Aurora Vote 2023: Coffman leads in mayor’s race as ballot results come in

AURORA | By mid-day Wednesday, Republican Mayor Mike Coffman claimed about 54.4% of ballots cast and tabulated so far, reflecting about 30.2% turnout in Adams County, 35.9% turnout in Arapahoe and 48.4% in Douglas.

Democrat challenger Juan Marcano has so far garnered about 38.6% of the vote. Outsider Democrat Jeff Sanford claimed about 7%.

The situation was reflected in the rest of the Aurora City Council races, where Democrats trailed their Republican opponents.

As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Adams County reported that it has yet to count about 21,000 ballots, while Arapahoe County has about 34,900 and Douglas County 4,200 left to go. Those figures do not include ballots coming in from overseas voters and from those serving in the U.S. military. They also do not include ballots pending curing.

When reacting to initial poll results Tuesday night, Marcano said that the numbers represented a “big gulf” and that there was a lot to overcome. Despite that, he remained optimistic, saying the first round of results would be the worst it would get.

Marcano was joined by dozens at Parkside Eatery while election results were displayed on TV screens. At an election night party at the JJ’s Place sports bar, Coffman said he was encouraged by the first round of results from Arapahoe County.

“I feel good,” he said. “Of course, last time it started off really good and then it tightened up. It’ll depend on how far ahead we are by the end of the night.”

He said older voters he spoke to on the campaign trail were mostly concerned about crime, while younger voters appreciated his concern for housing affordability.

2023 Aurora Mayoral Election

Race for Mayor: Coffman vs. Marcano vs. Sanford

Juan Marcano, a Democrat who represents Ward IV currently on Aurora’s City Council, and outsider Democrat Jeff Sanford both challenged incumbent Republican Mike Coffman for the mayor’s seat this fall.

Coffman was elected to the mayor’s office in 2019, the latest chapter in a political career that has taken the longtime Aurora resident from the statehouse to the halls of Congress.

Coffman previously founded a property management company in Aurora and served in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. In 2008, he left his position as Colorado’s Secretary of State to replace Tom Tancredo in the U.S. House of Representatives. Coffman served in Congress until 2018, when he was defeated by Democrat Jason Crow.

​​Marcano has served on the City Council since 2019, representing west Aurora. The child of Puerto Rican immigrants, Marcano was raised in Texas and worked as an architectural designer before stepping back to focus on his elected role.

He has promoted a housing-first policy for addressing homelessness as well as progressive solutions to rising housing costs and public safety, frequently butting heads with the council’s conservative majority over social issues.

Sanford, who has publicly refused campaign contributions and entered the mayor’s race late in the summer as a relative unknown.

Sanford was born in Denver and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1984 to 2008. He earned his bachelor’s degree in applied science in technical management from American Military University in 2018.

He has a professional background in public administration and civil service, previously working as the facility manager for Buckley Space Force Base. He said at a candidate forum in September that he has experience managing multi-billion dollar contracts and staffs including thousands of workers.

2023 Aurora City Council Election: 2 At Large seats

Race for City Council At Large: Coombs vs. Gardner vs. Mayes vs. Scott

Democrat Alison Coombs and Republican Curtis Gardner are on track to win re-election as the first rounds of results dropped Tuesday and Wednesday, with the two claiming about 28.2% and 27.7% of the vote respectively.

Two at-large seats are available in the race, which will go to the top two vote-getters.

Coombs hopes to trade her Ward V council seat for an at-large seat this fall, while Gardner is running for re-election as an at-large representative. Mayes and Scott are challengers who both ran unsuccessfully for council seats in the past.

Coombs was elected in 2019, defeating Republican incumbent Bob Roth. She works as a program manager for a residential program serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve on Aurora’s City Council.

Incumbent Gardner was first elected in 2019. He has lived in Aurora most of his life. Gardner holds a master’s degree in finance and worked at a local credit union for 14 years before accepting his current job as a local government liaison in the solid waste industry.

Mayes, pastor of Living Waters Christian Center Church in Aurora, has been an active part of the Aurora community for years, including serving as a community liaison for the Aurora Police Department following the 2012 theater shooting and as part of the Community Advisory Council currently involved in the implementation of APD’s consent decree.

Scott also plans on returning to the Aurora political stage this fall to run for a seat on Aurora’s city council. The pastor and director of a local food bank has lived in Aurora for more than 30 years and holds a master’s degree in religious education as well as an undergraduate degree in biblical studies.

Mayes held about 21.9% of the vote, while Scott claimed 22.3% of the vote Wednesday.

2023 Aurora City Council Election: Ward IV, central Aurora

Race for City Council Ward IV: Gray vs. Hancock

Republican challenger Stephanie Hancock led Democrat Jon Gray in the race for the Ward IV seat as of Wednesday afternoon, with Hancock claiming about 54.4% of the vote to Gray’s 45.6%.

Gray is going head-to-head with Hancock for the west Aurora council seat being vacated by mayoral candidate Juan Marcano.

Gray was born in Denver and attended Englewood High School, going on to obtain degrees in sociology and business management from Mesa State College and Metropolitan State University of Denver.

He worked in the nonprofit sector and as an Aurora Public Schools teacher for several years before moving into a role in the finance division of the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services.

Hancock brings years of experience in the business and arts communities, having co-founded 5280 Artist Co-Op and serving as president of the Aurora Cultural Arts District.

She is a graduate of Texas Southern University and a U.S. Air Force veteran, and she has lived in Aurora for more than 30 years.

2023 Aurora City Council Election: Ward V, central Aurora

Race for City Council Ward V: Lawson vs. Rhodes

Election results released Tuesday and Wednesday showed unaffiliated conservative Angela Lawson on her way to beating Democrat Chris Rhodes for the Ward V council seat, capturing about 60.9% of the vote to Rhodes’ 39.1%.

Lawson, a current council member, is looking to take over Alison Coombs’ council seat representing Aurora’s southwest ward while fending off a challenge from Rhodes.

Lawson is running for her third term. She has lived in Ward V for more than two decades and holds master’s degrees in social science, public administration and public policy.

She previously worked in the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, where she oversaw the Elections Division’s lobbyist registration program.

Rhodes, a union organizer, describes coming from a working-class background on his campaign website and says his time in Aurora has been spent unionizing the lowest-paying jobs for United Airlines at Denver International Airport and organizing in Aurora around economic justice issues.

He holds a degree in social studies education from Purdue University.

2023 Aurora City Council Ward VI Election: southeast Aurora

Race for City Council Ward VI: Bergan vs. Matise

Republican Francoise Bergan was poised to hang onto her Ward VI seat on the Aurora City Council, as election results released Tuesday and Wednesday showed her with 61.4% of the vote to Democrat challenger Brian Matise’s 38.6%.

Bergan will try to defend her seat based in southern Aurora and win a third term on the council, facing a challenge from Matise this fall.

Bergan currently represents the ward that encompasses the southeast part of the city. She was appointed by the council to serve as mayor pro tem in 2021 and 2022, and previously worked in management and consulting.

She said her tenure on council reflects her advocacy for the city’s new southeast Aurora recreation center, efforts to combat street racing and support of new parks and trails in her ward.

Matise is a retired attorney and an Aurora resident of more than 20 years. Matise specialized in commercial litigation, product liability mass tort litigation and class actions.

He is also an expert in special districts and has sued several metropolitan districts on behalf of homeowners.