A Denver Mayor special election: ‘Ah, it would have been a wild affair’

Who will run for Denver mayor next May should John Hickenlooper win the governor’s seat in November? The list of potential candidates is long– but not as long as the list would have been for the special election that would have been called had Hick decided to leave office to campaign.

“Ah, it would have been a wild affair,” Political consultant Eric Sonderman told the Colorado independent, almost wistfully. “A wild affair because there is no run-off provision. It would have been a one-time shoot-out, with a new mayor taking a very small percentage of the vote.” It would be huge, he said.

Cole Finegan
Cole Finegan

Even so, said Sonderman, the field of candidates for the May 2011 regular election was still vast.

“If you want an idea of who might be running,” Sonderman said, “just get out the Denver phone book.”

His list of potential candidates includes state Sen. Chris Romer, Denver Councilmembers Judy Montero, Carol Boigon (member at large) and Michael Hancock, as well as state House Speaker Terrance Carroll.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak told the Colorado Independent in a previous interview that the list she had heard also included Montero, Carroll, and Hancock.

Political consultant Tyler Chafee said that added to that list should be former city attorney and Hickenlooper Chief of Staff Cole Finegan, who is likely to be a major player in the mayoral election.

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