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

AFL-CIO Launches Study of State of Work and of Unions

Saying workers are buffeted by automation, globalization and robotics, which threaten high joblessness, and firms robbing them of bargaining power to fight back and get jobs in the looming new economy, the AFL-CIO launched a year-long study of the state of work and the state of U.S. unions. Replying
Read More > AFL-CIO Launches Study of State of Work and of Unions
AFL-CIO Launches Study of State of Work and of Unions
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

AFL-CIO: TPP Failed Workers and Deserved to Die

The Trans-Pacific Partnership died because it ultimately failed America’s working families. Instead of addressing the economic devastation wreaked by wrong-headed trade deals, the TPP doubled down on a failed, corporate-driven ideology. We lost 2 million jobs to bad trade rules with TPP nations in
Read More > AFL-CIO: TPP Failed Workers and Deserved to Die
AFL-CIO: TPP Failed Workers and Deserved to Die
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Teacher Pay Is So Low in Some U.S. School Districts That They’re Recruiting Overseas

As walkouts by teachers protesting low pay and education funding shortfalls spread across the country, the small but growing movement to recruit teachers from overseas is another sign of the difficulty some districts are having providing the basics to public school students. Among the latest states
Read More > Teacher Pay Is So Low in Some U.S. School Districts That They’re Recruiting Overseas
Teacher Pay Is So Low in Some U.S. School Districts That They’re Recruiting Overseas
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

We Can Expect More from Teachers When We Pay Them Like Pros

Never before has there been so much labor unrest in America’s public schools. Teachers, understandably angry about low pay and harmful cuts in education resources, have organized statewide walkouts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Arizona and Mississippi may be next to act. This time of
Read More > We Can Expect More from Teachers When We Pay Them Like Pros
We Can Expect More from Teachers When We Pay Them Like Pros
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

The Living Standards of Public Servants

When we fail to invest in public services, living standards decline and communities suffer — overcrowded classrooms, understaffed prisons and more. But let’s remember what originally made public-sector jobs middle class: labor unions. The right to bargain collectively has allowed millions of public
Read More > The Living Standards of Public Servants
The Living Standards of Public Servants
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Uber, Lyft Drivers Deserve a Voice

In any business, the people who do the work deserve to have a voice in their working conditions. Drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft are no different. By working with allies in the labor movement and in our communities, drivers are standing together to change the direction of this emerging
Read More > Uber, Lyft Drivers Deserve a Voice
Uber, Lyft Drivers Deserve a Voice
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Labor Voices: We Need Workplace Protections

When we kiss our loved ones’ goodbye to head to work, we don’t expect tragedy. Saturday is Workers Memorial Day, a time for all of us to remember those who went to work but unfortunately never returned home because they lost their lives while on the job. It’s also a day to remember that we must keep
Read More > Labor Voices: We Need Workplace Protections
Labor Voices: We Need Workplace Protections
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Union Win Marks Step Forward for Student Labor Movement

Harvard research and teaching assistants' vote to unionize last week was unique in its scale and drew on a decades-long push to form graduate student unions, according to several labor experts and union organizers. The election—Harvard’s second vote on the issue—took place April 18 and 19. Over the
Read More > Union Win Marks Step Forward for Student Labor Movement
Union Win Marks Step Forward for Student Labor Movement
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Senate Bill to Curtail Labor Rights on Tribal Land Falls Short

Organized labor managed an increasingly rare feat on Monday — a political victory — when its allies turned back a Senate measure aimed at rolling back labor rights on tribal lands. The legislation, called the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act, would have exempted enterprises owned and operated by Native
Read More > Senate Bill to Curtail Labor Rights on Tribal Land Falls Short
Senate Bill to Curtail Labor Rights on Tribal Land Falls Short
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

How Does Your State Stack Up on Pay Equity for Women?

The notion of bringing home 80 cents for every dollar pocketed by a man on a national basis is unsettling enough. But it's even more startling when those lost wages are added up. Overall, it amounts to $10,000 in lost wages a year, says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and
Read More > How Does Your State Stack Up on Pay Equity for Women?
How Does Your State Stack Up on Pay Equity for Women?
civil_rights_march_on_washington_d.c._dr._martin_luther_king_jr._and_mathew_ahmann_in_a_crowd._-_nara_-_542015_-_restoration.jpg
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

Want To Carry On Martin Luther King Jr.’s Work? Join A Union

Read More > Want To Carry On Martin Luther King Jr.’s Work? Join A Union
Want To Carry On Martin Luther King Jr.’s Work? Join A Union
2026 Primary Election Endorsements

The Gay Union Organizer Who Helped MLK Change the World

As America prepares to observe the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination today, there is one name you may not hear: Bayard Rustin. A close confidante and mentor of King, Rustin was a key leader of the civil rights movement and chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington
Read More > The Gay Union Organizer Who Helped MLK Change the World
The Gay Union Organizer Who Helped MLK Change the World