May 09, 2011 07:37 PM UTC

New Denver Line

• 5 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

We’ve just released our new Big Line located directly to the left. Where’d we get it right and wrong? Let us know, Polsters.

Mayor

Chris Romer

We think Romer’s still got the lead in part because he has the money to be everywhere at once. He can define the race, whether it’s negative or positive, and will be able to raise and invest huge amounts of money. A lot of voters may end up voting for Romer because of his father and their shared last name. Unfortunately, the “investment banker” is an easy target, and Romer only beat Hancock by 2,000 votes. Still, a win is a win.

Michael Hancock

By beating Mejia and the rest, Hancock has proven his viability as a candidate. He should be raising much, much more money to compete against Chris, though. He’ll also have a hard time swaying progressive voters because of his views on abortion and evolution. Still, Hancock has a great story and an impressive media savvy. Unfortunately, what he doesn’t have is an antidote or counterpoint to that asinine City Council pay raise vote. That’s going to look terrible in ads.

Clerk and Recorder

Sarah McCarthy

We’re impressed with McCarthy. She came out of a distant third place to win round one. She’s got a lengthy resume with varying experience and networks in both government and nonprofits. She also won 2,000 votes more than Johnson in a down ballot race.

Debra Johnson

Debra would be the first to tell you that her strategy in round one was contingent on her winning second place. She didn’t expect to end up in second to McCarthy, and she’ll have to work hard to redefine herself. That bad press from earlier isn’t going to help, and Johnson won’t be able to beat McCarthy on “experience.”

Council 1

Susan Shepard

Shepard has been campaigning hard for the past year straight and has great name ID from last year’s run. She’s really been campaigning for about a year, and that’s always helpful.  She really could have benefited from AFSCME support, though, and could’ve used a win in round one to prove she’s better than second place. That  said, Shepard is going to be able to sway more of the voters who supported other candidates than Ken. She should win, but narrowly.

Ken Padilla

Padilla went from a total underdog in last year’s special election to a serious contender this year. He has a lead, but it’s too narrow for him to get comfortable. The only way Ken can win is to make a better appeal than Susan to the voters who supported someone else in the first round. We don’t think he’ll be versatile enough to do it, however. He does have very vocal union support, and that certainly can’t hurt.

Council 5

Steve Saunders

Saunders beat Susman once. He’s charismatic and has enviable name ID from his time with 7News. He’s run his campaign the exact way he needed to in order to win, and should be able to keep it up if he can keep raising the money.

Marybeth Susman

We know Susman can raise good money and she has a very visible and vocal group of supporters. She really needed to beat Saunders, though. He only won by a few hundred votes, but a win is a win. Susman may not be able to top Saunders in name ID, and we’ve heard she’s been stumping for Michael Hancock while campaigning for herself. That’s a big mistake when the Mayoral race is so contested, and it will probably hurt.

Council 8

Wil Alston

Alston has assembled a good team and is preparing for a real race. He’s got a pretty decent network from his time working in Ritter’s office and is popular in the business community. That means he can probably raise the money he needs to win it.

Albus Brooks

Brooks is doing aggressive outreach in the African American community within the district. He’s got the experience, too, but not nearly as much as Alston. It’ll be a close race.