Denver progressives gain votes in new counts but runoffs loom

A late surge in ballots boosted Denver's progressive candidates, the latest vote tallies show, but the outcomes remain mostly the same as counting continues Thursday.

What's new: In the mayor's race, Lisa Calderón's support increased to 17.4% and she trimmed the margin needed to make the June 6 runoff election, according to vote tallies at 5pm Wednesday.

• But Mike Johnston continues to lead the race with 24.5% and Kelly Brough is standing in second with 20.6%, about 4,900 votes ahead of Calderón.

The intrigue: The most significant shift came in the at-large race for city council, where Sarah Parady moved into contention to win the second open seat even after early-vote counts showed her in fourth place. She now leads third-place Penfield Tate by 1,405 votes.

• Shontel Lewis and Candi CdeBaca moved into first place in their respective council district races, but both must still contend with runoff contests against Brad Revare and Darrell Watson, respectively.
• In District 10, Shannon Hoffman, another member of the progressive cohort, may advance to the runoff after initially sitting in third place. She's 93 votes ahead of third-place Noah Kaplan.

What's next: About 23,000 ballots remain uncounted and Denver election officials plan to update the numbers Thursday afternoon.

Of note: Turnout among registered voters landed at 33% according to preliminary numbers, surpassing the 2015 municipal election but below the 2019 contest's 40% high mark.

• About 77,000 ballots — 44% of all those returned — came on Election Day, including about 55,000 in the final two hours of voting, the Denver Elections Division reports.