DENVER — The Denver election season will continue into next month.
Despite earning the most votes in the municipal election, incumbent Denver Mayor Hancock has failed to garner the 51 percent majority needed to secure another term. This means that he will compete in a runoff election against challenger Jamie Giellis, an urban planner and the president of the RiNo Arts District.
"So now it looks like we got another month to tell the story, and that's OK," Hancock said to his supporters Tuesday night.
This is the first time since 1995 that an incumbent Denver mayor has been forced to compete in a runoff election. Those votes will be cast on June 4.
As of 5 a.m., Hancock was leading his challengers with 39.06% of the vote. Jamie Giellis was in second, with 25.71%, followed by Lisa Calderon with 17.38% and Penfield Tate with 14.84%.
Hancock finished second in the 2011 election, but defeated first place candidate Chris Romer in a runoff election in that open mayor race.
Previous Denver mayors Wellington Webb and Federico Pena both survived runoff elections in 1995 and 1987, respectively.
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