Bennito L. Kelty
Audio By Carbonatix
Progressive Lisa Calderón will once again run for Denver mayor after filing today, February 3, for the 2027 election. She will be one of the first major contenders to run against Mayor Mike Johnston‘s bid at re-election.
Calderón is a familiar foe for Johnston, who defeated her in the first round of the 2023 mayoral election. During her run two years ago, Calderón promised to “lead from a seat of progressive power” and campaigned with similar goals to Johnston’s, like expanding city-funded homeless shelters and safe outdoor spaces, turning the former Park Hill Golf Course into a public park and investing in affordable housing projects.
However, Calderón emphasized racial equity and serving marginalized communities more than Johnston, and said she wouldn’t approve the use of public funding for sports stadiums. She also wanted to reduce Denver’s jail population and expand child and family resources
Calderón charges Johnston with “overspending and mismanagement of the budget” since he has become mayor, arguing that he’s “compromised the future of our city,” in a press release.
“Denver residents are asking for leadership that makes our city work for everyone,” Calderón says while announcing her candidacy. “Despite Mike Johnston’s campaign promises, things have only gotten harder. The cost of living keeps rising, the city faces serious financial challenges, and homelessness has been pushed out of sight rather than solved. And when people have pushed back against the mayor’s decisions, they have been retaliated against or entirely ignored.”
Calderón’s announcement, layered with criticisms against Johnston, echoes points from residents that have come up during his first two and a half years in office, including suggestions that his homeless plan is pushing people from downtown into the city’s outer neighborhoods. Denver’s public spending on projects like the National Women’s Soccer League stadium and the watering down of a traffic safety plan to reduce lanes on East Alameda Avenue after lobbying from a billionaire’s family have also brought heat on the mayor’s office recently.
“He repeatedly misleads voters and allows billionaires and lobbyists to influence neighborhood decisions,” Calderón adds. “Someone has to stand up and take him on. I came very close to beating him once, and I am the best person to challenge him and win.”
Calderón’s Résumé
Calderón touts her lifelong connections to Denver. An alum of North High School and the three biggest universities in Denver — the University of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Denver — she started her career as a justice reform advocate. From 2007 to 2017, she led the Community Reentry Program, a Denver city-funded resource for people leaving jail. Calderón has taught criminal justice and ethnic studies at Regis University and the University of Colorado Boulder, as well.
Her biggest step into Denver city politics was a mayoral run in 2019, when former Mayor Michael Hancock won his final term. She had a similar platform based on affordable and equitable housing and a public safety reform, but she came in third in the general election with about 33,000 votes.
After the loss, Calderón worked from 2019 to 2021 as the chief of staff to former City Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca, who was one of the most left-leaning councilmembers during her term. Calderón then stepped away to start her own nonprofit, Emerge Colorado, which supports Democratic women running for office.
In 2023, Calderón again placed third, this time with about 31,000 votes, behind Johnston and Kelly Brough.
Calderón eventually endorsed Johnston in the 2023 runoff election, but described it as “a harm-reduction strategy,” as she said progressives needed to see if his promises were possible; she has been a notable critic of Johnston’s public safety policies since then.
Four months into office, a coalition of Latino leaders gave Johnston a “D” on a scorecard grading his first actions on economic justice, education equity, leadership culture and other progressive goals. Calderón led the coalition and delivered the scorecard to his office, noting amid his rush to house 1,000 people at the time that “the amount of money that is being spent on temporary housing solutions instead of permanent housing solutions is of great concern.”
In June 2024, she criticized Johnston’s use of the Street Engagement Team, unarmed civilians who can hand out low-level tickets for various misdemeanors on the street, after data showed increases in citations for trespassing, solicitation near roadways and camping bans. According to Calderón, the mayor broke his promise to “take a more humane approach” to solving homelessness.
The mayor’s office published a 2025 Denver scorecard on January 22 outlining Johnston’s progress on longstanding goals. According to the scorecard, Johnson met goals such as bringing 2,000 people off the street, decreasing shootings by 15 percent and reopening 16th Street Mall.
At a January 26 press conference, Johnston announced that he plans to reduce gun violence even more, fill downtown retail and business spaces and make the city more friendly to children and families. He also said that if the city reaches the point where more shelter beds are available on a single night than people sleeping on the streets, he’ll have kept his 2023 campaign promise of solving Denver homelessness in his first year.
The mayor’s office has confirmed that Johnston plans to run for re-election in 2027.
