Denver Mayor Michael Hancock launched his bid for a second term on Tuesday, boasting that the city has rebounded from the recession and has “a vibrant economy firing on all cylinders,” with every reason to be optimistic about the future.

“Working side by side with all of you, I’m proud of all we have accomplished,” Hancock told the roughly 200 supporters gathered for the campaign rally. “Together, I want to continue improving this amazing home of ours so that this great city of opportunity extends to everyone. That’s why I’m here and that is why I’m proud to announce I’m running for reelection.”

In just four years, Hancock said, the city has added 36,000 jobs and 2,200 new businesses, seeing the unemployment rate drop to 4 percent. Promising that “the best is yet to come,” he noted, “This isn’t just blind optimism about our future, it’s bold optimism.”

Introducing Hancock, former U.S. Sen. and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, one of several co-chairs of the mayor’s campaign and a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, piled on the superlatives, proclaiming that Hancock “is the best mayor in all of America.”

Saying that “Denver is a world-class city, and Michael is leading the way,” Salazar declared, “Michael Hancock is Denver, and Denver is Michael Hancock,” drawing sustainedcheers.

The campaign kicked off at Battery 621, part of the Art District on Santa Fe, a self-described “off-kilter work environment” that houses more than a dozen companies.

“Mayor Hancock has been successful at fostering an overall environment in the city that is welcoming and exciting for entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Chuck Sullivan of Something Independent, a company that boosts start-ups and is based at Battery 621. “There’s a culture of optimism and opportunity throughout the city,” he added, noting that Denver has recently been named the top destination for members of the Millennial generation nationwide.

Anna Jo Haynes, president emeritus of Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers and another co-chair of Hancock’s campaign, said that

Scharlyne Hancock signs a petition to put her son Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on the ballot for a second term on Feb. 3 at a campaign rally in Denver.

Denver’s children are better off than they were four years ago, pointing to the mayor’s creation of a Children’s Cabinet and passage of a ballot initiative to support the city’s preschool program, which boasts the highest enrollment rate in the country.

“He led the charge first by changing the culture – now everyone thinks of the children first,” Haynes said.

If it sounded more like a coronation than the start of a contested election, that’s because no serious mayoral challengers have emerged with just three months to go before the May 5 municipal election (there’s a June run-off if a candidate doesn’t surpass 50 percent of the vote). All of Denver’s city council seats will be on the ballot, along with the offices of auditor and clerk and recorder.

Candidates for mayor must turn in petitions with 300 valid signatures.

At press time, five other candidates – Paul Fiorino, Marcus Giavanni, Dwight Henson, Scott Hoftiezer and Chairman Seku – had notified the city they plan to run for mayor.

In its end-of-year report filed in January, the Hancock campaign reported $579,703 on hand after raising $928,754 since winning his first term in a run-off against former state Sen. Chris Romer.

“When we started this journey together four years ago, Denver looked quite different. The economy was still in the tank with unemployment nearly in double digits,” Hancock said in his remarks. “Our city budget was in deficit and city services had been slashed. Today, in partnership with our communities, we have corrected course, and Denver is moving in the right direction. Together with all of you, we’ve brought thousands of good jobs to Denver. Today, because of our hard work and determination, there is an undeniable energy surging through this phenomenal home of ours.”

Looking ahead, Hancock promised to work to keep housing affordable and expand transportation options, while protecting parks and open space and investing in “long-overlooked and underserved” neighborhoods. He pointed to the new hotel nearly completed at Denver International Airport and the rail line set to open next year between DIA and the renovated Union Station in downtown Denver.

The last time Denver voters ousted a mayor was in 1983, when former state Rep. Federico Peña won the first of his two terms in a run-off against Dale Tooley, Denver’s longtime district attorney, after both challengers ran well ahead of Mayor Bill McNichols, who was seeking his fourth full term in office. (McNichols was felled by the monumental 1982 Christmas Eve blizzard, which buried the city under feet of snow for weeks and was punctuated by a freak snowstorm on the day voters went to the polls in May, downing power lines and forcing some to cast ballots by flashlight.)

Peña and his successor, Wellington Webb, faced tough bids for their second terms, both trailing their chief opponents in the May election but eking out wins in the June run-offs.

Amid a fresh controversy over police personnel – the mayor fired police chief Tom Coogan over an office romance just weeks before the 1987 general election – Peña ran behind Republican Don Bain, a corporate lawyer, in the first round and won by only a few thousand votes in the run-off. Facing frustration over DIA and charges of cronyism, Webb finished in second place behind Councilwoman Mary Degroot in the May 1995 election but rallied to win in June.

Denver’s next mayor, John Hickenlooper, who left office four years ago when he was elected governor, sailed to reelection for a second term in 2007, facing only nominal opposition.

Asked if Hancock is indeed the best mayor in the country, former state Rep. Wilma Webb, one of the Hancock campaign’s co-chairs, smiled and said, “You know, I have a favorite one, but, among current mayors, he certainly is.”

– Ernest@coloradostatesman.com

For full photo coverage see the Feb. 6, 2015 print edition.