State Sen. Romer Announces Denver Mayoral Bid
DENVER (CBS4) - State Sen. Chris Romer plans to join the race for Denver mayor.
The Denver Democrat announced his candidacy Tuesday. He previously filed paperwork with the city clerk to explore running.
"The best way for me to contribute my civic part of this equation is to run for mayor of Denver," Romer said.
If the announcement was anti-climatic, Romer's also refused to give specifics on how he would deal with the city's budget.
"The truth is we're probably again going to be $100 million upside down in the city budget and we're going to make some cuts and there are going to be tough choices," Romer said.
When asked, he wasn't willing to say where cuts going to come from.
"This not the day for that conversation," he said.
Before becoming a state senator, Romer founded a school drop-out prevention program in Colorado. He also helped manage the construction budget for Denver International Airport. And his dad is former Gov. Roy Romer.
Many are considering Romer to be the front-runner already.
Others who've announced their candidacies are council members Doug Linkhart and Michael Hancock, city employee Danny Lopez and James Mejia, executive director of the Denver Preschool Program.
Mayor John Hickenlooper was elected governor Nov. 2. He plans to stay on the job until his Jan. 11 inauguration to avoid a special election. Deputy Mayor Bill Vidal will become acting mayor until the regular election in May.
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