Denver’s recent November 4th election had voters deciding on Denver Public school directors, two propositions for coordinated city funding, a $1 billion infrastructure initiative, split council elections and a referendum on flavored tobacco products.

Four out of the seven educational board seats were up for election this year. The openings consisted of Denver Public School’s (DPS) director at large as well as directors for districts 2, 3, and 4, which respectively encompass south-west Denver, central-east Denver, and north-east Denver. Amy Klein Molk was elected for the position of DPS Director at Large. Molk is a former Denver student, a paraprofessional teacher, and tech-entrepreneur who founded an educational technology named “Beanstalk” during the pandemic. Beanstalk provided free educational Zoom sessions for children between the ages of three and six during quarantine in 2020. Molk fell into hot water during the election process over allegations from an independent expenditure committee regarding AI (artificial intelligence). The independent committee, Better Leaders Stronger Schools, released an ad which claimed Molk fired educators at Beanstalk to replace them with AI. Molk responded to the ad, wherein she explained the information presented was taken out of context and that Beanstalk never shifted to AI centric learning. Xóchitl Gaytán was reelected as director for District 2, where she has served in the position since 2021. Gaytán, an indigenous Mexican, strives to educationally support the Latino population of Denver and fight gentrification in schools.

District 3 elected Donald “DJ” Torres, a former Denver Public School teacher who taught special education. In 2010, Torres taught at Denver’s Montbello High School which was closed for low test scores; the school was reopened in 2021.

Monica Hunter was chosen to represent district 4, a former teacher with a long career in the Denver Public School system. In her words, Hunter ran “because I know this district from every angle — as the only candidate who has been a DPS student, a DPS teacher, and a current DPS parent.” Hunter’s priorities as district leader focus on funding (in acknowledgement against the federal government’s intention to close the Department of Education), Mental Health and Safety, and Academic Recovery and Equity. Proposition LL, a statewide ballot initiative passed with an overwhelming 81.57%. It proposed free breakfast and lunch to all public-school students between kindergarten through twelfth grade. This initiative would be paid for by a 2022 voter-approved state tax deduction on incomes of $300,000 and above. Also passed with significant approval was Proposition MM, which included a $486 increase in income tax for individuals making 300,000 or more to support

access to healthy food, increasing wages for employees who prepare school meals, and supporting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for low-income Colorado families to afford groceries. Denver’s four ballot issues, all part of the vibrant Denver bonds proposed by Mayor Johnston, focused largely on infrastructure, all of which passed with majority voter approval. Ballot 2a proposed an increase of Denver’s debt by $441,420,000 with which to improve cyclist and pedestrian routes in the city, replace and improve traffic signals, and repair out-of-date bridges. Ballot 2b introduced another increase of debt ($174,750,000) to be utilized for, “ repairs and improvements to city parks and recreational infrastructure and facilities.” Ballot issue 2c proposed a fund of $30 million for two projects, a new building for Denver Children’s Advocacy Center, and a Denver health clinic in Sun Valley. Ballot issued 2d proposed capital infrastructure projects within a budget of $244 million, such as a new American Indian Cultural Embassy and a training center for police, firefighters, and sheriff’s trainees. The final ballot issue, 2e, raises Denver debt $59,300,000 to improve housing, shelters, and facilities as necessary in the city. Referred question 2G suggested a change to the election for the two Denver City Council at large seats, which previously ran in tandem in one single large election; instead, the elections will be held as separate races. 2G passed at 53.99% approval, one of the closest votes in the entire election.

Referendum 310 revisited a ban on flavored tobacco products in Denver which had been signed into law December of 2024. Bill 24-1765 originally passed in Denver to ban tobacco products which contain flavor, specifically delineated in the bill as tobacco products which “imparts a cooling sensation, numbing sensation, taste, or smell, other than the taste or smell of tobacco, that is distinguishable by an ordinary consumer either prior to or during the consumption of a tobacco product.”

The bill clarified that it specifically targets products such as vaporizers, flavored cigars, or menthol cigarettes. Critics of the ban, such as Denver’s “Citizen Power!” amassed close to 11,000 signatures of opposition, enough to reintroduce the ban as a referendum in the most recent election. Referendum 310 was upheld in the election by 70% voter majority. Referendum 310’s “vote yes” campaign was heavily bolstered with support from Yes for Denver Kids, The American Lung Association, and a five-million-dollar donation from former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. The former New York Mayor is prolifically anti-tobacco, since 2005 Bloomberg’s company Bloomberg Philanthropies has been involved in tobacco regulation.

The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment will be conducting routine inspections as well as undercover operations of tobacco retailers to ensure tobacco laws are being observed at the start of 2026. The city of Boulder underwent a ban on flavored tobacco products in 2019 which resulted in an infamous loophole engineered by tobacco relators to evade the ban. By selling unflavored nicotine products and food grade flavoring separately, many realtors

continued to legally sell flavored tobacco products – however – Boulder has since updated the law and erased the loophole.