news conference in Denver with Mayor Mike Johnston and Democratic National Committee leaders as the group considers hosting its 2028 presidential nominating convention in her district. U.S. Rep. Jason Crow was present, but DeGette said she had a conflict. She said she did meet with the DNC delegation during its visit.

“Diana DeGette is nonexistent and has been nonexistent as long as I’ve been a resident of CD1,” James said. “That����ap why I’m running. … In Colorado’s capital city, CD1 should be leading the conversation.”

Mail ballots for the Democratic primary are set to go out starting June 8. The 1st District generally follows Denver city boundaries and includes Glendale and Holly Hills.

Tell us what you think about this story

Re: “Should Colorado Blvd. become more bus-friendly?” May 27 news story

I don’t see anything vibrant about Denver.

While Mayor Mike Johnston is begging people to return to downtown, saying it����ap safe while murders increase, his administration seems hellbent on failing other areas of the city with bus rapid transit (BRT).

Besides downtown and its lack of safety, I already avoid the Colorado Boulevard corridor at certain times of day because of traffic congestion. A BRT will just make that worse, and I’ll avoid it altogether. Just like downtown. The same for Federal Boulevard.

I live in southeast Denver, where options other than Denver are convenient. If the Johnston administration continues to destroy our city, I’ll easily take my shopping and tax dollars elsewhere, rather than the Cherry Creek Mall. Park Meadows or Aurora’s Town Center are close by and easily accessible. Boutique shops proliferate in other area towns, such as Centennial, Littleton, and Englewood.

Let the market decide if more public transit is desired rather than shoving it down the taxpayer’s throat. Otherwise, watch Denver implode!

Paul C. Gremse, Denver

I was skeptical of Boulder’s conversion of the outer lanes of Arapahoe Avenue to bus-only lanes, leaving two car lanes in each direction instead of three. I was pleasantly surprised, however. There is less lane-hopping, typically from right-lane drivers avoiding cars that slow down for a right turn. Traffic flows smoother, and at the speed limit. My only gripe is the lane markings. They discourage right-turners from moving over earlier, resulting in slowdowns in the center lane. Fix that and it could be a winner.

I grew up in southeast Denver, near Glendale. Colorado Boulevard (and Federal and other arterial streets) could really use a more modern, better-organized layout. It could be less chaotic. Maybe consider letting big trucks use the bus lanes too.

Eric Rinard, Fort Lupton

You asked for input on the story regarding Bus Rapid Transit along Colorado Boulevard. My response is “Stop! No! and No way!” This is insane.

I understand Speer Boulevard through the Cherry Creek Business District and then along Leetsdale Drive to Parker Road is also on the list. No!

I’m a property owner near Leetsdale and don’t want to endure the Colfax nightmare, nor the disruption to businesses.

Stop forcing us to get out of our cars. Nobody elected you for that. And stop the stupid traffic circles, white curb extenders and converting streets to bikeways. I don’t remember voting on this. Nobody did. Stop!

The mayor’s office calls it “traffic calming.” Wrong again. It won’t, and it doesn’t. Maybe if he drove instead of getting chauffeured around, he’d get it. Stop. And thank you, Glendale!

Mark Davis, Denver

Traffic enforcement could lessen the need for traffic projects

Re: “Restore basic traffic enforcement in Denver,” May 27 letter to the editor

The letter writer is spot on. Numerous safety solutions, such as detrimental BRT projects, roundabouts, billions of white bollards, etc., which drive the citizenry crazy, could be avoided if drivers were complying with the law.

All of us see the red-light runners, road-ragers, and improperly licensed vehicles every day, and it seems to be getting worse. The letter writer is right, it is a fairness issue. Driving on our roadways is a privilege. Some of us pay for that privilege, and others do not, and the mayor has a budget shortfall.

Steve Nissen, Denver

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.

Lobbyists who try to influence Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration or City Council members are currently required to register only their names and their clients. But how much they’re being paid, whom they’re lobbying, and what issue they’re supporting or opposing remain totally unsaid in the city’s registry.

That would all change under a proposal the council began considering last week. Besides requiring more detailed disclosures about lobbying activity, the measure would create a “cooling-off period” for former elected officials who want to become lobbyists.

Across Civic Center, monthly disclosures for lobbyists, including who their clients are, how much they are paid, which bills or subjects they are lobbying on, and their positions on those matters.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López’s office is partnering with Councilwomen Jamie Torres, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Shontel Lewis on the legislation. They proposed the changes in response to a shift in the way policy has progressed in the city in recent years.

“We’re seeing a different level of lobbying taking place in our current political climate, and we can’t be behind the ball and not be able to be transparent with the public and the media about what����ap happening,” Torres said during .

Lobbying became a recent flashpoint in Denver politics after the city’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure altered a project design last year to reduce the number of lanes along a portion of Alameda Avenue. It late came to light that Denver officials had changed the plan after a lobbyist — and former city employee — had contacted the city on behalf of Jill Anschutz, the daughter-in-law of billionaire Phil Anschutz.

The revelation prompted criticism from transit and street safety advocates, who said the kerfuffle demonstrated how wealth influenced city politics. Johnston has insisted that the pivot came from the engineering experts inside DOTI.

Some of the council’s most controversial topics, like pushing the repeal of a ban on pit bills and a ban on flavored tobacco, didn’t produce any lobbying reports despite council members clearly being lobbied heavily, Torres said.

“None of them have garnered lobbying activity in the reports, as of yet, because of the way that the law is written,” Torres said.

The new regulations, which would take effect in 2027, would require lobbyists to report details on their work every two months.

“There is a need for reporters and the public, and even the officials themselves, to understand what interests are taking aim at Denver policies,” said Aly Belknap, the executive director of Colorado Common Cause, a government watchdog group. “It gives everybody a better footing of where power lives.”

Impact on grassroots campaigns

Organizations that engage in “grassroots lobbying,” including by asking residents to email specific council members and ask them to vote a certain way, would also fall under the requirements.

The regulations would include new ways of enforcing the lobbying rules. If a lobbyist doesn’t report activity by a report’s due date, they would incur a small fine. If their nonreporting goes on or what they file appears to be fraudulent in some way, the clerk’s office would be able to refer the case to an independent judge. That person would then have the ability to issue a subpoena or a larger fine — or even ban the person from lobbying the city.

Belknap said she thought the enforcement mechanism would be stronger if penalties were explicitly stated in the law, rather than applied retroactively by a hearing officer.

“I think that might put us on a stronger path to accountability and to avoiding situations where something has risen to the level of needing to go to a hearing,” she said.

Belknap also said she believed the reporting requirements should apply to lobbying activity related to businesses seeking work through the city’s contract solicitation process.

Cooling-off period

The proposed law would restrict elected officials from immediately beginning jobs as lobbyists after they leave office.

A “cooling-off period” is common in other forms of government. In the Colorado legislature, for example, lawmakers must wait at least two years before they can join the lobby. In the U.S. House, the period lasts one year, and in the U.S. Senate it is two years.

The proposal in Denver would require a six-month gap between elected office and lobbying. That’s the same amount of time to a restriction on former city employees from doing work at their next job that takes advantage of the direct action they had exercised in their city role.

The drafters of the proposal intended that lobbying time-out for former officials as a way to prevent elected officials from using the positions and relationships they build in office to improve their future earnings. It is also meant to prevent council members from taking favorable votes for a certain interested party with the promise of working for that firm after they leave office.

Councilwoman Sarah Parady said she believes a six-month period wouldn’t be long enough to be effective.

But Torres said that based on her conversations with other council members, Parady was in the minority on that point.

The mayor’s cabinet would also fall under the cooling-off period requirements.

More details on proposal

Under the measure, lobbyists would have to report when they meet with elected officials like council members or the mayor, or with people in their offices, as well as people the officials have appointed to policy-making or advising positions.

They wouldn’t have to report casual meetings or conversations. But if a lobbyist asks the person to support or oppose a specific piece of legislation, they must report it. All of the reporting requirements would fall on the lobbyist, rather than on the official they’re contacting.

The proposal considers anyone who is paid at least $1,000 to engage in lobbying to be a lobbyist. A volunteer lobbyist or individual residents who represent their own interests would be exempt.

The full council is set to consider the bill on its first reading on June 1.

The point-in-time count, which tallies how many people were homeless on a single night in January each year, showed a 12.5% decrease in overall homelessness in the city compared to the 2025 report. Unsheltered homelessness — which is those who are sleeping in tents or on the streets — was down 34% from the previous year.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston celebrated the new data Wednesday as a win for his All In Mile High homelessness program, which has been his administration’s focus since he was elected in 2023.

“This is a historic accomplishment, and it is one we celebrate with every city employee, partner and Denverite who shares the belief that our neighbors deserve better than to sleep on the streets,” Johnston in a statement ahead of a morning news conference.

He added at the event: “A goal that once seemed like fantasy — the idea that we can end the cycle of street homelessness in Denver — now feels like a very real possibility.”

A snapshot of data

The count, conducted by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, found 518 people living unsheltered on Denver’s streets on that night in late January. That was down from 785 people last year and the decade peak of 1,423 people in 2023.

Due to sub-freezing temperatures, the city’s cold weather shelter was open that night and people who stayed there were counted in the “sheltered homelessness” category. That means there may be more than 518 people who would be unsheltered on a warmer night.

Cole Chandler, the executive director of the city’s Department of Housing Stability, addressed that limitation of the PIT count during the news conference in the Uptown neighborhood Wednesday.

“It was activated this year but it was also activated last year,” he said of the cold weather shelter. “There were less people in cold weather shelter this year.”

Last year, MDHI counted 7,327 people who were homeless overall in the city, meaning that they may have shelter but don’t have stable housing. This year, the initiative counted 6,411. After a 12% increase in overall homelessness last year, the new decrease brings the count down a bit lower than it was in 2024.

“We’re here to say that together, we are reducing homelessness in Denver,” Chandler said. “We’re here to say that our policies, programs, strategies and investments are working.”

The MDHI’s , including six other counties near Denver, found 9,950 people who were homeless, down 7.6%. Of those, 1,703 were living unsheltered, down nearly 21% from last year.

Jason Johnson, the director of MDHI, also spoke Wednesday, highlighting that the decrease was happening throughout the region as counties collaborate more.

“These regional efforts are showing the impact,” he said. “This is not an issue with a finish line but one that takes ongoing, consistent effort from all of us.”

Throughout the region, homelessness among youth — including people ages 24 and younger — increased by 10.3%, according to MDHI’s report. In Denver, however, sheltered homelessness in that group decreased by 28% and street homelessness fell by 57%.

Families experiencing homelessness also rose by 6% throughout the region.

“It’s really important to use all data sets,” Johnson with MDHI said. “Regionally, all data is pointing to a decline, so we’re really proud of that effort.”

Once homeless, now housed

Under Johnston’s administration, the city has added about 1,000 shelter beds, bringing the overall number in the city’s system to 3,000. The city has converted several former hotels into shelters and added a handful of tiny home microcommunities to move people indoors from encampments.

Urban Alchemy, a San-Francisco based nonprofit group, started operating the 289-unit Aspen shelter this year. One of the people who once stayed in the shelter, Ny’isha Murray, spoke highly of her experience with the organization during the news conference.

“They showed me some structure,” she said. “And when it was time for me to leave … they got us out of there.”

Murray emphasized the programs she was able to start and participate in during her time at the shelter, including taking a journaling class and creating a clothing bank for other guests. Her grandchildren, with whom she said she wouldn’t have been able to reconnect without Urban Alchemy’s help, sat in the crowd Wednesday.

Tyler Thompson the director of operations at The Aspen, said the group’s workers, many of whom were once homeless themselves, see their job as “loving on people.”

“We create a place of safety, then we guide our guests to resources. Once they get connected to resources, we start to see the magic happen that everyone likes to see,” he said. “We’re here to continue to love people all the way, not only to permanent housing but to long-term stability.”

The mayor’s office says the city’s homelessness program costs about $58 million each year, but the city auditor has taken issue with that accounting. In a dispute earlier this year, an audit — which the mayor’s office disputed — found that the actual cost is higher.

The developments come as the federal government under President Donald Trump has cut funding for homelessness services. Denver alone lost 180 housing vouchers last year, Johnston said.

— Fred Waiss, Prairie du Chien, Wis.

Hey Fred, thanks for reading, as always, and thanks getting us going from the confluence of the Mississippi and the Wisconsin.

It����ap a fascinating question and the true answer is that there’s no clear answer yet, but city officials — particularly Mayor Mike Johnston — are really excited about the possibilities. In fact, when I talked to Johnston back in September as the Broncos finalized Burnham Yard as their preferred site for a new stadium, the mayor was equally excited to talk about the future of the current Empower Field site. He called it, “a once-in-a-century opportunity.”

“When will you ever get 80 acres of central Denver back, that the city owns, to be able to completely redevelop with community voice?” Johnston said then. “That����ap unheard of. It����ap just such a critical place where it����ap deeply engaged in Sun Valley and the identity of West Denver. It����ap also the connection to downtown. You can imagine how you could live right there on the old Mile High site and you could walk right under the bridge and you’re at the Auroria campus or you’re at Ball Arena or downtown.

“It����ap going to be an incredible opportunity for the West side of Denver.”

It, of course, will not be an incredible opportunity any time in the very near future. In fact, the city website says the planning process to develop a vision for what happens at the old Mile High site is set to kick off in “late 2027.” Then, if everything proceeds on time at Burnham Yard and the project moves forward, the Broncos wouldn’t start playing there until the 2031 season. Once the lease runs out after the 2030 season, then the city would take over control of Empower Field.

In general, though, there is a wide range of possibilities for what happens to the land, and part of what makes it unique is that the city owns it. There will almost undoubtedly be some community uses, such as parks, open space, and public facilities. But, in Johnston’s telling, the city’s stewardship of the land also means the potential for more affordable housing or creative development projects.

“If it����ap all owned by a private developer, we’re begging them to do a little more affordability here and a little more affordability there,” Johnston said back in September. “When we own the land, the people get to set all the terms for what happens there. That����ap unheard of. There’s not a place where we could afford to acquire that much land to be competing with private developers who would jack up the prices.

“This is a real game-changer for West Denver to have these two neighborhoods that will be places that are both incredibly exciting and attractive and can stay affordable. That����ap the big win for the city.”

There could also be some Denver Water presence in the area, given that the utility submitted a concept plan that includes using the current Lot M at Empower Field as part of its partial relocation from the Burnham Yard area.

So, the short answer to your question, Fred, is that there aren’t concrete answers or fleshed-out ideas yet. But it����ap something the mayor and city officials are already excited about the possibility of.

How does this current Broncos roster compare to last year’s team at this same point of the offseason? Better? Worse? Same?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Hey Ed, thanks for writing in.

With the caveat that we haven’t seen this group on the field and won’t in any meaningful way for a while, it looks like a better roster to me. There are certainly positions where you’re not quite sure exactly who fills a spot — John Franklin-Myers’ on the defensive line and P.J. Locke as a third safety, for example — but there are also upgrades and development to take into consideration.

At this stage of the offseason last year, J.K. Dobbins hadn’t yet signed. We didn’t know if Troy Franklin would take a Year 2 leap or what contributions Denver’s offense would get from rookies like Pat Bryant and RJ Harvey.

This spring, you retain the vast majority of contributors from last year’s team and add a fresh draft class to the mix. Oh, right, and also the mega spring trade for receiver Jaylen Waddle.

There are always twists and turns through training camp, and injuries always crop up, but this is going to be a really tough 53-man roster to make. Start with the quarterback and a crop of All-Pros and work your way through the depth chart. As a first-blush starting point, it����ap difficult to find more than maybe 8-10 spots up for grabs.

Hey Parker, my big question for you is: Have the Broncos done enough this offseason to win the AFC West again? While we were the best team last year, we had a lot of close calls. I love that we traded for Jaylen Waddle because he’s going to open up our offense, but we still need a strong No. 1 tight end. We need an answer at ILB to counter opposing tight ends. We need a better running game (J.K. Dobbins is good, but he’s fragile).

Tell me why this team will do well next year.

— Mike, Denver

Hey Mike, thanks for writing in and good question. The Broncos won the AFC West by three games a year ago and head into training camp feeling like they’ve got a roster that’s deeper and more talented than last year’s. Not a complete list, obviously, but you can look at the starting group and say they essentially lost John Franklin-Myers and gained Jaylen Waddle. They added a draft class that may not be asked to produce a ton right away, but running back Jonah Coleman and tight end Justin Joly have a chance to help solidify the depth chart right away and maybe push for time depending on how veterans who have dealt with injuries in their careers — J.K. Dobbins and Evan Engram, respectively — hold up through the fall.

The Broncos are widely considered to have few major areas of concern, assuming quarterback Bo Nix is fully healthy when training camp begins. They’re peppered near the top of outlets’ post-draft NFL power rankings (No. 3 on ESPN and The Athletic, as a couple of examples). However, the betting odds tell a little bit of a different story at this point. DraftKings, for example, has a tight AFC West race brewing but puts Kansas City (+160) and the Los Angeles Chargers (+190) ahead of Denver (+220) to win the division. BetMGM pegs the Chiefs’ and Chargers’ win totals at 10.5 and the Broncos’ at 9.5.

Part of that is Denver’s schedule being far more challenging than it has been in recent years. They’ve got 10 games against 2025 playoff teams and that, of course, does not include a pair against division-rival Kansas City. The Chiefs’ prospects in 2026 look a lot different, of course, if QB Patrick Mahomes (ACL), is on the field from Week 1 rather than missing the first few weeks. The Chargers won 11 games last year despite a slew of injuries, including to their terrific pair of starting tackles. Losing defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is a big blow, but gaining Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator is big, too.

The regular season always takes its toll, but sign me up for a stretch run where all three teams are right in it. That sounds like fun.

I feel like if Bo Nix didn’t break his ankle after the Bills game, we would’ve beaten the Pats and gone to the Super Bowl. Do you think the Broncos would’ve been able to beat Seattle? I think we’d put up a better fight than the Pats did.

— Tim, Golden

Hey Tim, thanks for writing. One of the most popular questions of the offseason and my answer is, I think, similar to what a lot of others would say. I do think the Broncos would have beaten New England and played in the Super Bowl. I don’t think anybody was beating Seattle. Would it have been more competitive than the game we all saw? Yeah, probably.

Alas, we’ll never know for sure.

Hey Parker, do you think Bo Nix will use his legs earlier in the season as he did in his rookie year, or will they try to make him more of a pocket passer in Year 3?

— David M., Denver

Hey David, thanks for writing in and good question.

The Broncos coaches and Bo Nix all believe that he can play and win from the pocket, but it����ap also clear when you watch him play that his legs are a big part of what makes him special. I’d be really surprised if Nix used the fractured ankle and two subsequent operations as a reason for being less aggressive running. If he were limited in some way, that’d be another story, but at this point, there’s no indication that would be the case by the time September rolls around.

More than the ankle, some of how Nix plays and the kind of running situations he’s put in will depend on whether we see any substantial change in offensive approach with offensive coordinator Davis Webb taking over as Denver’s primary play-caller. Will he be interested in dialing up the usage of the designed quarterback run game? Will he want Nix in the pocket more frequently? Obviously, head coach Sean Payton is still going to have a heavy influence on game plan design, but if Webb is calling all or most of the plays, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Nix’s usage — and the roles of other offensive skill players — change at least a little bit.

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.

City officials responded to the Trump administration’s threat to sue with defiance Monday, vowing to defend the city’s 37-year-old ordinance. The city law prohibits the sale or possession of assault weapons, defined as semiautomatic pistols or centerfire rifles with a fixed or detachable magazine that can carry more than 15 rounds, as well as any semiautomatic shotgun with a folding stock or a magazine capacity of six or more rounds.

The Justice Department lawsuit argues that the city’s ban is unconstitutional and runs afoul of the Second Amendment’s right to bear and keep arms.

“The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a news release. “Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens nationwide.”

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit a day after city officials stood on the steps of the Denver City and County Building and vowed to defend the ban after receiving the demands and threat of a lawsuit last week.

“There are too many Coloradans we’ve had to say goodbye to in too many places because of the impact of assault weapons,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said during Monday’s news conference. “…We’ve actually refused to accept the status quo and made significant changes that made the state safer.”

The Justice Department also demanded Colorado officials end the state’s ban on large-capacity magazines or face a lawsuit. No complaint had been filed against the state by mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Dudley Brown, president of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, welcomed the lawsuit.

“Denver politicians have spent decades pretending the Second Amendment stops at the city limits,” he said in a news release. “Today, the Department of Justice has put them on notice. You do not get to shred the Constitution, criminalize peaceable gun owners and call it public safety. Denver’s gun ban is unconstitutional, immoral and long overdue for the ash heap of history.”

The Second Amendment protects the right of “law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in common use for lawful purposes,” the Justice Department complaint reads.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners sued over Colorado’s large-capacity magazine ban in 2022, but withdrew the case in 2024 after they could not about the “common use” of large-capacity magazines, city attorney Miko Brown wrote in Denver’s on Monday.

The former chief counsel for the Colorado gun rights organization, Barry Arrington, is now the acting chief of the Department of Justice’s Second Amendment Section, according to the complaint, which lists him among several attorneys on the case.

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.

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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.