The Colorado Working Families Party today announced its second round of endorsements in this fall’s non-partisan municipal & school board races.

“During the pandemic, we’ve seen increased national attention on the importance of who occupies city council and school board,” said Colorado Working Families Party State Director Wendy Howell. “The people responsible for the safety of our communities and our children require the attention of every citizen in every municipality. The Working Families Party is proud to stand with these progressive champions who will put the needs and safety of families and communities ahead of big money interests and agents of chaos. Additionally, we want to lift up the importance of the critical ballot measures this fall, including the need to vote NO on Prop 119, a deceptive voucher measure that would rob our public schools’ coffers, and YES on 300 in Boulder, a critical measure to address the city’s affordable housing crisis.”

In a crowded race for seats on the Denver School Board, the party is backing public education champion Michelle Quattlebaum in District 4. Quattlebaum is a Denver Public Schools graduate and current community liaison at George Washington High School. “I’m very excited to have been endorsed by Colorado WFP,” said Quattlebaum. “I know our values are deeply aligned, and look forward to working alongside WFP to bring more justice and equity to our school system.”

North of Denver in Commerce City, community advocate Luz “Lucy” Molina earned the party’s endorsement in a bid for a city council seat. “As a former State Committee member of Colorado Working Families Party, I know we share a vision for Commerce City”, said Molina, a candidate in Ward 1. “Together, we will fight to make sure that the city puts the needs of the people of Commerce City ahead of the wants of big corporations.”

Full slate of 2021 endorsements:

• Randy Moorman, Arvada City Council Ward 1*
• Susie Schuckman, Arvada City Council – Ward 3
• Candice Bailey, Aurora City Council – At Large
• John Ronquillo, Aurora City Council At Large*
• Crystal Murillo, Aurora City Council Ward 1*
• Bryan Lindstrom, Aurora City Council – Ward 2
• Ruben Medina, Aurora City Council – Ward 3
• Dan Williams, Boulder City Council – At Large
• Matt Benjamin, Boulder City Council – At Large
• Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council – At Large
• Fernando Branch, Centennial City Council – District 1
• Kristi Douglas, Commerce City City Council – At Large
• Luz ‘Lucy’ Molina-Aguayo, Commerce City City Council – Ward 1
• Renée Millard-Chacon, Commerce City City Council – Ward 3
• Scott Esserman, Denver School Board At Large*
• Xochitl ‘Sochi’ Gaytan, Denver School Board – District 2
• Michelle Quattlebaum, Denver School Board – District 4
• Jeslin Shahrezaei, Lakewood City Council Ward 1*
• Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, Lakewood City Council – Ward 2
• Rebekah Stewart, Lakewood City Council Ward 3*
• Christopher Arlen, Lakewood City Council Ward 4*
• Tom Keefe, Lakewood City Council Ward 5*
• Shiquita Yarbrough, Longmont City Council – At Large
• Sarah Martinez, Pueblo City Council – District 3
• Roberta Ayala, Thornton City Council Ward 2*
• Kate Miya, Thornton City Council Ward 3*
• Anita Seitz, Westminster Mayor

* An asterisk indicates a candidate who was endorsed earlier, in the spring of this year.

Ballot Initiatives

Colorado – Statewide

• Colorado Amendment 78, Custodial Fund Appropriations Initiative – No
• Colorado Proposition 119, Creation of Out-of-School Education Program and Marijuana Sales Tax Increase Initiative – No
• Colorado Proposition 120, Reduce Property Tax Rates and Retain $25 Million in TABOR Surplus Revenue Initiative – No

Denver

• 2B: Denver Housing and Sheltering System Bonds – Yes
• 2C: Denver Transportation and Mobility System Bonds – Yes
• 2D: Denver Parks and Recreation System Bonds – No
• 2E: National Western Campus Facilities System Bonds – No
• 2F: Safe and Sound – No
• 2G: Fill Future Vacancies for Independent Monitor – Yes
• 2H: Election Day Change – Yes
• 301: Parks and Open Space Preservation – Yes
• 302: Conservation Easement – No
• 303, Let’s Do Better: No
• 304, Enough Taxes Already – No
  

Boulder

• 300: Bedrooms are for People – Yes

Adams

• Westminster 3I – For
• School District 27J  – 5A – Yes

The Working Families Party is a progressive grassroots political party building a multiracial, multigenerational, and feminist movement of working people to transform America. In the last year, the Working Families Party waged a $2.5 million voter mobilization effort in Georgia to elect Raphael Warnock to the Senate, helped elect WFP champions Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones in heavily-contested Congressional races, drove a wave of victories for progressives in Rhode Island, shook up the New Mexico Democratic establishment with progressive victories under the banner of “No Corporate Dems,” elected a diverse slate of progressives in Delaware, and helped create the most progressive NY state legislature in decades by winning thirty-three state legislative primaries. Since launching a state chapter in Colorado in 2017, WFP has played a key role in winning paid family leave and a ban on predatory payday lending, has helped to flip the majority of the CU Board of Regents, and has worked to successfully elect dozens of bold progressives to state & local offices across the Centennial State.