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By Melanie Asmar/Chalkbeat
Denver school board candidates backed by the teachers union were leading in unofficial election returns Tuesday, making it likely the board’s current balance of power will hold.
In all, 11 candidates were vying for four seats on the seven-member Denver school board.
Union-backed candidates had commanding leads in three of the races and a solid lead in the fourth, according to the midnight returns. Two of the three incumbents running for reelection, Michelle Quattlebaum and Scott Esserman, appeared poised to lose their seats.
Teachers union-backed board members have controlled the board of Colorado’s largest school district for the past six years. Members who support charter schools and other education reform strategies gained a bigger foothold in 2023 and had a chance to flip the board majority this year.
If current results hold, the board will continue to be composed of four members who were endorsed by the teachers union and three who were backed by reform interests.
Denver Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Gould called the early returns a victory of “people over money.” Like in past elections, reform groups were on track to outspend the teachers union, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Candidates from different factions often sounded similar themes during the campaign, making it harder for voters to distinguish them. Gould said that because the messaging was often similar, voters looked more closely at “who was supporting them and why.”
“They said, ‘These people are being their authentic selves and they have teachers supporting them and labor supporting them,’ and Denver is very pro-labor and that shone through,” Gould said of the union-backed candidates.
As of midnight, Amy Klein Molk, a DPS parent who founded a now-closed educational technology company, was leading Alex Magaña, a Denver Public Schools principal whose children went to DPS, for an at-large seat representing the entire city.
In southwest Denver’s District 2, incumbent Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán was leading Mariana del Hierro, a DPS parent who leads a food security nonprofit organization.
In central-east Denver’s District 3, Donald “DJ” Torres, a DPS parent and former special education teacher, was leading incumbent Esserman and newcomer Caron Blanke, a DPS parent who previously oversaw a Denver preschool.
In northeast Denver’s District 4, Monica Hunter, a DPS parent and former teacher, was leading incumbent Quattlebaum and newcomers Timiya Jackson, a DPS parent who works in dropout prevention, and Jeremy Harris, a funeral director and DPS parent.
The election comes at a key time for Denver Public Schools. The 89,000-student district faces declining enrollment, the possibility of more school closures, pressure to raise state test scores, and ultimatums from the Trump administration.
In DPS election politics, groups supportive of charter schools and education reform are on one side, while the Denver Classroom Teachers Association is on the other.
The teachers union endorsed four candidates: Klein Molk for an at-large seat, Gaytán in District 2, Torres in District 3, and Hunter in District 4.
A group called Denver Families Action with ties to charter schools endorsed a different set of four candidates: Magaña for the at-large seat, del Hierro in District 2, Blanke in District 3, and Jackson in District 4. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston endorsed the same candidates.
Clarence Burton Jr., CEO of Denver Families Action, said Tuesday night that he was reserving judgment on the election results until more ballots were counted.
Three candidates weren’t endorsed by either group: newcomer Harris in District 4, incumbent Quattlebaum in District 4, and incumbent Esserman in District 3. Quattlebaum and Esserman were elected in 2021 with the backing of the teachers union. But the union didn’t endorse them this year because it wasn’t happy with the way they voted on a few key issues, union leaders said.
Quattlebaum and Esserman were endorsed by former Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb. Quattlebaum was also endorsed by city council members Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Shontel M. Lewis. Esserman was endorsed by Lewis and council member Sarah Parady.
The election has been expensive. As of last week, candidates and outside groups had spent more than $1.6 million on ads and mailers. Outside groups have spent the most.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at [email protected].
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
