Mejía's lead in Denver's at-large race grows in the latest count

Melissa Adriana Mejía widened her lead in the special election for Denver's open at-large City Council seat as more ballots were counted Wednesday. The Denver Elections Division's update labeled "Unofficial Results 11-4-2026 5:00pm" shows her with 29.23% of the vote, up from 28.75% in the final election-night update at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday (5 p.m. report, 11:30 p.m. report).

Why it matters: the winner fills the seat Sarah Parady left in August and brings the Council back to 13 members. There is no runoff; the top vote-getter wins, according to the city's vacancy election page.

All figures here are unofficial. Counting and audits continue until certification and canvass, scheduled for Nov. 24, according to the Elections Division. The city's results page shows the latest count; it matched the 5 p.m. report when we checked Thursday morning, Nov. 5.

The count, as of 5 p.m. Wednesday

• Melissa Adriana Mejía: 56,536 (29.23%)
• Monica Martinez: 31,521 (16.30%)
• Whitney Traylor: 29,328 (15.16%)
• Alfredo Reyes: 23,364 (12.08%)
• Jeff Walker: 14,425 (7.46%)
• Gabriel Konkle: 9,020 (4.66%)
• Cynthia Diaz: 8,807 (4.55%)
• Raymon Anthony Doane: 8,278 (4.28%)
• Julissa Soto: 6,125 (3.17%)
• Jake Browne: 6,012 (3.11%)

Mejía's margin over Martinez grew from 20,574 votes at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to 25,015 Wednesday. Martinez's share slipped from 16.72% to 16.30%, and Traylor's from 15.28% to 15.16%. Bucket List Community News reported the same shares. Mejía declared victory Tuesday night, Denverite reported, and Westword has since reported that she won.

What our records add: a lot of blank ballots

The city's report counts how many ballots skipped each race. In the at-large race, 58,155 of the 251,788 ballots cast, about 23%, left it blank. By comparison, 4,730 ballots, under 2%, skipped the U.S. Senate race at the top of the same ballot (5 p.m. report). The share skipping the Council race was about 22.5% on election night.

The count doesn't say why voters skipped it. For comparison on the city's own questions, between about 8% and 11% of ballots skipped each of Questions 2H through 2K (our measures story).

What happens after certification

Sworn in after the budget. The city's timeline lists Nov. 24 for both certification and the swearing-in, and labels its dates tentative (city page). The 12 members now seated will make every remaining 2027 budget decision, including any veto overrides Monday, Nov. 9 (our veto story).

Votes that could be hers. Several items that cleared committees this week are scheduled to reach the full Council later in November or after. The best-value construction contracting bill, 26-1540, is set for a first reading Nov. 16, with no date yet for the final vote (our story). A bill restricting how the city spends parking meter money, 26-1654, also cleared committee Wednesday (our story).

Close votes. With 12 members, a 6-6 tie fails, as the one-year basic income study did on Nov. 2 (roll call). With 13, one side has at least seven when everyone votes.

Another election in the spring. The winner serves the rest of Parady's term, which ends in July 2027, and would have to run again in the spring 2027 municipal election to keep the seat, Denverite has reported. Our race guide and our election-night story have background.

What's next

• Through Nov. 24: More counting, ballot curing and audits. We'll update when the city posts new counts.
• Nov. 24 (tentative): Certification and swearing-in.