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Mayor Michael Hancock launched his re-election bid Tuesday without a prominent challenger but vowed to help more people and neighborhoods share in Denver’s burgeoning economy.
“Working side by side with all of you,” Hancock told roughly 150 supporters at a campaign kickoff rally, “I am proud of what we have accomplished. Together, I want to continue improving this amazing home of ours so that this great city of opportunity extends to everyone.”
Hancock, elected in a runoff four years ago after a fierce race, heads into the May 5 election without a well-funded opponent. He’s built a $580,000 campaign firewall.
If re-elected, Hancock said he would work to increase the availability of affordable housing, expand the city’s transportation network, advocate for more educational options for children and invest in overlooked neighborhoods.
Still, he reveled in the city’s recent successes.
Denver “has come roaring out of the recession,” he said, attracting 36,000 new jobs and 2,200 new businesses in “four short years.”
And he rattled off names of neighborhoods that have undergone feverish new development or become the focus of in-the-works revitalization plans, declaring: “This city is rockin’!”
Hancock’s supporters, including several current staffers and former Denver first lady and state Rep. Wilma Webb, cheered inside the Battery 621 business incubator in the Santa Fe Art District.
His choice of event speakers dovetailed with key campaign messages about the economy and early childhood education, including voters’ recent approval of an increase in the preschool tax. The mayor was lauded by Chuck Sullivan, whose Something Independent group at Battery 621 promotes innovative entrepreneurs, and Anna Jo Haynes of Mile High Montessori Early Learning Center.
Although Hancock kept a positive focus, citing gains made in police reform, he also alluded to continuing trouble in the Denver Sheriff Department by pointing to the need for more accountability for all city agencies.
City coffers have paid out millions of dollars for legal settlements stemming from jail abuse in the past year, prompting top-to-bottom reviews by expensive consultants that still are underway.
Ken Salazar, the Democratic former U.S. interior secretary and senator — and one of the mayor’s several campaign co-chairs — introduced Hancock by recalling his local roots and his history of overcoming adversity and family tragedy.
The other potential mayoral candidates so far are Paul Fiorino, Marcus Giavanni, Dwight Henson, Scott Hoftiezer and Chairman Seku.
Fiorino knows it’s a longshot but said he didn’t like the idea of an unopposed re-election. He isn’t accepting contributions and hopes to tap into festering frustrations across the city.
“Mayor Hancock has been part of the city system,” he said, previously serving two terms on the City Council. “Are we going to continue in the status quo, if you will? Voters need to ask themselves that.”