So far the Denver District Attorney’s race has been historic for two reasons. The first is the substantial amount of cash that has flowed into the Democratic primary and the general election. The second is that no matter who wins in November, Denver will have its first female DA in its history.

While in past races the Democratic candidate for DA has been the favorite to win the general race, this year’s race could break with that script. Impressive resumes and big campaign war chests could lead to a seriously contested race.

The race has winnowed down to two candidates: Rep. Beth McCann and Helen Morgan. McCann, who has reached her term limit at the state House this year, won the Democratic primary last month beating Michael Carrigan and Kenneth Boyd. Morgan, a 22-year veteran of the DA’s office, is running as an independent for this race, but had previously been a long-term registered Democrat.

Outsider versus insider

Both candidates have positioned themselves as agents of change for an embattled District Attorney’s Office.

McCann is running as an outsider who can bring the type of change an insider can’t bring. Someone who has served in the DA’s office previously but has substantial experience outside of the office working with diverse groups to reach accord throughout her career, including at the state House and as Denver’s public safety manager.

“(Morgan) has been in the DA’s office for 22 years, which is fine, but we need someone who has been out in the community a lot, someone who has established relationships with groups and people out in the community,” McCann said. “I clearly have a lot of community involvement, and I’ve done a lot of community work. And also I have the management experience. I don’t see that with Helen. I’ve managed large budgets, I’ve had a lot of experience handling personnel issues, promotional issues, and I understand how that works.”

Morgan is running as the insider who understands the system but knows it needs to be reformed. Someone who has spent more than two decades in the DA’s office and not only recognizes what changes need to happen, but knows what resources are available to make those changes a reality.

“I don’t think the difference between Beth and I could be more stark. Beth hasn’t been in my office for 30 years. I started in ’94 and she was gone (from the DA’s office) a long time by then,” Morgan said. “It’s easy to use a big paintbrush and to say I’m an insider. But if you ask – and I would ask that you do … the people I work with it, it has never been business as usual for me. What I’m really excited about is to take the work I’m doing now and become the leader and effect that change I see needed in the office.”

How to rebuild trust

One major issue that both candidates are running to address is the lack of trust for the DA’s office and law enforcement in general in the city, especially in communities of color. Whether it is unfair prosecution or the lack of cases brought against law enforcement for abuse and in-custody deaths, both candidates said the issue of trust needs to be addressed not only in talking points, but in action as well.

The list of reforms Morgan wants to pursue includes having two simultaneous and separate reviews for cases involving abuses by law enforcement and issuing findings of investigations on those cases.

“One of the first orders of business will be, and it is a word used by every candidate, is transparency in the manner in which we conduct business. I’m the only candidate who has talked about a comprehensive change of protocol as it relates to both allegations of police misconduct and allegations of fatalities. That includes police fatalities and in-custody deaths,” Morgan said. “I don’t blame people for not having trust. I’m as skeptical of other portions of government as people are of my office. And (when I’m on the outside), I want to know that something was looked at, I want to know why decisions were made and I want (the reasons) to be made available to me at a suitable time after an incident.”

McCann said the lack of trust between communities of color and law enforcement isn’t something unique to Denver and is prevalent across the country. But for Denver to address it, the DA’s office needs to take the lead in reaching out to rebuild those relationships in the community and bringing transparency to its decision.

“There is clearly a need to improve the transparency and the community engagement of the DA’s office. I think certainly in my district, which much of it is in northeast Denver, there’s a distrust of law enforcement and the DA’s office, and there’s a feeling justice is not being done,” McCann said. “It’s a tough problem, it’s not something you change overnight, but I do want to support the community-based meetings going on with police officers and community members. I also plan on having community advisors so that I have people in the community I can consult with and they can pick up the phone, call me and let me know about issues we need to know about.”