August 11, 2011 10:31 PM UTC

No Real Election Battles in JeffCo This Cycle

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• by: Colorado Pols

Political observers itching for a municipal-level fight following the fanfare surrounding Denver’s recent Mayoral election should turn away from Jeffco this cycle.

We wish we could say that the 2011 municipal elections in all of Jefferson County’s cities would be the stuff of excitement and intrigue. We wish we could say that there would be an old-fashioned political brawl for Mayor in places like Golden, Lakewood, Arvada and Wheat Ridge. We wish we could say that.

Unfortunately, though, while recall elections in Wisconsin may attract millions of dollars in out-of-state attention and flames of hostility are fueled by congressional gridlock, Jeffco politics this cycle are a far cry from Tea Party tensions in Washington and around the country. We’d be lucky if any of Jeffco’s cities garnered 1/10th of the excitement of Denver’s otherwise milquetoast 2011 municipal race. Unfortunately, we don’t think even that will happen.

Perhaps that’s a good thing. While municipal elections are too often characterized by angry uprisings from groups of citizens enraged over stop lights and zoning laws, in Jefferson County, at least, they’re also markedly non-partisan. Sure, both progressive and libertarian concepts are often fleshed out at the local level, but because Mayors and City Councilors run without a party identifier attached to their name, political tensions from Washington and the state legislature rarely spill-over into city issues.

It’s because of this nonpartisan nature that, while they may have a fundamental distrust of government as a whole, voters in places like Lakewood and Arvada are still reasonably satisfied with their city government. This satisfaction means that those associated with the status quo in all of Jeffco’s cities are far more likely to sail to re-election. Voters simply do not pay attention to city government unless things are going horribly wrong. While Jefferson County has been hit by economic hardship as badly as any county of its size and makeup, voters have no reason to direct their displeasure at local government this cycle.

It is for this reason that few of the Mayor’s races in any of Jeffco’s cities are seriously challenged in their re-election efforts.  

In Wheat Ridge, Mayor Jerry Ditullio was re-elected handily in 2009 with 65% of the vote. While a handful of Councilmembers and both the City Clerk and Treasurer are up this cycle, we’re confident this year’s election will be less than memorable.

We’ve written at length about Bob Murphy‘s pursuit of a second term in Lakewood; he’s still a lock for another four years. On council, each Ward’s incumbent will also cruise into 2012, although the race to fill Vicki Stack’s unexpired term may generate some attention. There’s also an empty seat in Ward 3 to keep an eye on. Still, with a safe Mayor and barely contested council seats, even Lakewood, once a hallmark of intense municipal fights, looks to have no real battles this year.

Arvada’s Mayor Bob Frie, who’s served either on City Council or as Mayor for nearly 30 nonconsecutive years, declined to pursue a second term in this go-around as Mayor. Though his win in 2007 against then-incumbent Mayor Ken Fellman was an upset, Frie has made it clear that he has no interest in serving anymore. Attorney Marc Williams, an at-large city councilmember since 1999, was challenging Frie for the top-spot in Arvada. With Frie out, the race belongs to Williams. He was unopposed in 2007 and garnered 84 percent of the vote in 2003; he should become Mayor with little difficultly barring a disaster on the campaign trail. Still, we think it’s absurd that Williams has no opposition following the nasty fight between Frie and Fellman in 2007. Sure, there are rumors that Fellman may run again or that Green Party candidate Dave Chandler may enter the race, but for the most part these rumors are all unsubstantiated. As bizarre as it sounds, Marc Williams probably won’t have a real challenger in an open seat for Mayor. It’s such a humdrum election, really, that Marc’s only problem is sharing his Google search results with an adult-film star.

The announcement by Golden’s Mayor Jacob Smith that he was not seeking a second term had the potential, at least, to shake things up; Smith has been a popular voice in Golden and he, like Bob Murphy in Lakewood, would’ve dispatched with any challengers easily. Smith’s endorsement of Councilwoman Marjorie Sloan should give her enough of a boost to inherit the Mayorship, however, so we don’t see the race for Golden Mayor picking up anytime soon. Things could get a little interesting if either Chuck Baroch or Mary Weaver, both of whom challenged Smith in 2007, were to jump into the race, but we’re confident Smith will come to Sloan’s aid in the unlikely event that she needs it. Like in Arvada, we’re shocked there’s so little buzz, not to mention a slate of candidates, for an open Mayoral seat.

It’s clear that voters across the county are satisfied enough with the status quo to continue re-electing those whose names sound the most familiar. While we know the eyes of both the state and the country will turn to Jeffco in 2012, 2011’s municipal election will be remarkable only for how little attention it generates.