A peek at 2023’s council candidates and contributors
We’re now past the Aug. 28 for City Council hopefuls to file their nomination petitions to appear on this fall’s ballot. We’re also just a day shy of the Sept. 8 deadline to register as a write-in candidate, for those who missed the regular ballot deadline. Six seats — including the mayor’s —on our city’s nine-member council will be decided on the ballot.
So, let’s take a look at who’s running — and get a glimpse at the support base for those candidates who have received campaign contributions they had to report in their early filings. We’ve linked to each candidate’s filing affidavit for easy access to the city’s website, where there’s further information on the candidates.
CITY COUNCIL WARD II
Jennifer Allen-Thomas is the Ward II incumbent and serves as mayor pro tem. Her campaign contributions listed so far on her candidate disclosure forms online include a $100 contribution from fellow City Council member Craig Kim as well as $100 contributions each from former Democratic state Rep. Judy Solano and Democratic state Senate candidate Idris Keith, both of whom gave to Allen-Thomas’ campaign via national Democratic fund-raiser ActBlue.
Rocky Teter is challenging the incumbent for the Ward II seat. The truck driver and former South Adams County Fire Department chief has not received any campaign contributions to report thus far.
CITY COUNCIL WARD III (special two-year term)
Renée Millard-Chacon is the Ward III incumbent, having been appointed to fill a vacancy in the seat earlier this year. Her campaign contributions listed so far on her candidate disclosure forms online include $300 from the Colorado Democrats, $100 from the environmental group Conservation Colorado, both via fund-raiser ActBlue, and $1,000 from Dean Leffingwell, a Boulder County software exec who is a prominent campaign contributor to Democratic Party candidates and causes statewide.
Rich Trujillo, who is challenging the incumbent, will appear on the ballot as a write-in candidate for the seat. Trujillo has not received any campaign contributions to report so far.
CITY COUNCIL WARD IV
Susan Noble is the Ward IV incumbent. Noble so far has reported a $100 contribution she made to her own campaign.
David Diop is the challenger for the seat, and he has had no contributions to report so far, according to his online campaign filings.
CITY COUNCIL AT LARGE (2 seats open)
Yong Gen "Craig" Kim, who was appointed to the council last year to fill a vacancy, is the incumbent in one of two at-large seats on the fall ballot. Kim has had no contributions to report so far, according to his online campaign filings.
Craig Hurst is the incumbent in the other of two at-large seats to be decided on the fall ballot. (The city’s website neglected to link to his campaign contribution report; we’ll follow up for more info.)
Charles Dukes is one of the challengers seeking an at-large seat. His campaign filings show $1,500 in contributions so far to his campaign.
Ryan Keefer is also a challenger seeking either of the at-large seats. His online campaign filings show no contributions as of the end of the most recent filing period at the end of August.
MAYOR
Incumbent Benjamin Huseman is not seeking re-election, opening the seat to newcomers.
René Bullock, currently executive director of the Commerce City Chamber of Commerce, reports no significant campaign contributions so far in his online filings.
Steve Douglas reported loaning his own campaign $94.45 and had $4,172 on hand at the beginning of his candidacy.
Joseph Dreiling reported no contributions to date in his online campaign filings so far.
It’s also worth noting that a couple of interest groups have filed notice with the city, as required by law, that they will be spending campaign dollars in hopes of influencing Commerce City’s fall election. Both groups are affiliated with the major environmental organization Conservation Colorado. The affiliated groups are Conservation Colorado Grassroots Action Fund and Conservation Colorado Victory Fund.