Aurora City Council’s apparent new progressive majority talks post-election goals

AURORA | Aurora’s newly elected “people-first” slate talked Friday about how they flipped control of the Aurora City Council and their plans for the future.

“Hope is much stronger than fear, than apathy, and though we have a long way to go to make sure that Aurorans are safe, and are truly thriving, it is only the beginning,” Gianina Horton, apparent winner in Ward I, said.

In a virtual press conference hosted by the apparent winning candidates on Friday, they shared their gratitude, spoke to what led to their win, and offered a few hints about what’s to come. 

Tabbed as winners are two at-large contestants, Rob Andrews and Alli Jackson, Ward I candidate Gianina Horton, Ward II candidate Amy Wiles and incumbent Councilmember Ruben Medina, who was returned to his Ward III seat. 

All of the candidates had persuasive leads among election returns as of Nov. 7. The races are not officially called until Nov. 25. Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky conceded her bid for re-election to her at-large seat on Wednesday.

“This election was not about being divisive,” Andrews said. “This election was about people coming together to end demonizing our city and our community. And what we want to do is we want to make sure that everybody loves our city. They have a place where they can work, love and play all day long.”

In highlighting both the mechanics and the meaning of this year’s results, Domonique James, the campaign manager for Medina, explained the conservative-to-progressive majority flip that will occur after the new members are sworn in on Dec. 1.

“What made this election, these election results, so exciting: People First candidates flipped the Aurora City Council,” James said. 

James framed the victories as a case study in retail politics, overcoming financial disadvantages. 

“Everybody had the same issues around money,” Medina said. “I’m proud that we all came together as a coalition.”

The progressive slate raised about $125,000 combined among four candidates, compared with more than $850,000 raised and spent by conservatives, James said. To close the gap, candidates and volunteers knocked on more than 35,000 doors and partnered with labor, climate, education, and civil rights groups.

“What we lacked in money, we made up for in our amazing volunteers, in our commitment to community and our willingness to go out and speak to people,” Wiles said. 

Coalitions were also credited during the campaigns to host multiple political forums for people to engage with candidates, including the Aurora NAACP, Colorado Black Women for Political Action, Justice for Black Coloradans, Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism, known as the YAASPA and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

“It took collaboration, compassion and courage,” James said, with candidates who “represent the full diversity of Aurora,” which included electees from mid-career parents to early retirees, entrepreneurs, teachers and social workers.

Danielle Young-Kombo, a resident who helped with all of the candidates’ campaigns, said that hosting the high-turnout public forums, including at Community College of Aurora and Heather Gardens, greatly helped the candidates with engagement and name recognition. She said that the candidates who showed up to all of the forums were the ones who won. 

Each candidate said where they hoped to focus their attention once sworn into office. 

Horton said she is already prepared to hold a town hall in December to hear residents’ priorities. She said she wanted to focus on accountability in the Aurora Police consent decree and repeal mandatory minimum jail sentences as immediate policy targets.

The Consent Decree, imposed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in 2021, followed investigations into the Aurora Police Department’s excessive use of force and discriminatory practices, particularly against people of color. Triggered in part by the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of police and rescuers after being stopped, unarmed, the decree mandates broad reforms in training, accountability, use-of-force policies, data systems and community engagement.

Wiles said she wanted to focus on infrastructure gaps in northeast Aurora, calling for grocery access, rec centers, and libraries, and she vowed to extend public speaking time at council meetings. She also supports bringing domestic-violence cases back to Aurora’s system to better serve victims.

Jackson said she wanted to thank labor and LGBTQ+ communities for their support. She also said she would be pressing for more public restrooms and citywide trash service, and pledged proactive engagement with immigrant residents.

Andrews said he planned to prioritize progress under the police consent decree and expand registered apprenticeships so residents can “buy a house and live with a livable wage.”

Medina touted what has worked for him in his previous years on city council,  a ground game built on face-to-face problem-solving and said he’ll move to nominate Councilmember Alison Coombs as Mayor Pro Tem to diversify committee assignments. He said he also plans to strengthen meeting decorum rules, invest in youth mental health and explore economic-development projects that create union jobs.

Coombs said she spoke to Medina about his interest in nominating her to serve as mayor pro tem next year, and that she will submit a letter of intent.

Volunteer Kirk Manzanares spoke while standing in a spot he now dubs “Victory Row,” a celebratory line of campaign signs along Alameda and Sable.

“We did it,” Manzanares said. “I come from a family where I had four sisters and two brothers. Now I have many, many brothers and sisters. We work together as a community.”

Campaign staffers Jasmine Ross and Lindsey Rasmussen were credited for building a field-first operation that, as Ross put it, was “powered not by money, but by the passion and dedication of the people who believed in change for Aurora.”

Former progressive Councilmember Juan Marcano also said the new majority should pursue moving Aurora’s municipal elections to coincide with even-year cycles to lock in higher turnout. Head nods on screen suggested an appetite to study the shift.

James closed by inviting the public to the first entirely in-person council meeting in months on Nov. 17. The next meeting will be the final meeting with the outgoing council members before the new members take their elected seats.

“We made history with a record-breaking turnout, and this is proof that when you give people something to believe in, they will show up and they will vote,” Jackson said.