Lauren Simpson came back from an early deficit in election results and was poised Wednesday poised to become Arvada’s next mayor — the first time that position has had a new face in 12 years.
The Arvada councilwoman’s nearly 400-vote advantage over opponent John Marriott, a fellow council member, by Wednesday morning prompted a concession call from Marriott, Simpson said. Late Tuesday, after she overtook Marriott, she had led at one point by just 20 votes, but the margin continued to grow.
“It was a very stressful evening — a lot of anxiety and stress,” she said of Tuesday night, noting that she went to bed at 1:45 a.m., only to awaken four hours later to check on the election results again.
Simpson held a lead of 50.5% to 49.5% as of late afternoon, with more than 44,000 votes tallied. The Jefferson County elections division said it had processed more than 99% of the votes it received but was still going through around 1,600 ballots. The current margin is well above Colorado’s trigger for an automatic recount.
Of her opponent, Simpson said Marriott is a friend and would have been “a fine mayor” had he won. She will take over a position that has been held since 2011 by Marc Williams, who was term-limited this year. She is set to take the oath of office in Colorado’s seventh-largest city on Monday.
Her campaign focused on housing affordability, among other challenges.
“I’m a big proponent of affordable and attainable housing solutions, particularly as they intersect with the homelessness problem,” Simpson said.
She also ran on a platform of strengthening Arvada’s ability to fortify itself against natural disasters, such as the Marshall fire that burned down more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County nearly two years ago.
“Here in Arvada, we have had quite a few neighborhoods that extend west,” she said. “We are not exempt from this.”
Simpson, 40, has been on Arvada’s City Council for four years. She spent the last eight years as the senior foreign policy and diplomacy officer for the Canadian consulate in Denver. She is married and has a young daughter.
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