Denver County Sample Ballot & Voter Guide 2026

Matt Ball is the Democratic state senator for Senate District 31 in Denver County, a military veteran and attorney who served in the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment with four deployments, attended Stanford Law School on the GI Bill and practiced criminal-justice law in Denver, per his campaign site. He most recently served as Denver's Director of Policy, where he created the Roads to Recovery program connecting people with severe addiction and mental illness to services, and now serves as Vice Chair of the Transportation & Energy committee, per the Colorado General Assembly.

Emily Sirota is the state representative for Colorado House District 9, chairs the Joint Budget Committee and is vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, per the campaign site. Sirota is a social worker with a master's in social work from the University of Denver and a political science degree from Indiana University, and earlier helped run an early learning center in Denver, per the campaign site.

Sydnnia Wulff is the Republican candidate for Colorado Senate District 32. She has been a Colorado attorney since 2005, lives in Denver and has more than 20 years of corporate experience, per the campaign site. She has also served as a party delegate, per the campaign site.

Chela Garcia Irlando is the Democratic nominee for Colorado Senate District 34, an open Denver seat currently held by term-limited Sen. Julie Gonzales, per Denverite. She is an environmental nonprofit leader who serves as Executive Director of the Next 100 Coalition and previously held leadership roles at the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus, Hispanic Access Foundation and Latino Outdoors, per her campaign site.

Qualteri is a lifelong Coloradan and retired state employee who built a career with the State of Colorado and retired in 2024 as a cost accountant, per the campaign site. Per the campaign site, Qualteri earned a Bachelor of Science in business from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Denver and raised children as a single parent in Denver.

Javier Mabrey is an eviction defense lawyer who was elected to the State House in 2022 to represent Southwest Denver, per Mabrey's campaign site. Mabrey has represented more than three hundred families facing eviction and helped found the Community Economic Defense Project in 2020, an anti-poverty organization, per the same source. Mabrey holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado and a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law, per the campaign site.

Joseph Montoya is a Denver paralegal who also performs and records music as "Ghost Elvis," per his campaign site. He is running as the Republican candidate for Colorado House District 1, describing himself as a father, mentor and community leader in southwest Denver, per his campaign site.

Scott Baldermann is a former Denver School Board member who helped implement a policy governance structure for the district, per Baldermann's campaign site. Baldermann holds a master's degree in architecture from the University of Nebraska, worked as a licensed architect, and later started a software company in the construction industry, per the same source.

Carey Marin is a small business owner running as the Republican candidate for Colorado House District 2, per her campaign site. She describes her business background as the basis for a practical, problem-solving approach to policy, per her campaign site.

Gena Ozols is a candidate for Colorado House District 3, per Ozols's campaign site. The site describes a focus on reproductive rights, labor equity and community equity, per the same source.

Rebecca Winegar is a medical and legal professional who has lived in Englewood for more than eleven years, per her campaign site.

Cecelia Espenoza is a former immigration judge, attorney and law professor who was the first Mexican American to become an appellate judge on the Board of Immigration Appeals, per her campaign site. Espenoza was also the first Latina to become a tenure track professor teaching law in Colorado at the University of Denver, per the same source. She has lived in House District 4 for 34 years, per her campaign site.

Justine Sandoval is a fourth-generation Denver resident and community organizer with about 20 years of local advocacy experience, per her campaign site. She is a Marine Corps veteran running as the Democratic candidate for Colorado House District 5, per Denverite.

Johnson is a longtime producer of public-access television and radio programming in Denver, including the shows Innervision and Talk Ability, and founded a nonprofit named Innervision that develops disabled musical artists, per the campaign site. Per the campaign site, Johnson was born in Denver, is a father of two daughters, and is running for House District 5.

Iris Halpern is an attorney and partner at Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, a Denver civil rights and social justice law firm, per her campaign site. She previously served as acting supervisory attorney at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Denver and worked as a national organizer for the Service Employees International Union before attending law school, per her campaign site. She is running as the Democratic candidate for Colorado House District 6.

Jennifer Bacon is a candidate for Colorado House District 7, per her campaign site. She has worked as a classroom educator, a community organizer and an attorney, per her campaign site.

Jeff Wilson is running as the Libertarian candidate for Colorado House District 7, covering the Northfield, Montbello and Green Valley Ranch neighborhoods, per the Libertarian Party's candidate page. He describes his campaign as an alternative to the two-party system, emphasizing personal freedom and opposition to government interference in individual decisions, per the same source. No campaign website was found as of September 8, 2026.

Gilchrist is the incumbent state representative for House District 8, per the campaign site. She holds a master's degree in public policy from UCLA and previously worked in Senator Ted Kennedy's office and on the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, per the campaign site. She later served as senior advocacy officer at the international health organization mothers2mothers and founded a policy consulting firm, Gilchrist and Company, in 2012, per the campaign site.

Jesse Lashawn Parris is a Northeast Denver resident of more than 20 years and a third-generation Denverite who has previously run for Denver mayor and at-large city council, per his campaign site. He is running as the Unity Party candidate for Colorado House District 8, describing over a decade of public advocacy and community service work, per his campaign site.

Monica VanBuskirk is a candidate for Colorado House District 9, per her campaign site. She is a small business owner, parent and policy advisor who drafts bills and advocates for legislation, per her campaign site.