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Denver voters lean toward labor in runoff races

Nevitt, Lopez, Madison change face, and likely outlook, of City Council

Stuart Steers and Daniel Chacon, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 6, 2007 at midnight

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Denver voters shook up the City Council Tuesday, electing two new members with close links to the city's labor unions and giving a white woman a seat that has been traditionally thought of as the "black seat" on the council.

Chris Nevitt and Paul Lopez won their runoff races handily, while Carla Madison won a narrow victory over Sharon Bailey in District 8.

Nevitt was elected to represent District 7 in south-central Denver, easily defeating Shelly Watters. A former professor at Arizona State University, Nevitt founded a labor-backed think tank in 2002 that successfully pushed Denver to demand guarantees of quality jobs and affordable housing at the huge Gates redevelopment project.

In District 3, on Denver's west side, Paul Lopez beat JoAnn Phillips. Lopez, the son of a janitor, works for the Service Employees International Union, which represents many of the janitors who clean downtown office buildings. He has said that he'll make "economic justice" issues a priority.

Lopez and Nevitt may push for some kind of "living wage" ordinance that would require developers seeking public subsidies to provide higher-paying jobs with health benefits.

"We have a problem in this city and it's a problem that's shared across America: Wages are stagnant and housing and health care costs are increasing," said Nevitt. "We have a middle class that's sliding backwards. City Council should be showing more initiative and more leadership."

Hickenlooper, who is usually friendly to business interests, may resist the "living wage" proposals. The mayor was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.

Lopez noted that he comes from an area of the city where many people are struggling to get by.

"My priority is working families," said Lopez. "We have to start to talk about those issues."

Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli predicted a "different dynamic" on the council as a result of the election, with issues such as affordable housing and health care taking more of the spotlight.

While only 14,564 voters returned mail-in ballots out of the nearly 42,000 sent to voters, the results from the 35 percent who voted may reflect a new populism among Democratic-leaning voters, observers say.

Political analyst Eric Sondermann said the results are part of a national pattern, with traditional Democratic constituencies like labor becoming more aggressive.

"There's a populist, economic justice-driven grass roots," said Sondermann. "In urban and liberal Denver, that's a potent formula."

Totals

DISTRICT 8 • Carla Madison 2,816 • Sharon Bailey 2,636

DISTRICT 7 • Chris Nevitt......3,617 • Shelly Watters......2,156

DISTRICT 3 • Paul Lopez......2,064 • JoAnn Phillips......1,275

Other council members

Re-elected May 1 in city general election

• Rick Garcia District 1

• Jeanne Faatz District 2

• Peggy Lehmann District 4

• Marcia Johnson District 5

• Charlie Brown District 6

• Judy Montero District 9

• Jeanne Robb District 10

• Michael Hancock District 11

• Doug Linkhart, Carol Boigon At-large

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