A look at Denver’s mayoral candidates

DENVER - Voters are poised to elect the city's next mayor on May 1. Incumbent John Hickenlooper is facing Danny Lopez, a city worker in the Public Works division.

Here are profiles of the two candidates:

John Hickenlooper

As John Hickenlooper works the crowd at a recent public meeting at St. Catejan Church on Denver's west side, even he realizes the dramatic differences between his re-election campaign and the one where he catapulted from the bottom of a crowded candidate field to being elected Mayor.

He used to have to explain to the crowd that Hickenlooper was Dutch for "hedgehopper," but he needs no jokes now with Denver residents.

"There is a certain familiarity with who I am and where I came from," he said.

Hickenlooper came from a career running restaurants to win a resounding victory in June 2003. He promised better relations with the city of Aurora and with the state of Colorado and by all accounts, has delivered. However, his biggest campaign pledge was to do business differently; to treat Denver city government as a business.

He sees this re-election campaign as a referendum on whether Denver voters think he's come through on his goals.

"What I think it's about is continuing the change or transformation of making government more transparent, more accountable," he said. "When people screw up, they've got to be held responsible. I think we've made a lot of progress."

Despite significant popular support (poll results show his approval ratings in the 70 percent range), his administration has made decisions that have been challenged. He entered office with a budget deficit and vowed not to cut city services to balance it. His decision to put all city workers on unpaid leave for three days left numerous employees angry. Plus, the fact the city was crippled for a period of time during last winter's blizzard opened Hickenlooper's administration to criticism that he was out of touch.

He says he hopes Denver residents realize his administration may not have been perfect, but it worked as hard as possible to create a better, more accountable city.

"Once we had the icy ruts, we were plowing icy ruts without any visible result. That's not the worker's fault, that's our fault," said Hickenlooper. "We said we were going to plow every street, we plowed every street. What good did it do? We needed to get the road graders out there to scrape the ice off, but it took us a day and a half to figure that out."

"We've made mistakes and we've had slip-ups, but generally speaking, I think people appreciate we never quit," he said.

For the candidate who felt he had to work harder than everyone else simply to get noticed four years ago, the formula for being re-elected has not changed. Hickenlooper says he's no longer the outsider, but not exactly an insider.

"It means I still feel like I have to work harder than anyone else," he said.

Danny Lopez Danny Lopez realizes the odds he's facing taking on incumbent John Hickenlooper, but the Public Works employee is drawing inspiration from the smallest Denver Nugget as he seeks to make history.

"I'm out there to give voters an alternative choice to Mayor Hickenlooper," said Lopez. "If there are people out there not satisfied with the job he's done, they at least have an alternative choice. If Allen Iverson is the 'Answer,' Danny Lopez is the 'Alternative.'"

Lopez says he is disappointed others did not take the opportunity to challenge the mayor. From the conversations he's had around town, he says there are concerns from people who feel this administration has left them behind.

"I think there are some poor neighborhoods this administration has forgotten," Lopez said. "The city workers are clearly forgotten. Forty percent of the workforce hasn't seen a raise in four years."

Lopez is not one of that 40 percent, but believes it is his responsibility to stand up for those who don't feel capable of standing up for themselves. His parents were union stewards, his brother is current union steward, and Lopez, too, has been a union steward. Lifting up Denver's wages is a top priority for him and it's why he says he was endorsed by Teamsters Union 2004, which represents city workers.

"What I'm running here is a true historic campaign. I'm trying not to spend any money, so you know I'll be a true representative of the people. I'm not going to be influenced by big contributors, big business or small business."

As a city employee who was called in to help plow Denver streets during the storms of last winter, he says the administration was unprepared. Instead of staging when workers would arrive, everyone showed up at once, delaying getting the plows into the city's neighborhoods. Further, he says crews were dispatched to commercial areas instead of residential ones and that there should have been a list of senior citizens and disabled residents who would need special assistance.

"I know from being there, plowing the streets, where we dropped the ball," he said. "We should have paid more attention to details and getting better neighborhood coverage."

The self-described underdog wants to be known as the "Alternative" and if he proves successful, he says his victory will be remembered as Denver's "great miracle."