DENVER, August 19, 2026
Jake Browne’s campaign for Denver City Council at-large turned in 626 signatures to Denver Elections at 8:30 this morning, one day before the deadline. Ballot access for the November 3 special election requires 300 valid signatures from registered Denver voters. The campaign collected more than twice that on purpose, because raw signatures are not valid ones and the cushion absorbs whatever Denver Elections throws out.
The 626 came in on 27 petition sections carried by 23 people.
Denver Elections staff told the campaign that morning that 27 sections was the most any candidate had turned in so far. Filing closes August 20.
One circulator signs and swears each section, so every section carries a real name on an affidavit, and some of the 23 carried more than one. They worked City Park Jazz, an art walk on Santa Fe, a brewery in Baker, an arcade on Colfax, a goth horror bar on 17th, and a tavern on Lowell.
Campaigns are allowed to pay circulators. Nobody was paid by the campaign to carry one of these.
“Some of the people who carried a section are old friends. Some I met two weeks ago. They came out after their shifts and on their weekends and asked strangers for a signature in the heat,” Browne said. “You don’t do that as a favor to somebody. You do it because you think the thing is yours too.”
“I’ve rented in Denver since 2002 and I’ve been moved out of four places in that time. The building I rented at 32nd and Tejon is Williams and Graham now. Good bar. Not my apartment,” Browne said. “I’ve been priced so far out I can see the next county from my front yard. Almost everybody who carried a section has a version of that story or helped me move, and not one of us had anybody to call when it happened. So we called each other.”
What happens next
Denver Elections now verifies the signatures and issues a sufficiency determination. Nobody is on the ballot until that determination is made. A protest window follows it.
About the race
The seat is the Denver City Council at-large vacancy created when Councilmember Sarah Parady stepped down on August 5. The winner serves the remainder of the term.
Jake Browne is a writer and event producer. He rents on the Northside.
Press contact: Jake Browne, (720) 790-9025, [email protected], brownefordenver.com
Paid for by Browne for Denver