Denver City Wire

Colorado Democratic state Rep. Leslie Herod, 8th District announced her candidacy for Denver mayor, adding a prominent name to an already competitive race. 

“I think we have the opportunity to continue to grow and go in the right direction, but we’re also at a point that we could go in the wrong direction,” Herod told 9News. “What I think Denver needs is real leadership that will steer us in the right direction but also involves community in that conversation.”

If she becomes the city's first female mayor, Herod promises to focus on affordable housing, public safety, and what she considers the "homelessness epidemic." She describes herself as a community activist and social justice reform champion.

“There are things about ensuring that we’re stabilizing the cost of housing that actually work and are great ideas,” she said. “But we want to make sure that what we’re not doing is incentivizing people to stay in rent-controlled housing so that new people can’t come in, new families can’t come in.”

She is known for her progressive ideas, including supporting a measure that helped to improve police officers' use of force and made the use of body cameras mandatory, Axios reports.

She will face two opponents for Denver mayor, Debbie Ortega, a Denver council member, and Kelly Brough, former CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Herod was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2016, becoming the first openly LGBTQ+, African American state representative.

This year, Herod has sponsored various bills in the Colorado General Assembly, including HB22-1409, which focused on additional funding for the community revitalization grant program; and HB22-1397, which focused on the creation of the statewide equity office in the department of personnel.