Denver City Councilman Paul López has won the clerk and recorder’s race outright after final ballot-counting increased his narrow margin past automatic recount territory.
In final results certified Thursday morning, López led public policy attorney Peg Perl by 397 votes out of 144,795 cast in the June 4 runoff. That margin grew from 315 a week ago and now slightly exceeds 0.5 percent of López’s own vote total, the legal threshold that would trigger a recount.
Perl said in a campaign email to supporters that she called López to congratulate him on his win.
“Earning Denver’s confidence to serve as clerk and recorder is the honor of a lifetime,” López said in a campaign release.
Asked in an interview about his focus as he enters office, he said: “Right now, I’m transitioning out of our council office and getting ready to pass everything we have over to Jamie Torres,” who won the open west District 3 council race. “The district is in great hands. We are going to be setting a time so we can talk about transition in the clerk’s office. Right now, (I’m) just enjoying the win, and just reflecting.”
López, who is finishing his third term as a council member, will be sworn in July 15 as Denver’s third elected clerk. He succeeds Debra Johnson, who decided against running again after serving two terms, and will become the first Latino elected official to lead the office that runs Denver’s elections, issues marriage licenses, keeps city records and plays a key role in home foreclosures.
The clerk’s runoff was overshadowed by the mayor’s contest and several hard-fought council runoffs. Final results show that 20,813 counted ballots didn’t include a vote in the clerk’s race.
Staff writer Andrew Kenney contributed to this story.
