Denver DSA June 2026 Ballot Guide

Welcome to the Denver DSA Ballot Guide for the June 30th primary election. This ballot guide was researched and written by members of Denver DSA's Electoral Committee and all positions were approved by a vote of our full chapter membership.

The Electoral Committee creates ballot guides for voters for the same reason we engage in any electoral work: to win material change for the working class. We believe that there are multiple candidates in primary races this year that will work for working people, make living more affordable, and protect the most vulnerable members of our society—and voters should know who we think those candidates are. They are the candidates we recommend. There are sadly other candidates that we believe, if elected to office, would not work for working people, and those candidates we recommend you do not vote for.

Thank you for taking the time to find and read this ballot guide. A special thank you to all the comrades who participated in researching, writing, designing, and making this guide and the website that hosts it.

How to Read This Guide

Endorsed — Candidate has earned DSA’s full endorsement
Recommend YES — We encourage a vote for this candidate
Remain Neutral — No recommendation; we take no position
Recommend NO — We urge you to vote against this candidate

U.S. Senate

Julie Gonzales

Julie Gonzales has been in the Colorado State Senate for eight years, passing over 200 bills and building a strong record as an ally to workers and unions. Her platform includes Medicare for All, universal childcare and eldercare, raising the federal minimum wage, and federal investment in housing to address the housing crisis.

She has also taken a stance against Israel's genocide in Gaza by calling for an arms embargo. Her proven legislative track record, her work with unions and community organizations, and her commitment to working families would make her one of the most progressive Senators in the country.

Vote for Julie Gonzales.

John Hickenlooper

Throughout his time in office, Hickenlooper has prioritized corporate interests over people, maintaining cozy relationships with lobbyists and industry groups and accepting money from corporate PACs. He has repeatedly supported Israel's genocide in Gaza, refusing to take even basic steps to stop the ongoing atrocities.

He has also shown willingness to go along with the Trump administration rather than fight back, voting to confirm a significant number of Trump's Cabinet picks. Hickenlooper is a strong example of the corporate-friendly politicians that have failed working people.

Vote NO on John Hickenlooper.

Congressional District 1

Melat Kiros

Melat Kiros will fight for Medicare for All, universal childcare, and abolishing ICE. She does not take money from corporate PACs and believes in getting money out of politics. As an immigrant, student, and barista, she understands the struggles of ordinary Americans and will stand with working class people.

On housing, she supports federally subsidized housing development, social housing programs for publicly owned housing, expanding affordable housing incentives, down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, and ending tax breaks for private equity while restricting institutional investors from buying up housing stock.

On climate, Melat plans to introduce a Green New Deal within her first six months in office, earning her an endorsement from the Sunrise Movement. She believes in imposing an arms embargo against Israel to stop the ongoing genocide, and repurposing military spending into programs that help the American working class. She also believes AI development must be transparent, serve the public benefit, and not displace working people from their jobs.

Vote for Melat Kiros.

Diana DeGette

Diana DeGette has been in the same Congressional seat for nearly thirty years but passed just two bills in that time. Rather than using her decades of seniority to fight for the people of Colorado, DeGette has spent her tenure cultivating cozy relationships with corporate interests and taking millions of dollars from corporate PACs.

The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are among her top donors, raising serious questions about how committed she is to real healthcare reform. On foreign policy, she has refused to support the Block the Bombs Act, which would stop sending weapons to Israel as it carries out its genocide in Gaza. After nearly thirty years of taking corporate money, passing virtually nothing, and turning her back on constituents demanding an end to genocide, it is well past time for change.

Vote NO on Diana DeGette.

Wanda James

Wanda James has a full background: first-generation college graduate, former Navy member, founder of the first Black-owned cannabis dispensary in Colorado, restaurant owner, and current University of Colorado Regent. Her platform includes support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, bans on Congressional stock trading, and limits on lobbying.

However, she falls short in key areas. She has described herself as being strongly supported by the business community, raising concern that she will side with big business over working people. On Israel, she lays the blame for atrocities in Gaza on Netanyahu while ignoring Israel's decades-long occupation, calling criticisms of Israel "amazingly wrong." This framing signals a willingness to return to business-as-usual. We recommend a NO vote.

Vote NO on Wanda James.

Congressional District 8

Manny Rutinel

Manny Rutinel is a member of the Colorado House who sponsored meaningful legislation including expanding the earned income tax credit and creating a $50 million affordable housing fund. He does not take corporate PAC money and has endorsements from labor and progressive organizations. However, since Denver DSA's original vote on this guide, Rutinel changed his position on several key issues. He backtracked on environmental advocacy, stating support for an "all of the above" energy approach. He shifted from opposing ICE to focusing on "violent criminals." Rutinel does NOT support Medicare for All, universal childcare, or student loan forgiveness outside the public sector. He also recently stated support for continued military funding for Israel.

Shannon Bird

Shannon Bird's record in the Colorado House from 2019 to 2026 raises serious concerns. She repeatedly broke with the Democratic Party on key issues including voting against rent control, overdose prevention centers, denser housing near transit stops, and a tax bill redirecting business tax breaks to low-income Coloradans. She is a founding member of the pro-corporate Opportunity Caucus and does not support Medicare for All, instead saying she would "explore" a public option. Bird is also a strong supporter of Israel and is endorsed by the pro-Israel PAC DMFI.

Vote NO on Shannon Bird.

Governor

Phil Weiser

Phil Weiser demonstrated a mixed track record as Colorado's Attorney General. He took steps to push back against the Trump administration and supported expanded worker protections. He took a leading role on antitrust, opposing the Kroger-Albertsons merger and algorithmic pricing by landlords. However, he failed to fully support proposed reforms to the Labor Peace Act to make it easier to unionize in Colorado, leaving his commitment to workers in question. Weiser has also remained a strong supporter of Israel despite the ongoing genocide.

Vote NO on Phil Weiser.

Michael Bennet

Michael Bennet built a reputation as one of the most centrist Democrats in the country. Along with John Hickenlooper, he is among the most egregious Democratic outliers when it comes to crossing the aisle to support Trump's agenda, voting to confirm multiple Trump cabinet nominees.

On Israel, Bennet has repeatedly refused to take a stand against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, voting again and again to continue providing weapons to Israel even as it intentionally prevented food from reaching civilians. He is heavily funded by pro-Israel lobbying groups, out-of-state developers, Wall Street investors, and corporate executives. Bennet is so unpopular with Colorado's Democratic base that he bypassed the caucus and assembly process entirely, choosing instead to petition onto the ballot. He is the embodiment of the corporate, do-nothing Democrat.

Vote NO on Michael Bennet.

Attorney General

David Seligman

David Seligman built his career fighting for working people against corporate power as the Executive Director of Towards Justice. As an attorney and policy expert, he has litigated cases against corporations committing wage theft and exploiting workers, as well as corporate landlords harming tenants. His platform centers on anti-corruption and antitrust enforcement, labor and economic justice, and environmental protections. As Attorney General he will hold government and large corporations accountable.

Vote for David Seligman.

Hetal Doshi

Hetal Doshi is a first-generation American and accomplished attorney. She joined the Justice Department in 2014, prosecuted banks behind the 2008 financial crisis, and led antitrust cases against Google, Apple, and Ticketmaster. She does not take corporate PAC money and her platform focuses on fighting corporate abuses. Doshi is a very capable candidate, but we feel David Seligman is a better fit for this race.

Vote NO on Hetal Doshi.

Michael Dougherty

Michael Dougherty is a career prosecutor and current district attorney. While he has fought for better wage theft prevention laws and supports the Worker Protection Act, he does not have as strong of a record on antitrust and fighting corporate abuses. He has not placed focus on the rising threat of big tech, instead speaking about working with tech leaders to ensure Colorado's "leadership in the digital age."

Vote NO on Michael Dougherty.

Jena Griswold

Jena Griswold has served as Colorado's Secretary of State since 2018. Her record raises serious concerns about her fitness for Attorney General. She has a near-total lack of courtroom experience, contrary to her false claim that she argued before the Supreme Court. Her time as Secretary of State has also been marred by allegations from former staffers of a toxic workplace culture involving bullying and retaliation.

Vote NO on Jena Griswold.

Secretary of State

Amanda Gonzalez

Amanda Gonzalez has served as the Clerk and Recorder for Jefferson County since 2022, giving her extensive experience running large-scale elections. An attorney and former Executive Director of Colorado Common Cause, she helped write the laws that created automatic voter registration, expanded ballot drop boxes, and safeguarded fair redistricting. She also helped pass a law making Colorado the first state to require in-person voting in every county jail. Her efforts to expand ballot access and fairness, combined with her direct election administration experience, make her a strong candidate.

Vote for Amanda Gonzalez.

Jessie Danielson

Jessie Danielson has been in the State Senate since 2018. She has been involved in passing election-related legislation but does not have experience running or managing elections. She has also supported targeting businesses that choose to boycott Israel.

Vote NO on Jessie Danielson.

HD-5

Justine Sandoval

Justine Sandoval has worked in politics in Denver for around 20 years, including for the Colorado Democratic Party, Cobalt, and as Political Director for Diana DeGette. She is supported by several local organizations and community leaders.

Sterling Simms

Sterling Simms works for the Mayor's Office of Community Outreach. He has described one of his key priorities as creating a Public Bank for Colorado. He has emphasized the crisis of inequality and talked about wanting to expand tenant protections and eviction defenses.

HD-6

Iris Halpern

Iris Halpern spent her career working as a civil and workers' rights attorney. She worked on a number of bills in the State Legislature to establish greater protections for workers and their families. She wants to end subsidies for oil and gas companies, expand protections for unions and tenant unions, and fight for universal healthcare.

Vote for Iris Halpern.

Sean Camacho

Camacho is a leader of the "Opportunity Caucus," a pro-corporate caucus within the Colorado Legislature. The caucus is heavily supported by One Main Street, an anti-worker dark money group. Last fall, Camacho was caught meeting with lobbyists from the Colorado Association of Realtors, Xcel Energy, the private prison contractor GEO Group, and other corporate groups at a retreat in Vail funded by One Main Street. He is under an ethics investigation as a result.

Vote NO on Sean Camacho.

HD-9

Neal Walia

Neal Walia is running on a progressive agenda. He supports universal single-payer healthcare, passing the Colorado Workers Protection Act, and expanding funding for education, including by ending TABOR. He stated he will use his office to directly confront TABOR and work toward its repeal. He also believes in pursuing a Green New Deal in Colorado and holding corporate polluters accountable.

Vote for Neal Walia.

Monica VanBuskirk

Monica VanBuskirk is not a supporter of universal healthcare. She has an extensive background working in the for-profit healthcare industry, including at Kaiser Permanente. We recommend NO due to her close ties with the industry and her pro-corporate stance on healthcare.

Vote NO on Monica VanBuskirk.

HD-41

Jaime Jackson (Incumbent)

Jaime Jackson is a technology education entrepreneur appointed to HD-41 in January 2025. Her prior employment includes serving as a Director for GEO Group, the notorious private prison corporation. Her platform is vague on policy and lacks overlap with the socialist project. While she has co-authored bills increasing access to overdose prevention drugs and some minor criminal justice reforms, her employment in the private prison industry raises immense ethical concerns around her ability to be impartial on criminal justice.

Her campaign website advertises endorsements from members of the Opportunity Caucus, a group of State Legislators under investigation for financial and ethical violations linked to dark money group One Main Street. There are also accusations of underhanded tactics toward her challengers in the caucus process. We recommend a NO vote.

Vote NO on Jaime Jackson.

Anne Keke

Anne Keke is a long-time educator and current member and president of the Aurora Board of Education. While her platform includes TABOR reform and protecting immigrant communities, she does not call for the abolition of ICE. Historically, she advocated for school vouchers and described herself as a "super moderate," even indicating to a DSA member that she does not advocate for housing solutions outside of stipends and voiced opposition to socialist housing solutions.

Vote NO on Anne Keke.

HD-42

Mandy Lindsay (Incumbent)

Mandy Lindsay is a community organizer and the current incumbent for HD-42. She is a strong voice for tenant rights at the Capitol, co-authored bills to ban surveillance surge pricing, and authored numerous bills to strengthen healthcare protections. In her time in the Legislature she fought to protect consumers and expand environmental protections. Due to her demonstrated work and concerns about her challenger, we recommend a YES vote.

Vote for Mandy Lindsay.

Sarah Woodson

Sarah Woodson is a cannabis and social equity organizer active in Colorado politics. She has several concerning platform pieces, including expanding the dystopian SAVE program which targets youth via aggregate data for additional Aurora Police Department attention in the name of "crime prevention." Her housing stability platform does not include social housing as a key feature, nor does her mental health platform indicate expansion of existing programs. Economically, she advocates for public-private partnerships.

Vote NO on Sarah Woodson.

SD-34

Graciela "Chela" Garcia Irlando

Chela is the Executive Director of Next 100 Coalition, a national environmental nonprofit. She has worked for over a decade in environmental advocacy, nonprofit leadership, and civic engagement. She supports workers' rights and stood with striking Alamo workers, JBS workers in Greeley, and with Sheridan teachers. She names fighting for universal healthcare and affordable housing in the Senate as her priorities.

Vote for Chela Garcia Irlando.

Andrés Carrera

Carrera is firmly rooted in the centrist and corporate wing of the Democratic Party. He worked for Hickenlooper, Bennet, and Polis and is endorsed primarily by centrist figures including Hickenlooper, Michael Hancock, and Sean Camacho. He appears to be supported by One Main Street, a pro-corporate, anti-worker, anti-DSA dark money group.

Vote NO on Andrés Carrera.

SD-21

Alex Ryckman

Alex Ryckman is a teacher and union leader with significant progressive values aligning with DDSA. He stood in solidarity in multiple strikes, including the recent Sheridan teachers strike. Alex is a strong supporter of SNAP benefits and disclosed he used SNAP benefits in the past. His platform includes increasing school funding and moving away from standardized testing, defending the LGBTQ+ population through legislative action, abolishing ICE, and significant expansion of tech, AI, and data center regulations.

Vote for Alex Ryckman.

Adrienne Benavidez (Incumbent)

Adrienne Benavidez is the incumbent appointed to this Senate vacancy after the retirement of Dafna Michaelson Janet in February 2026. She does not have a campaign website or a visible platform. She previously served as a State Representative from 2016 to 2022, but after being re-elected in 2022 she retired weeks later after not winning the House speakership. While she has some solid criminal justice reforms on her record, she is silent on big tech regulation and stops short of calling for the abolition of ICE. Given her past resignation, there is concern she will not serve a full term in the State Senate.

Vote NO on Adrienne Benavidez.

County Assessor

Andy Kerr

Andy Kerr served 20 years as a state legislator and currently serves on the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners. He is backed by labor unions and spent his legislative career fighting TABOR, the constitutional amendment that cripples Colorado's ability to fund schools, transit, and public services. He has a strong record on affordable housing and support for unhoused neighbors.

Vote for Andy Kerr.

Sue Flageolle

Sue Flageolle has worked in the Jefferson County Assessor's office for 28 years and currently serves as Deputy Assessor. She was a lifelong Republican who changed her party affiliation to Democrat in June 2025. She voted in Republican primaries in 2010, 2014, 2022, and 2024. Her endorsements come almost entirely from the real estate appraisal industry.

Vote NO on Sue Flageolle.

County Commissioner — District 2

Jessica Campbell (Incumbent)

Jessica Campbell is the incumbent who set aside funding for an affordable housing program, an oil and gas inspections program, and a fly quiet program, all while navigating a budget shortfall. She serves on at least 20 government boards, including the Housing Authority and the Arapahoe County Board of Social Services. She does not appear to take dark money funding. For these reasons, we recommend a YES vote.

Vote for Jessica Campbell.

Angela Garland

Angela Garland is a Cherry Creek School Board Director and operates a nonprofit. Her platform includes an emphasis on housing and healthcare access, but is very light on specifics. She advocates for public-private partnerships in her economic plan. Her campaign appears to have backing from One Main Street, the dark money group linked to the Opportunity Caucus, both under an ethics investigation for their role in a pay-for-access scheme in Vail.

Vote NO on Angela Garland.

County Commissioner — District 4

Leslie Summey (Incumbent)

Leslie Summey is the incumbent with a background in the military. She was elected on the promise of removing the TABOR revenue cap for Arapahoe County and was Co-Chair of the 1A ballot initiative that made it happen. In her first term she set up the Arapahoe County Public Health office replacing Tri-County Health and serves on 15 committees including the Housing Committee and the Community Services Block Grant Committee. She does not appear to take dark money funding.

Vote for Leslie Summey.

Maya Wheeler

Maya Wheeler has a background in IT and runs a nonprofit. She ran for several local and state-level offices previously without success. While her current platform includes some good policies such as expanding restorative justice and mental health access, she historically ran to the right of other Democrats, and her campaign appears to have backing from One Main Street, a dark money nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors.

Vote NO on Maya Wheeler.