Denver district attorney candidates make final pitches to voters
DENVER (KDVR)- Candidates in primary races are entering into the home stretch with ballot boxes closing Tuesday.
There are some hotly contested races in Denver, including the race for the next district attorney. With no Republican running for the seat, the two Democratic candidates are going all in ahead of the primary election.
Two Democrats with significant legal careers are going head-to-head in hopes of becoming Denver’s next district attorney. They are each making their final pitches to a group of voters who are notorious for turning in their ballots just before they close.
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John Walsh and Leora Joseph are battling to become Denver’s next district attorney.
Walsh served as U.S. Attorney during the Obama administration. Joseph is the director of the state’s Office of Behavioral Health. They both have some high-profile endorsements from influential figures across the state, but Walsh earned the endorsement of D.A. Beth McCann. Walsh wants voters to know he’s looking to reenergize the office while still holding people accountable.
“That depth of connection to the Denver metro community I think really matters. It’s that experience as a prosecutor but also a really, intimate understanding of this entire city that will make a difference,” Walsh said. “While I’m very proud to have Beth McCann’s endorsement, I’m not Beth McCann 2.0. In terms of what I would differently, I think we really have to focus on the problems we’ve got right in front of us. That includes a stubbornly high violent crime rate in Denver and an unfortunately increasing youth violence rate. That’s an area I would come at with vigor to make sure we are approaching it both to prosecute the small number of people both who are truly dangerous to the community but also that we work with the community to get young people opportunities to stay out of cultures that can lead to violence.”
Walsh also said he would focus on prosecuting drug dealers in an effort to curb the fentanyl epidemic and using the criminal justice system to get people treatment. He also said he wants to crack down on car theft.
Joseph wants voters to know she plans to prosecute crime but she also wants to use her background in behavioral health to bring a compassionate approach to what she says is a mental health crisis in the city.
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“My central message: I’m running on change. If you think we need to change how public safety is being administered in this city, I’m your candidate,” Joseph said. “I think we need to handle public safety and the justice system differently. The biggest change that I am going to make is how the office is organized. Teams of prosecutors need to be in community and working hand-in-hand with police and community agencies, community organizations, the schools, nonprofits, mental health, we need to be a seat at the table and all of us need to be rowing in the same boat. I am committed to prosecuting crime, I am committed to not ignoring crime and I am committed to finding alternative solutions and pathways for people who are really struggling. When I talk about not ignoring crime, we’ve got to handle it. But what we’ve learned is that prison doesn’t work for everybody; prison isn’t the only option we need to do better. And the work I get to do now looks at models across the country. Where are local municipalities making change? That’s where I’ve been able to learn about how we use our court system and move people into treatment.”
Both candidates are touting their experience as reasons for voters to support them.
“I actually have the experience of running a large prosecution office successfully, not just internally but with respect to the community and to other government agencies and to the state,” Walsh said pointing to his experience as U.S. Attorney. “I was the top federal prosecutor for the state and was in that position for essentially [President Obama’s] entire administration. The reason I focus on that is because it’s a very specific job running a big prosecution office and to be successful at it, you have to be able to collaborate with a whole range of folks: people actually in the community, other government agencies, the state government, the federal government, those are things I’ve all done and done with success.”
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“I understand he’s held a federal position and that isn’t this job. This job involves managing teams at a local level, involved in local government and that’s the work I’ve been doing: at the local level in Colorado. Managing teams and working in the District Attorney’s Office which is a unique set of laws and working at the state level- not in the D.C. federal system,” Joseph said.
Regardless of their differences in backgrounds and where they stand on policy, both candidates are encouraging voters to get those ballots in as soon as possible before polls close Tuesday night.
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