Your Daily Guide

🗳️ Poll Reveals Voter Uncertainty of Mayor’s Race

Denver voters remain optimistic about the city’s direction, but are unsure about mayor leadership, housing, and other issues, according to a new survey of 400 likely Denver voters. [Colorado Polling Institute]

• How Denverites view Mayor Mike Johnston: Favorability of Mayor Johnston has dropped to 39% this year from 48% in 2024. Though voters credit Johnston for his work on homelessness, which is a top issue for Denverites.
• On housing: A majority of voters say the mayor has made at least some progress on homelessness, with 16% seeing significant progress — a view that has doubled since 2024. But only 4% of voters believe he’s made significant progress in addressing affordable housing, with 20% believing he’s made things worse.
• Challengers in the mayor’s race: Progressive challengers Lisa Calderón and Shontel Lewis remain largely unknown to Denver voters, with 47% saying they’d never heard of Calderón or had no opinion of her, and 65% for Lewis. Calderón is a two-time mayoral candidate; Lewis is a Denver City Council member. Both have appeared on the City Cast Denver podcast (Calderón and Lewis). [Denver 7; Denver Post; City Cast Denver 🎧]
• Plus, other interesting data: Do Denver voters believe the East Colfax bus rapid transit project will benefit them? Not so much, with 47% feeling pessimistic, an 11% increase from last year. And, will Denverites drive a Waymo when they arrive? Don’t count on it, as 58% of voters who have never been in one say they are not likely to ride one in the future. [RTD; Colorado Sun]
• What do these numbers mean? Denver Post reporter Elliott Wenzler joins host Bree Davies to talk about the mayor’s race and the narratives behind the numbers. 👇

🏗️ Bridge Designs Change to Deter Encampments

Colorado Department of Transportation engineers are changing decades-old bridge designs to prevent people from entering “tub girders,” which are large, hollow steel beams used to support bridges that have become encampments for unhoused individuals. CDOT says cleaning encampments from 55 Denver-area bridges in the past five years has cost more than $300k. [9News]

⛷️ Ski Resorts Face Price-Fixing Allegations

A group of skiers has filed a lawsuit against CO-based Vail Resorts and Alterra, as well as two out-of-state resort companies, alleging they were functioning like a “cartel,” conspiring to fix prices for lift tickets and passes. [Colorado Sun]

💰 Will Tariffs on Canadian Goods Impact CO?

Colorado residents could face higher costs on goods including autos, paper, and winter clothing after the U.S. placed new and higher tariffs on more than $20 billion in imported goods last week. Canada, Colorado’s largest trading partner, on Tuesday countered with tariffs on more than 700 U.S. product categories — effective Sept. 8. [Denver Post 🔒]

🎥 Does ‘The Dog Stars’ Film Shine as Bright as The Book?

Colorado author Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel “The Dog Stars” officially hits theaters today, but some early critic reviews say the film falls flat. [Denver Post 🔒]

• Required reading: We’ve had Peter Heller on the podcast a couple of times, including this memorable conversation on how he thinks “The Dog Stars” fits into the Colorado literary canon. [City Cast Denver 🎧]