The Denver chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday endorsed Councilwoman Shontel Lewis’ campaign challenging first-term Mayor Mike Johnston in next year’s city election.
Read more Denver Water considers banning all lawn watering as dry, hot summer continues
The organization’s 2,000 members voted to support Lewis after an internal process that included a candidate forum, the group’s leaders said. The group declined to say who else sought its members’ endorsement.
“Shontel Lewis has spent her career advancing socialist policies to help working people,” said Katie Blakey, one of two Denver DSA co-chairs, in a news release. “With the city in a budget crisis and survival becoming more precarious for everyday Denverites, we need a mayor with the vision, experience, and tenacity to make meaningful change happen.”
Lewis filed to run for mayor last month, which means she won’t defend her council position in 2027. She instead will take on Johnston, whom voters elected in 2023, and repeat progressive candidate Lisa Calderón, along with several other candidates in the April election.
Denver DSA also endorsed Lewis in her successful 2023 campaign to represent the council’s northeast 8th District.
“I am proudly running again as a democratic socialist, and having the support of Denver’s DSA behind another one of my races means the world to me,” Lewis said in the release.
“I was asked to run for mayor by union organizers, my neighbors who go to work every day and still struggle, tired folks close to losing their hope,” she added. “We can run a campaign of joy, one centering what our city and her residents deserve. We will bring lasting and real change to Denver.”
Read more Man dies at federal prison in southern Colorado
The backing of the Denver DSA could give a meaningful boost to Lewis’ campaign in the wake of the group’s recent popularity, both locally and nationally, in Democratic primary elections.
In June, DSA-backed candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in the primary to represent Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, which is almost entirely made up of Denver residents. She’s now the favorite in the fall election. Kiros joined a group of several other DSA candidates across the country who ousted establishment-backed candidates.
Despite expressions of earlier interest in endorsing someone to replace former Councilwoman Sarah Parady as an at-large councilmember in this fall’s special election, no candidate received enough votes from the Denver DSA members to receive the chapter’s support, chapter co-chair Susie Ramsey said.
Parady, whom the Denver DSA backed in her 2023 election, resigned for health reasons in August.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
Read more Thursday’s lunar eclipse isn’t total in Colorado, but it will come close
