2026 Primary Election Endorsements

The Denver Area Labor Federation (DALF) represents over 80,000 working Coloradans, through over 114 affiliated unions. Our membership is diverse and includes everyone from teachers, firefighters, and home care workers to electricians and aerospace workers. We come together as the Denver Area Labor Federation because we believe in one simple idea: when working people stand together, we can create positive changes for everyone.

DALF votes to endorse candidates based on how they will impact not only our unions, but all working people in the Denver Area. We carefully consider how each candidate will help us fight for a more equal and secure economy where working people can build power, ensure economic justice for themselves and their families, and combat the influence of corporations and wealthy elites.

Voting is our chance as working people to support those who support us. Who you vote for is your personal decision, but we hope that you will take DALF’s endorsements into consideration as you fill out your ballot.

AS OF April 24th, 2026, THE DENVER AREA LABOR FEDERATION HAS ENDORSED THE FOLLOWING COUNTY CANDIDATES:

ADAMS COUNTY

Assessor: Thomas Swingle

Clerk & Recorder: Josh Zygielbaum

Commissioner District 3: Emma Pinter

Treasurer: Jason Anaya-Ledeboer

ARAPAHOE COUNTY

Assessor: PK Kaiser

Clerk & Recorder: Joan Lopez

Commissioner District 2: Jessica Campbell

Commissioner District 4: Leslie Summey

Sheriff: Tyler Brown

Treasurer: Michael Westerberg

DOUGLAS COUNTY

Assessor: Kara Garr

Commissioner District 1: Irene Bonham

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Assessor: Andy Kerr

Clerk & Recorder: Nicole Hensel

Commissioner District 3: Lisa Cutter

Coroner: Nick Lobello

Treasurer: Eric Proctor

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

During a pandemic, unions offer workers some protection, research shows

01 Sep, 2020

Belonging to a union is not a panacea for all that plagues workers during a pandemic, as many hospital and other workers short on protective gear can attest. Still, being covered by a collective bargaining does increase the chances of having medical coverage and paid sick time — benefits that are

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Trump Executive Actions on COVID Are Smoke and Mirrors That Help No One

17 Aug, 2020

One way to view President Donald Trump’s executive actions last week on COVID relief is that they represent unlawful overreach. But that would imply that while his actions are illegal, they are nevertheless effective — and therein lies the core problem. What our showman president signed last week

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

In the COVID-19 Economy, We Are Running Out of Time to Prioritize Child Care

14 Aug, 2020

In March, working families across the country started to scramble. Our homes were transformed into makeshift classrooms, summer camps and daycare centers as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and child care facilities. For working mothers with young children, balancing a career and

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Senate must pass HEROES Act for working families

27 Jul, 2020

In May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, a piece of legislation that would provide much-needed solutions to our current economic and public safety crisis. Unfortunately, its path forward has been uncertain. There has been no debate on the bill in the Senate, and Mitch

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

The union battle versus Trump administration over bringing workers back, safely

10 Jul, 2020

More than three years after taking office, the administration has never filled the job running the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is charged with enforcing workplace safety laws. The $560 million-a-year agency, whose estimated 2,000 inspectors performed 32,020 on-site

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

America is running short on masks, gowns and gloves. Again.

08 Jul, 2020

America is running short on masks, gowns and gloves. Again. Health-care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic are encountering shortages of masks, gowns, face shields and gloves — a frustrating recurrence of a struggle that haunted the first months of the crisis. Nurses say they are

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

You Call Us Heroes. It's Time to Treat Us Like Heroes

08 Jul, 2020

Working people are bearing the brunt of this global pandemic and economic crisis. The physical toll, death, pain, and suffering that Oregon’s frontline and essential workers have experienced is unprecedented. Coupled with the economic collapse that has exacerbated long-term inequities for low wage

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Of Course Teachers Want Schools to Reopen

08 Jul, 2020

Daniel DiSalvo asks: “ Will Unions Let Schools Reopen?” (op-ed, June 30). Of course! The AFT published our school reopening plan in April. We said it isn’t a question of whether to reopen, but how to do it safely. We need the infrastructure and investment to physically distance, stagger classes

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus

06 Jul, 2020

Racial disparities in who contracts the virus have played out in big cities like Milwaukee and New York, but also in smaller metropolitan areas like Grand Rapids, Mich., where the Bradleys live. Those inequities became painfully apparent when Ms. Bradley, who is Black, was wheeled through the

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Trumka: The AFL-CIO Must Fight for Trans Lives Inside and Outside the Labor Movement

30 Jun, 2020

This month’s historic Supreme Court ruling that LGBTQ employees are protected in the workplace by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was another step forward in the march for equality. While there is much to celebrate, this ruling comes as our nation is suffering from centuries-old systemic racism and

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

What Is Owed: Without Economic Justice, There Can Be No True Equality

24 Jun, 2020

Race-neutral policies simply will not address the depth of disadvantage faced by people this country once believed were chattel. Financial restitution cannot end racism, of course, but it can certainly mitigate racism’s most devastating effects. If we do nothing, black Americans may never recover

2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Video: Workers First Caravan for Racial + Economic Justice

22 Jun, 2020 Read More >