Carla Madison's District 8 City Council seat opening attracts a whopping 39 candidates

• It is vital that voters understand the write in process. Regardless of who you support voters need to be educated. There are many great candidates running and although I fully support Nita Henry, I am finding many voters from all demographics are unaware of the passing of Carla Madison. She may win. Voters can learn more about Nita Henry at nitahenrydistrict8.com. I also encourage everyone to visit the other candidate websites. If you have useful candidate information post it on District 8 Decides on Facebook. The web is going to be the best way to learn about those wanting to represent our great district.

• Good idea. I'm supporting Tom Rutherford for District 8 City Council. He's lived in District 8 for the last 19 years, and in addition to being a great guy, is supported by the Denver Area Labor Federation, the Amalgamated Transportation union local 1001, Pipefitters local union 208, Sheetmetal Workers local 9, and others. In other words, he has the support of working people, because he supports them. He has been active in working on the local level to elect progressive candidates in Denver since 2004, and active on the Gates Redevelopment project as well as the FastTracks expansion. He's strong on education and job creation, and one thing that differentiates him from some of the other candidates is his concern for making sure that police treat the residents of District 8 with respect and dignity in all of their everyday interactions. His viewpoints as well as contact information can be found at RutherfordforDenver.com.

• To say the system is working is accurate but the system is flawed. It's working exactly the way it's supposed to but needs to be fixed. A Huffy works, but it does not work well.

• Mike, Darrell did very well last time. He shared his pain for service. But then he dropped out and we did not see much of him serving the district. I wish he had been active on Welton and zoning issues this whole time. I know the close loss hurt and I wish him well. I just have to vote for someone who has stayed active in d8.

• Sure thing! I'm a supporter of Dan Stafford to represent District 8. As someone with over fifteen years of experience running grassroots campaigns for progressive groups, Dan has strong progressive values. As a small business owner and an involved resident of the Cole neighborhood, Dan has the experience to represent this huge and diverse district, and help make our city government more open, transparent, and accountable to all. More information at http://www.writedanstafford.com/.

• D8Qestion, you frame the subject very well. Thanks for sharing your observations.

• Mike, thanks, good analysis and information. I think you are spot on with your assessment of how the votes might tally up. I do believe the process is working, but a couple of things worry me. One is that the ballots went out arriving in mailboxes on April 15, before the deadline for submission of candidates, on April 18. So some people voted by mail right away, even before the final candidate roster was announced. The other thing is that given that the election is both mail in and write in, it adds a layer of complication for all the candidates. This centers mainly around lack of communication. A voter may complete the ballot, send it in, only later to learn of Carla Madison's death, and that there are 39 write in candidates from which to choose. If that person wanted to then make a choice, he/she could not, it would be too late. If this were a "walk into the polls" election, this complication would not exist to the same extent, even though many exercise the mail in option. While all candidates face this same problem and it is faced equally by all candidates, it does reveal some structural problems with a write in ballot under the unique circumstances of the death of an incumbent, and the subsequent succession process. For example, if a death should occur within a time frame of several weeks before an election, with the ballots printed, should the election for the seat proceed? Should a temporary candidate be appointed until a special election can be called to ensure there is sufficient time for voter awareness? Should the seat remain vacant until a special election be called? In this case, there is already an election date set up for June 7 for other city offices, so perhaps under the circumstances, should the write in election been postponed until then, until at least all candidates could have been printed on a ballot? I have a feeling that this situation will reveal flaws and inequities in the process that will likely be remedied and reformed in the future. But nonetheless it's what we have now, and everyone is dealing with it, and should be commended for following the process.

• I think over 5000 voters will vote in District 8 for the mayor's race. A number of those will be unaware of the passing of Councilwoman Madison or wish to vote for her as a way to honor her. Many will leave the slot for D8 blank. But I think the word is now getting out, and so I would guess around 2500 will write in someone's name. When you consider a vacancy committee is about 100 and that's how Michael Johnston was elected, this process is working. About Darrell Watson: he is former president of the Whittier Neighborhood Association; manages 26 employees at TIAA-CREF, an investment firm for teachers, firefighters, and professors; serves as President of the Parks and Rec Advisory Board; was a board member for the Denver Foundation, where he focused on strengthening neighborhoods; and chaired the Biased Policing Task Force, to reduce racial profiling in Denver. He has been active! See Darrell talk about the issues at DarrellWatson.com.

• Denise, thanks for sharing the information about Julie Farrar. We encourage other candidates or their representatives to do the same.

• 39 is a lot of candidates, but I encourage to get to know Julie Farrar. A lifelong Northeast Denver resident and community activist, Julie is not your standard politician. From the press release announcing her candidacy: Everyone deserves to live a life of dignity and respect… - I am a proponent of strength and unity through diversity. - I am committed to improving educational outcomes for all of Denver's students. - I am an activist; I believe in equality, livable wages, health care reform - I am an advocate of local business; I want to stimulate new local business creation, increase sustainability and expand green initiatives throughout the city. - I am not afraid of getting arrested for a cause I believe in. Most recently, I was honored by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) as a member of the Denver 14; arrested in front of the Federal Building at 19th and California while protesting for Compassionate Comprehensive Immigration Reform: see the video here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/15/denver-immigration-rally-_n_613500.html): (Farrar is at 1:36)

• Mike, what numbers are you estimating will be tallied for this vote? Any idea? The ballots began to arrive in most people's boxes starting on April 15. Some people might not be aware of the write-in candidates. Others may send in their ballots, then find out about a candidate and wish they could write him/her in, but it's too late. Some may not receive their mail in ballot, and not want to bother going to the polling station to vote. Yet others may send in their ballots, not realizing it must be received by May 3rd, not postmarked, even though this is stated on the ballot. So this makes it more complicated, but I still agree with you tht the process is working, even if within a shortened time frame.

• The process is working, even in the short time frame. However, in spite of the robocalls and the fliers, only one candidate has been truly vetted by a full election process, and that is Darrell Watson, who collected 1700 votes in 2007, coming up short to Councilwoman Madison by 67 votes.

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