John Youngquist (center) watched election results on Nov. 7 with his campaign staff and loyal supporters at Bar 38. The new at-large member hopes to “improve the culture” of the Denver School Board. Photo courtesy of John Youngquist

On Nov. 7, voters made consequential decisions that altered the Denver School Board and rejected a property tax proposal. The school board races received significant attention due to the infighting among board members and their policies on school safety. With three of the seven school board seats up for election, the ballot gave voters a chance to significantly change the makeup of the board.

Youngquist Gets Big Win

The election for the at-large seat vacated by Auon’tai (Tay) Anderson was an especially high-profile race. Former East High School principal John Youngquist won a decisive victory over former Tattered Cover CEO Kwame Spearman with a 32-point lead. “I was really grateful that people heard our message and wanted experienced leadership for our students,” says Youngquist. “We were able to step forward with confidence knowing that a majority of people supported what we represented as the work to be done and the priorities to put into place.”

Safety was a prominent focus of the election cycle, and Youngquist is eager to address an aspect of school safety that he finds especially urgent. “The discipline matrix is not serving our students or our staff well,” says Youngquist. “It doesn’t help individual students that are having behavioral challenges, or help make certain that our schools are safe. So we need a guide to prevent negative behaviors from happening, best practices for when they do, and we have a responsibility to provide that guide to our educators.”

Financing is another issue that Youngquist will prioritize upon starting his first term. “We need transparency with our finances,” says Youngquist. “It’s difficult right now for community members and school employees to understand where we are with the budget or how we’re allocating it, and without that we’re unable to make smart decisions for keeping schools open, closing schools in the future, and providing students with the resources they need.”

During the course of the election, candidate endorsements drove the biggest sources of campaign funding. Youngquist was endorsed by Denver Families Action, which supports reform candidates and charter schools. Its funding arm was an independent expenditure committee called Better Leaders, Stronger Schools, which funded numerous television commercials and mailer advertisements for Youngquist. The $1.3 million spent by the committee greatly exceeded the $167,400 spent by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which endorsed Spearman.

Two incumbents in district races also lost to reform candidates. Scott Baldermann was defeated by Kimberlee Sia and Charmaine Lindsay lost to Marlene De La Rosa.

Prop HH Soundly Defeated

Prop HH was another high-profile contest during this election cycle. The proposition sought to alleviate the large increases in home valuations by reducing the property tax rates in Colorado and by equalizing TABOR refunds for all residents.

Advance Colorado President Michael Fields displays his personal license plate celebrating Colrorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights at the victory party for No on HH Nov. 7, 2023 at JJ’s Place in Aurora. Photo courtesy of Advance Colorado/Kevin Beaty

Prop HH was soundly defeated in a 20-point landslide. Many Democrats blamed their party for failing to explain the details of the proposition or promote its benefits. In contrast, the opposition to Prop HH—led by Advance Colorado—raised substantial funds and launched an aggressive campaign to criticize the proposition.

The rejection of Prop HH was a big loss for Gov Jared Polis, who was a champion of the measure since its inception last spring. He responded to the defeat by calling the Legislature into a special session to develop new bills to provide property tax relief.

On Nov. 20, the special session ended with Democrats passing a new property tax package that will be in effect for the 2023 tax year. The bills decrease the residential assessment rate from 6.765 percent to 6.7 percent while also enabling all households to deduct $55,000 from the assessed value of their homes. The tax package also provides all residents with an equal TABOR refund of $800. In addition, Democrats expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit by $185 million, which will benefit low-income working families. Finally, the legislature formed a bipartisan task force to develop long-term property tax solutions.

Two Other Propositions Pass

Two other propositions passed handily. Prop II allowed the State to keep excess revenue from tobacco taxes to be used for the universal preschool program, and Question 2P permanently extended a tax that helps fund tuition for Denver Preschool students.