Evan Semon
Audio By Carbonatix
Aurora has a way of surprising people, as Bennito L. Kelty notes in his story about the election results in that city.
In October 2024, Donald Trump came to Aurora, today home to 100,000 foreign-born residents who speak 160 languages, to play into the anti-immigrant fervor that emerged after an embattled landlord said that Venezuelan gangs had taken over the town. The once-and-future president even named his mass deportation plan Operation Aurora.
Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky had earned a national profile by sounding the alarm on Tren de Aragua, and she was knighted by Trump himself to lead the transformation of Aurora into a conservative bastion right at liberal Denver’s doorstep. As a result, Westword named her to our People to Watch list in January, calling her “the face of Aurora.”
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And on November 4, we watched Jurinsky lose her council seat. In their comments on the Westword Facebook post, readers deliver a mixed message about that development. Says Stephanie:
This was the best news of the night!!!
Adds Charles:
Jurinsky is MAGA trash. Aurora decided to take out the trash. And they did.
Counters Tyrone:
Aurora needs more people like her standing up for the honest citizens. Too much homelessness and crime.
Responds Lisa:
Sounds like the people in Aurora disagree with you.
Replies Shawn:
Only because she fought for what she believes in.
Comments David:
I didn’t agree with her poiltics very often, but I liked Danielle and she was right about Tren de Aragua and quite frankly came out of that fiasco smelling like a rose. But being knighted by Trump was a death knell in this election. He supports starving the poor, for God’s sake. I believe his approval rating is 42 percent. Had she not become knighted by Trump, she probably would still have her council seat.
Warns Wendy:
Be careful. You get what you vote for, ignorant ones.
And then there’s this from Kerri:
I missed when Westword had the unmitigated audacity to call White Nationalist Jurinsky “The face of Aurora.” The nerve to call a city that while the third largest city in Colorado, but the city with the HIGHEST IMMIGRANT POPULATION and you fucking called that unrepentant vile racist Jurinsky, the face of Aurora. M3th is bad mmmkkkayy? Tone deaf, dumb and blind moron. Looks like we proved you wrong, so sityermuthafukkinass down.
Okay! We’re sitting…and watching what happens next in Aurora, where progressives now have the majority on city council. What did you think of the election results? Post a comment or share your thoughts at editorial@westword.com.
