The Denver Public School board of education candidates who led early on Election Night continued to gain ground, as additional results were released on Wednesday, with no races tightening as the day went on.

As of noon Wednesday, about 70% of the votes cast had been tallied, according to the Denver Election’s Division. Updated vote totals were released at 5 p.m. Wednesday..

The turnout is roughly 39%, slightly higher than 2023’s 36%.

Early returns Wednesday showed Directors Scott Esserman (District 3) and Michelle Quattlebaum (District 4) struggling with less than 20% of the vote, which appeared to be an insurmountable deficit that all but ensures their defeat.

 As of Wednesday evening, here are the results by district race:

At large: Amy Klein Molk (56.15%) and Alex Magaña (43.85%)

District 2: Xóchitl Gaytán (59.95%) and Mariana Del Hierro (40.05%)

District 3: Donald “DJ” Torres (46.18%), Caron Blanke (37.1%) and Esserman (16.72%)

District 4: Monica Hunter (42.88%), Timiya Jackson (28.64%), Jeremy Harris (14.01%) and Quattlebaum (14.47%)

District 3 started as a tight race, but stretched out; providing a comfortable margin for Torres, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Gaytán gained the most absolute votes and widened her margin.

There was no evidence of a flip or tightening as the latest drop at midnight, which showed the same trajectory for all the candidates in the lead.

City officials said they hope to have the tally complete by week’s end.

With Denver voters poised to oust two of the three incumbents on the school board, the results may not signal a push to change the district’s direction at a time when trust in leadership is low as much as it is a backlash to national politics playing out, according to a political science professor.

“In a lot of ways, I think that with a city like Denver’s turnout and their blueness really showed,” said Robert Preuhs, a political science professor and department chair at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Preuhs noted other jurisdictions saw this, too.

“That was the theme this year,” he said.

The largest school district in Colorado, DPS is governed by a seven-member board with two at-large members who represent the entire city and five districts.

With four of seven board seats on the ballot — and simmering frustrations over school closures, low test scores and board transparency — the election could reshape Denver Public Schools and chart a new course for the state’s largest district.

While voters rejected the candidates the union endorsed two years ago — Kwame Spearman and then Directors Scott Baldermann and Charmaine Lindsay — the returns so far this year showed a return to union support, Preuhs said.

Last election, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) endorsed the incumbents and at large-candidate Kwame Spearman. This election cycle, the teachers’ union only endorsed one incumbent: Gaytán.

Hunter, also endorsed by the teachers’ union, is positioned to win the District 4 seat held by Quattlebaum.

A teachers’ union endorsement, which also typically comes financial support, holds great sway with voters.