Latest Denver count: Mejía holds near 29% as turnout passes 65%, and the gap for second narrows

Melissa Adriana Mejía still leads the special election for Denver's open at-large City Council seat with 29.35% of the vote, according to the Denver Elections Division's update labeled "Unofficial Results 11-6-2026 3:00pm" (report). That's the latest count we found as of Tuesday morning, Nov. 10.

Why it matters: the winner fills the seat Sarah Parady left in August and brings the Council back to 13 members. There's no runoff. Mejía declared victory on election night, Denverite reported, and Westword has reported that she won. Results are not final until certification, scheduled for Nov. 24.

The count, as of 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6

• Melissa Adriana Mejía: 69,181 (29.35%)
• Monica Martinez: 36,660 (15.55%)
• Whitney Traylor: 35,406 (15.02%)
• Alfredo Reyes: 29,167 (12.37%)
• Jeff Walker: 17,188 (7.29%)
• Cynthia Diaz: 11,236 (4.77%)
• Gabriel Konkle: 11,096 (4.71%)
• Raymon Anthony Doane: 10,204 (4.33%)
• Julissa Soto: 8,487 (3.60%)
• Jake Browne: 7,070 (3.00%)

What changed since Wednesday

Our last update used the 5 p.m. Nov. 4 report. Since then:

Mejía's margin grew from 25,015 votes to 32,521, and her share edged up from 29.23% to 29.35%.

Second place got closer. Martinez's lead over Traylor shrank from 2,193 votes to 1,254. Martinez's share slipped from 16.30% to 15.55%; Traylor's went from 15.16% to 15.02%. Second place doesn't decide the seat, and we aren't calling it.

The rest of the order held. Alfredo Reyes remains fourth at 12.37%, up slightly from 12.08%, and no other candidate is above 8%. Mejía is now about 2,900 votes short of Martinez's and Traylor's totals combined, down from about 4,300 on Wednesday.

Turnout reached 65.35%: 312,326 of 477,955 registered voters, up from about 251,800 ballots in the Nov. 4 report.

What our records add: still a lot of blanks

The report counts ballots that skipped each race. In the at-large race, 75,394 of 311,356 ballots, about 24%, left it blank, slightly more than the 23% in the Wednesday count. In the U.S. Senate race on the same ballot, 6,607 skipped it, about 2%.

The city measures, same report

All five city measures remain ahead:

• 2H: 86.6% yes
• 2I, two-year budgets: 65.8% yes (what the Council must do next)
• 2J: 79.4% yes
• 2K, the Xcel franchise: 66.4% yes
• Initiated Ordinance 311: 67.6% yes

These are unofficial shares of votes cast on each question.

What happens next

Through Nov. 24: Counting, ballot curing and audits continue, according to the Elections Division.

Nov. 24 (tentative): Certification and swearing-in, per the city's vacancy election page. The 12 sitting members adopted the 2027 budget on Nov. 9 (our story), so the new member's first votes will come on items like the year-end spending bill and the business construction grants ordinance.

Spring 2027: The seat is up again in the regular municipal election.