Denver Runoff Election Results.

The results from Denver's runoff election are in:

Chris Nevitt has defeated Shelley Watters in Council District 7, receiving about 63% of the vote. The result was not surprising. Nevitt came close to winning in the first round and had a strong lead over Watters at that point, so he needed only a minority of voters who had cast votes for other candidates.

Paul Lopez has defeated JoAnn Phillips in Council District 3, receiving about 61% of the vote. The next question in that race is whether challenges that have been made to Mr. Lopez's eligiblity to serve as a council member on the basis of a residency dispute will unseat him, creating a vacancy, or fizzle out. JoAnn Phillips had the endorsement of the Denver Post, but had a weak campaign.

As of 8:51 p.m., Carla Madison, who made it into the second round by only about 75 votes, has upset Sharon Bailey, in the race for Council District 8, garnering about 52% of the vote. Reports at the Denver Politics blog prior to today had shown Madison effectively getting out the vote in her strongholds, while Bailey's campaign was less effective at getting neighborhoods where her support was strong to cast their ballots. In the first round, Bailey came in first place despite not having run an expensive campaign, in part, because she escaped untarnished from the smears in that race. While the percentage lead is small, it is large enough that this result is unlikely to be flipped later this evening. Madison's support is strongest in the areas near the central business district, while Bailey's support was stronger in other parts of North Denver that are part of the District.

The runoff marks a win for labor, which strongly supported both Nevitt and Lopez in their campaigns.

Turnout appears to have been marginally lower in all three runoff races than it was in the first round of voting, although this may be a product of incomplete results at this hour.

My analysis of the races at the end of the previous round of voting can be found here.