Denver
Politics

While Denver elections are nonpartisan, Democrats have long dominated the city's politics; most citywide officials are known to be registered with the Democratic Party. The mayor's office has been occupied by a Democrat since the 1963 municipal election. All the city's seats in the state legislature are held by Democrats.

In statewide elections, the city also tends to favor Democrats, though Republicans were occasionally competitive until the turn of the millennium. The last Republican to win Denver in a gubernatorial election was John A. Love in 1970 by a narrow majority. Bill Owens in 2002 remains the last Republican governor to receive at least 40% of Denver's vote. The last Republican Senator to carry Denver was William L. Armstrong during his 1984 landslide. The last statewide Republican officeholder to carry Denver was Secretary of State Victoria Buckley in 1994 by 1.2% margin; she was, at the time, the highest ranking African-American Republican woman in the United States.

In federal elections, Denver is a Democratic stronghold. It has supported a Democrat for president in every election since 1960, except 1972 and 1980. The city has swung heavily to the Democrats since the 1980s; Ronald Reagan is the last Republican to garner even 40 percent of the city's vote. At the federal level, Denver is the heart of Colorado's 1st congressional district, which includes all of Denver and parts of Arapahoe County. It is the most Democratic district in the Mountain West and has been in Democratic hands for all but two terms since 1933. It is currently represented by Democrat Diana DeGette.

Benjamin F. Stapleton was the mayor of Denver for two periods, from 1923 to 1931 and from 1935 to 1947. He was responsible for many civic improvements, notably during his second term, when he had access to funds and manpower from the New Deal. During this time, the park system was considerably expanded and the Civic Center completed. His signature project was the construction of Denver Municipal Airport, which began in 1929 amid heavy criticism. It was later renamed Stapleton International Airport in his honor. Today, the airport has been replaced by a neighborhood initially named Stapleton. In 2020, during the George Floyd protests, because of Stapleton's demonstrated racism and prominent membership in the Ku Klux Klan, neighborhood residents changed the name to Central Park. Stapleton Street continues to bear his name.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Denver was one of the centers of the Chicano Movement. The boxer-turned-activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales formed an organization called the Crusade for Justice, which battled police brutality, fought for bilingual education, and, most notably, hosted the First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in March 1969.

In recent years, Denver has taken a stance on helping people who are or become homeless, particularly under the administrations of mayors John Hickenlooper and Wellington Webb. At a rate of 19 homeless per 10,000 residents in 2011 as compared to 50 or more per 10,000 residents for the four metro areas with the highest rate of homelessness, Denver's homeless population and rate of homeless are both considerably lower than many other major cities. But residents of the city streets suffer Denver winters – which, although mild and dry much of the time, can have brief periods of extremely cold temperatures and snow.

In 2005, Denver became the first major U.S. city to vote to make the private possession of less than an ounce of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. The city voted 53.5 percent in favor of the marijuana legalization measure, which, as then-mayor John Hickenlooper pointed out, was without effect, because the city cannot usurp state law, which at that time treated marijuana possession in much the same way as a speeding ticket, with fines of up to $100 and no jail time. Denver passed an initiative in the fourth quarter of 2007 requiring the mayor to appoint an 11-member review panel to monitor the city's compliance with the 2005 ordinance. In May 2019, Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms after an initiative passed with 50.6% of the vote. The measure prohibits Denver from using any resources to prosecute adults over 21 for personal use of psilocybin mushrooms, though such use remains illegal under state and federal law.

Denver hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which was the centennial of the city's first hosting of the landmark 1908 convention. It also hosted the G7 summit between June 20 and 22 in 1997 and the 2000 National Convention of the Green Party. In 1972, 1981, and 2008, Denver also hosted the Libertarian Party of the United States National Convention. The 1972 Convention was notable for nominating Tonie Nathan for vice president, the first woman, as well as the first Jew, to receive an electoral vote in a United States presidential election.

On October 3, 2012, the University of Denver hosted the first of the three 2012 presidential debates.

In July 2019, Mayor Hancock said that Denver will not assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with immigration raids.
change_case:english_capital, detectable_content:number_placeholders[7], combination:repeat_prompt