REBEKAH HENDERSON: When a few of my homegirls decided to run for office, I started making a documentary about their experience.

NATASHA DEL TORO: Five women in Denver band together to take on the political establishment.

LISA CALDER ÓN: In Denver's 160-year history, we've never had a woman for mayor.

It was actually more terrifying to decide to run than to think about being mayor.

We want a country that we can be happy to pass on to our children and our grandchildren.

DEL TORO: "Running with my Girls," on America ReFramed.

♪ ♪ CROWD: Four, three, two, one!

BOY: Come on!

(crowd cheers) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ PROTESTERS (chanting): No justice, no peace!

(chanting continues, tear gas canisters hissing) (weapons firing) (people yelling) (horns honking, sirens blaring) (people yelling, horns honking, sirens blaring) REPORTER: ...get the streets shut down, protesters pepper-sprayed, and nine people arrested at this anti-police protest downtown.

REPORTER: Denver Police say that they arrested more than 80 people during... SHONTEL LEWIS: We can come out here for three days in protest and do this and sit on the Capitol steps.

But we need your help!

So not just today.

We need you to volunteer for organizations.

We need you to run for office.

We need you to pay attention to who the district attorney is.

Right?

'Cause we can come out here, and it happens again.

We're talking about systems change, systemic change.

That doesn't happen with four people.

So what are you doing?

(crowd cheering and applauding) ♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Why do you think it's important to have representation in politics for women of color?

Or do you think it's important?

- Yeah, I absolutely think it's important to have representation in politics.

And particularly Black women.

I think we learn about the world through different experiences and contexts, and bringing that to a policy lens, I think, is really, really important.

Otherwise, you miss these opportunities to address things like systemic racism and structural oppression, because you don't have folks who have been really close to the pain making policy decisions and being at the table with policy makers.

MAN: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I now call to order the Tuesday, January 8, 2019, RTD special board meeting.

Please, you are recognized, Director Lewis.

LEWIS: Any time I have a no vote, I'd like for you all to know the reason why I'm voting no for this, and I think it's really important that if we're truly advocating for our most marginalized communities, that we start by ensuring that we are banking with folks who value our communities, value our low-income communities, and aren't conducting shady business.

(voiceover): More often than not, am I the only one to vote no on something?

We had a conversation recently in RTD where we were talking about security officers on buses and trains, and someone says, "We should get more security officers," to which someone responds and says, "Yeah, we can pilot those things."

Me, "Oh, here we go.

"Gotta be the Black girl to say, "'So, my community feels very much over-policed, "'and so if you're gonna have that conversation about "'adding more security officers on buses or rail, "'I would ask that you don't pilot that in my community and we have a conversation before.'"

And it gets exhausting, always being that person to say that thing all the time.

MAN: All votes have been cast and the record reflects that we have 14 directors in favor, one director opposed, that is Director Lewis.

That motion passes.

LEWIS: If a woman of color asked me if she should run for office, I would absolutely say yes, like, "Please run, for those who can't or don't think they can."

♪ ♪ I'm trying to film her and myself... (laughs): While, while canvassing.

And it's kind of amazing, though.

I, this is... WOMAN: It's all D.I.Y.

- It is, it is... WOMAN: All D.I.Y.

- That's the words of the day.

Oh, I look good, though.

I've always thought of myself as a good citizen.

I cared about my neighbors and the environment, I volunteered, I worked in underserved communities, I voted.

Most of the time-- don't check my record.

But I didn't really pay attention, especially to my local government.

If they were in my party and if they were Black, brown, or some variation thereof, they got my vote.

I've lived in Denver for eight years, and I've always said it's not as dope as people think.

Especially if you're not white.

My husband and I are both mixed-race, Black and white, but it seemed like a good place to raise our son since he came out white anyway.

And Denver has a Black mayor; how bad can it be?

When a few of my homegirls decided to run for office, I quit my job, bought a camera, and started making a documentary about their experience.

My husband was thrilled.

(record scratches) Pretty quickly, it became clear that this (bleep) is not as simple as it seems.

(crowd cheering) (chanting): Shontel!

Shontel!

HENDERSON: It started off really fun and really exciting.

Shontel was the first to run and she won.

She knocked doors; she got the community involved.

She showed us how it was done and she made it look easy.

But over the next year of filming, Shontel's win proved to be the exception instead of the rule.

Okay, so we're here.

We're at campaign headquarters with Candi CdeBaca!

- Welcome, welcome, all things Candi.

We have 11,000 pieces of literature in my car.

This is a campaign car.

HENDERSON: Do you have, like, a regular canvassing schedule?

- Every day.

- Wow.

♪ ♪ HENDERSON: This is Candi from the block, A.K.A.

Candi CdeBaca, and her race is historic.

She's running as the first LGBTQ Latina to serve on Denver City Council.

Candi's activist roots go back to her days as a high school student.

As class president and valedictorian, she led a successful legal battle against the district over failed school reforms.

At the age of 18, she and Shontel Lewis founded the nonprofit Project VOYCE, to empower other young people to fight for justice in their communities.

After we got Project VOYCE started and after I finished my master's, I moved out to DC for a summer fellowship.

It was right after Obama had been elected.

So when I got out there, I was just electrified by the energy of young people of color from all over the country concentrating themselves in that one space and trying to change the world together.

I turned that four months into six years.

HENDERSON: Candi moved home in 2014 and realized that the neighborhood her family had lived in for four generations was quickly disappearing under a city government controlled by developers.

Denver is one of the fastest-gentrifying cities in the country, second only to San Francisco.

Over the last ten years, home prices have nearly doubled.

Rents have risen dramatically.

Denver is no longer an affordable city, especially for Black and brown families.

And Candi's district has been hit the hardest by these rapid changes.

Across the alley from where I live, the rent was $400.

Go over there now, three years later, it's $2,000.

All they did was painted it.

- For you to do stuff like this and force people out, and then you turn around and then you go, "Well, you know what?

We got a lot of homeless people out here."

Well, why don't you work on that?

They are slowly and quietly confusing people to think their city council and the mayor is doing great for this city.

They are (bleep), they stole... RYAN WARNER: This is Colorado Matters from CPR News, I'm Ryan Warner.

A Denver coffee shop remains in hot water after placing a sign out front that read, "Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014."

Protests erupted after people in the historically Black Five Points neighborhood caught wind of it.

As much as people like to tell that gentrification improves the area, gives us something nice, we know that research shows that the overall net benefit to communities is negative.

In our communities, we keep talking about it as a race issue, but like I said, this is class warfare.

Gentrification is about being able to have the capital to displace people who cannot afford to stay.

(voiceover): That protest we organized over text over a day, and we had hundreds of people come out.

We started to recognize that we had some power to activate people around the issues.

(on camera): We're letting our politicians shape the city that they want, that they can profit off of.

We have to take back our city and people... (voiceover): I did an interview on the phone with a news reporter.

And I was so mad and I got off the phone, and my niece was like, "Tia, if you're so mad, why don't you just run?"

And, you know, I, I sat there for a minute in the car and I was, like, "This is a sign-- this is a sign."

And so I turned around, printed out the form, got my bank to notarize it, and filed my papers that day on my lunch break with my niece.

♪ ♪ We're gonna drive by a sign.

It's gonna blow your mind how big it is.

It's kind of awesome.

Hold on, keep your eyes up.

HENDERSON: Oh, my God-- Candi!

- Isn't that crazy?

- Yes!

Who made that?

Did you guys do that?

- The people who own this building did.

Ain't that crazy?

- They love you.

- What's funny about this race is that I don't know how much of people supporting me is love for me or hatred for Albus.

- Mmm.

- Because he's a, he's a hated character.

- Can we talk about that for a minute?

Like, because I don't-- again, what I always say, I'm a outsider.

- Mm-hmm.

- I don't know these people.

When I looked at Denver and I saw you had all these Black people in your government, right?

'Cause I'm not from here, I was, like, "Oh, good!

I could live here, look at all these Black people."

- Optics would suggest that this is a city that cares about Black and brown people.

I think we've upheld that façade for quite a while as a city.

- Mm.

MICHAEL HANCOCK: When I became mayor, this city was in trouble financially.

We had almost a double-digit unemployment rate in this city.

And the reality is that investment wasn't coming, and there wasn't a vision for moving the city forward.

Fast-forward to seven-and-a-half years later, this has become the most desirable city in the country, illustrated by the number of people who've moved here, 110,000 people in the last ten years.

People aren't stupid.

They know that we're hurting in this city.

It doesn't matter that we have a Black mayor.

We're still hurting in this city.

So, you know, for him to keep saying, you know, all of this economic prosperity, we have full employment.

Well, slavery was also full employment, and that didn't help us.

Hey, how you doing?

Never mind the cameras.

♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Lisa is my favorite girl.

I'm not really her favorite because I talk too much, but she's amazing.

This woman has a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a law degree, and a doctorate in education.

She's also a social justice advocate who has spent most of her career standing up for victims of domestic abuse and sexual harassment.

So when news broke in 2018 that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock had sent inappropriate texts to a female police officer on his security team, Lisa took to the Capitol steps to demand accountability.

CALDER ÓN: I watched how Michael Hancock, the mayor of our city, told voters that his conduct did not rise to the level of sexual harassment, and heard the outrage that a man in the highest office in the city would not be held accountable for his actions.

And then to see the city council also buckle under pressure from the mayor's office and the city attorney's office.

And it came to me that no one was going to hold him accountable in the halls of power.

Through a lot of soul-searching and thinking, "I don't want to give up my privacy."

On the other hand, I had to think of what would be worse, and what is worse is not having a voice in the future direction of this city.

WOMAN: Are you giving those out?

WOMAN 2: Yeah, aren't they awesome?

(chuckling) CALDER ÓN: In Denver's 160-year history, we've never had a woman for mayor.

For those who don't think that that matters, it absolutely should matter.

Representation matters.

WANDA JAMES: I am proud today to introduce Dr. Lisa Calderón.

(audience cheering) CALDER ÓN: Today, I stand before you as a native-born daughter of this city, a mother, a worker, a community leader, and educator to formally declare my candidacy to become the first woman mayor of the great city of Denver.

(crowd cheering) CALDER ÓN: You know, being brought up with my mother, who was an activist in the Chicano movement, I learned how to really rely on mentors, and so having tough-talking women who were, like, "We will take on any man," that was, you know, my modeling.

And so Veronica was just fierce, and I just loved her for it.

HENDERSON: Good morning, Veronica.

- How are you, my darling?

♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Veronica Barela.

Honestly, I could make a whole film about all the work this legend has done.

She was intersectional before it was even a word.

Veronica served as president and C.E.O.

of the community development corporation NEWSED for 40 years.

She championed affordable housing, local business development, and cultural celebrations in Denver's historically Latinx community.

JEFF FARD: Go ask the majority of Latina and Latino leaders where they got their origin, who mentored them, and what organizational foundation do they come out of, and I guarantee you it's gonna point back to Veronica Barela.

Here's somebody who has been there every step of the way.

You're gonna see a Cinco de Mayo celebration which is the largest in the country.

I remember when it was an idea of activists, but look at it today, the largest in the country.

Who's behind that?

Veronica Barela.

VERONICA BARELA: I feel really honored to be grand marshaling the event I started many years ago.

HENDERSON: Have you ever been the grand marshal before?

- No.

- This is your first time?!

- This is my... - Oh, (bleep)-- I mean, shoot.

- (laughing) - Okay.

I didn't know it was your first time.

- Well, usually, you ask, you know, like, mayors and governors and, you know, politicians to grand marshal.

Now that I've retired from NEWSED, I can be grand marshal again.

And maybe I'll be a politician soon.

(drums playing) ♪ ♪ HENDERSON: While Candi's district is deep in its fight against gentrification, Veronica's community is worried that they're next.

VERONICA BARELA: I was born and raised in La Alma-Lincoln Park and Thatcher also, my husband also grew up in La Alma-Lincoln Park.

So we've known each other since we were kids.

- That's why I act the way I do.

(Henderson laughs) THATCHER BARELA: What do I got to lose?

- But District 3 is interesting, because it's the highest poverty rate in the city.

So when you look at maps, like with the health and hospitals, or, you know, where it's prime for gentrification, you know, this area is always the darkest color.

They put these square houses in, and these square houses are very expensive.

CDEBACA: I was taught that success was to leave my neighborhood.

It wasn't until I left Denver that I realized that the whole point of teaching us success is to get out, is to leave our spaces vulnerable for takeover.

(trolley bell rings) SHAYLA RICHARD: The east side is officially gentrified.

There is a man jogging down Welton.

That is some (bleep), for sure.

I'm tell, I mean to tell you, I ain't never in the history of my life, and I've been in Denver my whole life, right?

I ain't never seen nobody jogging down Welton that wasn't running from a (bleep) dog.

WOMAN: No, no, he stopped, he stopped, maybe because there are Black people here.

- No, he didn't stop, he tired!

- (laughs) - (bleep) He's from Seattle.

He ain't used to all this altitude.

He about to bust open.

♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Shayla Richard is my homegirl-homegirl.

She always shows up and she has the biggest heart.

She's a single mom and a Black woman in tech, so, you know she's used to pointing out issues of inequity when others won't.

Shayla's district is on the outskirts of Denver, also known as the Far Northeast, and was originally built as affordable housing for Black and brown city workers.

Her neighborhood, Montbello, definitely suffers from a lack of investment by the city, and developers increasingly have their eyes on it for takeover.

And Shayla is not having it.

Our poverty rate is four times our employment rate.

Then that tells us we're the working poor.

HENDERSON: Right.

- Right, that number... (voiceover): I don't know when I became involved in politics, because my life has always been political.

I was born Black and I was born a woman, and I was born a Black woman in America, so my very existence is political.

I think I've always kind of had a sense of that.

I come from a family that is very knowledgeable and that has always been involved, maybe not necessarily running for office, but just in terms of being informed.

CDEBACA: Shayla, I met her through a friend and was able to build a relationship with her prior to deciding to run.

I'm gonna blame Candi CdeBaca.

It's Candi's fault-- no, I went to see her after she'd announced, and I was so excited for her, and she said, "Well, sister, you need to run in 11."

I'm, like, "No, I don't want to run in 11.

I, I just want to work and take care of my son."

I'd just finished coding school.

And I was, like, "Hmm, no, I don't think I want to do that."

And I kept thinking about it for a few more weeks.

Like, what would that look like?

What would... What would all that be about, what would happen with that?

And one Friday night in May, like, the first week of May, I was laying in bed chilling, 'cause I like to chill.

(laughs) And something just, I heard a voice that just said, "Do it."

"Do it."

HENDERSON: What I want to know, though, is, why are you running against it?

Like, what's Stacie Gilmore's deal?

This whole project has been, like, a learning experience for me, too.

I just don't know.

- Stacie is a good councilperson for a few people.

Stacie's good for a smaller percentage of individuals in, in District 11, opposed to a good councilperson for the majority.

She wasn't a co-sponsor on a bill that directly affects people of color, and yet you represent a district that has the highest percentage of people of color outside of District 3.

Your focus is on building and developing things that people can't afford, that your current citizens don't have access to.

So you're trying to attract a certain population and you're alienating others.

- Hm.

- But you still aren't interested in keeping us safe.

Who has to get hurt for it to matter?

- Yeah.

- 'Cause it's not our little Black and brown kids.

Somebody white gotta come out there and get (bleep) before you decide, "Oh, this is what you gotta do."

- Yeah, I hear you, you know I do.

- So I've decided I'm sick of this (bleep) and I'm gonna go ahead and go, went across the street, filed my papers, that (bleep) was free.

That was free-- I was right there, that was free.

The government and very savvy politicians really depend on and they count on the disenfranchisement and the apathy of this neighborhood, like, they count on you not to know.

They count on you not to be curious, to find out.

They count on your ignorance or they depend on your ignorance, because when you're ignorant to what's going on, oh, they can pass so many things over you because your head's been down and you've been working and grinding and raising your kids the whole time.

The reason why we're not getting what we're supposed to be getting is because there's not enough of us saying, "This is wrong."

FARD: If you look around the country and you look at Denver, you start seeing folks who are elected that have no connection to the communities, historically, that sent them to office.

Women particularly are seeing this.

And they're taking on mainstream politics, and they're running without permission, and they're running without the handshake.

And they're running without the backing.

Look at their backgrounds.

They're not political science majors.

They're not party people.

They're not individuals that are super-funded.

They are grassroots individuals who have looked at the political landscape and said, "I can't take this anymore."

CDEBACA: People need to understand how all of our struggles are connected to each other.

And I think that we live in a world that tries to make us feel like all of our fights are separate.

WOMAN: Hm.

- And it's one or the other.

And you have to pick your issue and you have to pick your lane.

We are products of divide-and-conquer.

We're taught that if we don't get it, someone else will.

There were so many points throughout our campaign that people tried to pull us apart.

People internal working on our campaigns who were saying, "You need to cut it loose."

Like, "You cannot be helping Lisa and Shayla."

There was even a point where we had an individual who was helping me at a extremely discounted rate.

Me and my partner, we were just, like, "Shayla needs a campaign manager.

"Let Shayla have the campaign manager so that she can at least get started."

Lisa saw a point where I didn't have a campaign office.

And she was, like, "You can share the campaign office."

There were points where I was taking all of my lit with me and taking all of their lit with me.

And my car was full of all of our stuff together.

Other campaigns charge to do that kind of thing.

They charge each other to do those things.

CALDER ÓN: In addition to that, we can also get folks who give whatever they can.

Nothing is wasted.

HENDERSON: One of the wildest things I discovered on my political learning journey was that it's not just about qualifications or experience or likability.

What it's really about is money.

Lots of money.

CALDER ÓN: Even our low-cost, high-impact campaign, we still have to get things printed and get the message out.

And it's expensive to do that.

HENDERSON: Like, so much money.

Hey, Jeff, what are you doing?

We're trying to make a funding deadline by tomorrow, so... Oh, my gosh, you're amazing.

Yes, you can do it right now, with me.

(voiceover): If someone were to tell you, before you ran for office, that you spend most of your time raising money, I can see why a lot of people would be turned off-- I did not know that.

I want to be out there with the people, I want to be developing policy, I want to have more forums and debates, and yet, I've been told from the beginning, "You need to spend most of your time raising money."

♪ ♪ DOMINIC DEZZUTTI: Good evening.

Joining us for the next 60 minutes are the six candidates who want the job of mayor of Denver: Lisa Calderón; Stephan "Seku" Evans; Jamie Giellis; Michael Hancock, our current mayor; Kalyn Rose Heffernan; and Penfield Tate.

For me, this election is really focused on creating a livable Denver.

HENDERSON: So we looked at the money that people are raising.

And one of your opponents, Jamie Giellis, she has so much money.

CALDER ÓN: Mm-hmm.

HENDERSON: And it's all LLCs giving out the maximum, all with, like, names that are, like, variations of Zeppelin or something.

Do you know anything about that that you could talk about, or no?

CALDER ÓN: Yeah, I mean, I think this is a challenge that women of color who are running face, and that is money that is from corporations and developers.

So right now, not only do I have to go up against an incumbent who has over a million dollars in the bank easily, because they're just throwing money at him.

But I'm also going up against someone who is a relative newcomer in our community, isn't as qualified as me in terms of knowing the community, knowing the issues.

And yet just by the amount of money she has, she's deemed viable, and I think that there's something incredibly wrong with the system that we judge someone's viability based on how much money is thrown at them, even though most of her money comes from essentially three people, their businesses, and their family members.

HENDERSON: How much money do you need?

- How much money do I need?

I don't know.

HENDERSON: Your campaign manager's here.

How much money does she need?

WOMAN: She needs about, to run the rest of the race, about 15 grand.

HENDERSON: 15 grand, that's what you need?

- That's what I need.

So if, I think I might have, I've raised $3,000, but I probably spent about $1,500 so far, and... (phone vibrates, Richard smacks lips) Wait, this is, hold on.

OPERATOR: Hello, this is a collect call from... (man speaking indistinctly on phone) RICHARD: Oh, Ashton in jail.

Because I literally have, like, a film crew in my house.

I'm giving, I was giving an interview.

All right, live your life.

(sighs) HENDERSON: What happened?

You don't know?

- He gives us a bunch of noise, a bunch of gibberish, and (bleep), which means it's not real.

I don't know.

HENDERSON: Does he want you to come get him out?

- I'm, I don't go get Ashton out of jail.

I don't do jail, I don't do it.

I have jumped in and tried to do everything that I could for him since he was born.

I named him, I pulled him out of my mother.

So he's gonna do what he's gonna do.

I can't prevent it, I can't stop it.

There's nothing I can do.

I'm tired, I'm (bleep) exhausted.

Because every time I try to do something for myself... ...he smells it.

For me, taking the risk to do this, because I know that life is fleeting and life is short, there are no guarantees.

But also just doing something selfishly because I've always delayed everything else in my life for other people.

(dog barking) CDEBACA: Excuse me, excuse me.

(voiceover): When I was growing up and in school, always being deeply invested in my studies, what I was doing was overcompensating for what was happening in my home life, for what we were dealing with when we didn't have gas and light, or when we didn't have food.

It was my way of putting on that façade so that people wouldn't judge me because of that.

So that I wouldn't get a different level of investment from my teachers because of that.

And it worked for me for so long, you know, I was able to just carry our family forward by pushing through at whatever cost.

And I feel like I'm in that exact same situation again, because I'm, like, reliving a pattern that I'm very accustomed to.

And it's a survival pattern.

I mean, I think about my mother and my father sitting in this seat.

My father's in prison and his daughter is running for council.

That's a big deal.

CALDER ÓN: You know, even at a young age, we knew that we were restricted by race and poverty, just in terms of how the external world would treat us at times.

My mother is Mexican, very large family.

My father is African American, and my father lived a life that was very fast.

He had a lot of demons that he was trying to stay ahead of.

And as a result of those demons, he was an alcoholic and was violent toward the women in his life.

A lot of times, you grow up thinking that that's normal.

That this is what is expected of girls and women.

This is just our plight in life.

I remember walking into the kitchen, living in the projects one day, and my mother was sitting on the floor, um, uh, in a pool of blood.

She had been stabbed in the leg by one of her abusive boyfriends.

At 17 years old, I was put out of my house from an abusive stepfather and went into the household of an abusive man who was my partner.

And that experience was incredibly brutal, 'cause I also experienced homelessness.

CDEBACA: A lot of it is stuff that you can't easily correct without help, right?

So it took me meeting other people.

It took me going to therapy.

It took me understanding intellectually how poverty affects people, how abuse affects people, to be able to push my life in a different direction.

But yes, my mom was a single mom.

We did grow up on public assistance.

My mom had mental health issues, she was abusive.

I ended up in an abusive relationship.

I escaped that relationship.

All of those things were just part of getting me to where I am now.

I was raised from a deficit.

And when you're raised from a deficit, there is a skillset and a resilience and a grit that you were given that other kids don't have.

It teaches you to put things into perspective about really, you know, what is worth fighting for, what is worth surviving for, and, and thriving for, because it's not just about me.

It's also about inspiring lots of other people.

(people talking in background) WOMAN: Tonight's candidates in the lot draw are the candidates whose names will appear on the ballot.

Candi CdeBaca.

(audience cheers and applauds) Albus Brooks.

(audience cheers and applauds) As long as it's not him first.

JOY: I know, that's what I'm trying to find out.

HENDERSON: Shayla's out.

JOY: She's out?

What do you mean?

CDEBACA: What?

HENDERSON: She's out.

RICHARD: It's very embarrassing to work so hard for something, and, you know, you're out there and you're running your mouth, right?

I mean, 'cause you are, you're running your mouth, and you're, you're, call your point out, you know, the mistakes of the incumbents and of, you know, you're doing all this, right, you're pointing fingers, right?

You're doing this.

And then one of the most seemingly easiest things to do, to execute, right?

Get signatures and get your (bleep) on the ballot, right?

That's supposed to be the easiest thing you do.

And that was the one thing that I didn't execute.

HENDERSON: I want to ask why you feel like that was on you, because in my understanding, that is something that a campaign manager could definitely... - Right, and, and very...

I think I own it because even at the end of the day, she is someone that I chose and paid to work with me.

I feel really guilty now, because even though I know that that's the right way for us to run together, I did not realize how hard it would be for all of us to staff these campaigns and to really find high-quality people willing to support us.

My biggest fear, I keep telling people, is really not losing.

My biggest fear is winning alone.

At every turn in my life, I've had to make these really tough decisions that feel like I'm leaving community and friends and peers behind, but it's really about, if I don't go forward, there's not gonna be anybody to pull them with me.

HENDERSON: What up, Thatcher?

Can we come in?

THATCHER BARELA: Can you come in?

- Yeah.

- Come on in.

Bienvenidos a la casa de Barela.

HENDERSON: All right, what do we got here?

- Here's my ballot.

HENDERSON (gasps): You got, you're doing your ballot?

Yes, queen!

I can't believe I'm here for this!

Veronica, how does it feel to vote for yourself?

VERONICA BARELA (chuckles): It feels wonderful.

It feels great; at least I know I got my vote.

HENDERSON: Thatcher, who did you vote for?

- I voted for the lady of the hour, and the day, and the night, you know-- I better get serious.

(laughing) VERONICA BARELA: He's been my champion about flyering.

By himself, I bet he's hit, I don't know, 3,000 doors, easy, yeah.

And today he was talking to about three different people, they said they voted for me.

Then he hit this one, and, and when you ask him, did, "Can I ask you who you voted for?

", and they say, "No"... (laughing) ...you know they didn't vote for you.

And what I want to do is organize people on corners with my signs.

I don't have any signs.

I'm gonna have to pull them up out of the yards.

KINGSTON: Happy Election Day!

Happy Election Day!

Happy Election Day, Mom!

All right, I got my Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez red lipstick on.

And I'm about to get on down to Brother Jeff's Cultural Center for the seminal moment of the film, hopefully.

Today's the day, it's Election Day.

(directional clicking) (people talking in background) You just got eight people in a row that voted for you on the text messages.

That's really good to hear-- jeez.

TAFOYA: We're gonna do it!

ALMA: Since we're right here, it's gonna have to show up.

So we probably can just do maybe ten minutes at the most, and then we got to, like, pack up and run to Univision.

"You're invited to join"-- okay, we ready?

(voiceover): It was actually more terrifying to decide to run than to think about being mayor.

(on camera): "Connecting."

I'm, like, "Bah, I can handle that."

But just, just getting over that threshold to say, "Are you willing to put yourself out there, expose yourself?

", all of the stuff that comes with it.

INTERVIEWER: Lisa, tell us a little bit about you, your background, and what brought you to be a mayoral candidate?

Hi, just checking to see if you voted today or if you need a ride to the polls or if you want to drop your ballot off.

MAN: I don't have none of that.

- None of that?

You don't want to vote?

Question: have you voted today?

MAN: I don't vote.

- Why?

♪ ♪ WOMAN: No, I just got home from work and I really don't want to be bothered with it, ma'am.

I'm sorry.

- Okay, thank you.

JOY: The few people that are saying that they did vote, they're saying that they, they got their ballots picked up by someone from the Hancock administration or someone from the Brooks administration, and so... - I'm not surprised, though.

- Same.

- Because people who are from a generation where just having someone who looked like you was enough.

- That's all that mattered, yeah.

- Yeah, that's all that mattered.

- That has screwed us over so many times.

- Exactly.

You know, I've spent my life leading horses to water.

In a family like mine, you get used to people just not taking that step themselves.

And so I'm prepared mentally for people to not vote, to not show up.

But I hope they do.

I hope they do.

HENDERSON: Okay, where are we going now?

- Office.

HENDERSON: Office.

- Yep.

(people cheer and applaud) WOMAN: Hi, Jay, this is Caitlyn calling from Dr. Lisa Calderón for Denver Mayor's campaign, and noticed that you have not... CALDER ÓN: I don't have expectations, really, anymore.

Instead, I'm just, like, "Hey, I'm just glad to be in the fight.

I'm glad that people are out there canvassing, calling."

We're doing everything we possibly can.

And at a certain point, then, it's out of my hands.

MAN: Thank you so much for your support for Candi and have a great day.

(people talking in background) Two hours to vote.

So good.

(Henderson giggles) HENDERSON: This is, like, the most I've ever seen you eat, by the way.

(giggles) CALDER ÓN: All right, Savannah, here is your ballot to hold onto.

Filling out my ballot with my name.

(giggles) I'm glad I get to vote for Candi.

Okay.

ELIZABETH: Hi, this is Elizabeth, your neighbor, calling on behalf of Candi CdeBaca, who's running for city council here in Denver District 9.

That's hilarious-- I had no idea.

I called, I phone-banked Lisa's daughter.

(laughs) WOMAN: Oh!

Hi, Savannah!

WOMAN 2: Hi, Savannah!

(all laughing) - When are you gonna be down here, sister?

- We're gonna go over there.

We're gonna head over there at 6:45.

- Okay, we're just getting here.

- All right, we'll see you there.

- Okay, bye.

It's Candi calling-- still working it.

So, um, it's 6:22 p.m., and I'm following behind Candi and Kerrie.

So far, in case anyone wants to know, like, what I've learned from working on this film thus far, is that politics is not easy.

Running these so-called little races is so much money.

It's designed to keep marginalized people in the margins.

I want things to be different in this city.

Is it raining real hard?

WOMAN: I think it's coming and going, coming... VERONICA BARELA: Okay.

I guess I don't have to take anything, huh?

I'm used to taking a whole bag of stuff.

WOMAN: Whole bag of stuff.

- Uh, yeah.

All of this came into my mailbox.

All of these people wanted to have your vote.

Did you give it to them?

Or are you gonna toss that ballot in the morning just like you tossed the rest of this stuff that's in the pile?

(people talking in background) MAN: Six minutes until you become a councilperson.

CDEBACA: Oh, I'm so scared!

(whimpers) Oh, God, where's Lisa?

I'm gonna throw up, I'm gonna throw up.

JOY: Breathe.

CALDER ÓN: Candi has arrived-- how are you doing?

CDEBACA: I'm scared.

CALDER ÓN: Yeah-- you've done everything you can.

You've done everything you can.

And one way or another, we are going to change this city.

You know, transitions are the most dangerous time.

But they're also the most powerful time, and I think you're being hit with both of those, right?

But I'm so grateful we're going through this together.

I'd be terrified alone.

We just need that little margin of victory.

We are gonna see that tonight in a few minutes.

ASHLEY WHEELAND: This is, like, the first round.

CALDER ÓN: Okay.

WHEELAND: Hancock 39.89, Jamie 26.54, with 25,000 votes.

Lisa at 15,000, third.

- Hm.

- Penfield's 14,000, fourth.

- Okay.

FARD: Jamie Giellis, 25,000 votes.

Uh-oh.

Now, you know I'm rolling with Dr. Lisa Calderón.

Um...

It's not over.

CALDER ÓN: Is anything up yet for Candi's?

WHEELAND: I'm sure it is-- let me pull it up.

(CdeBaca mumbles, Calderón chuckles) (bleep) CALDER ÓN: Well, you are close, so, no, you're close.

WHEELAND: You're in the first third right away.

JOY: We're in the first third, so we got, we got time.

CDEBACA: So that's a runoff?

WHEELAND: Yeah, if he doesn't get 50.

CDEBACA: (bleep), man.

(breathes deeply) FARD: The one to watch right now, everybody, council district number nine.

If no one gets 50% plus one, it's going to a runoff.

Councilman Brooks, he's sweating bullets right now.

He ain't showing up at his party.

MAN: Looks like Candi's gonna force a runoff.

WOMAN: Yes!

MAN: Down with Brooks!

- Down with Brooks.

WOMAN: Oh, my God, Mom, Veronica is in the lead!

(cheering and applauding) FARD: District number three, Veronica Barela 38%, Jamie Torres 37%.

Those two are battling it out.

Wow.

♪ ♪ The 8:30 numbers are in, and Mayor Hancock's numbers have gone up from 38 to 39,000.

Jamie Giellis is at 26%.

Lisa Calderón is at 16%.

Penfield Tate is at 14%.

If you are a Jamie Giellis supporter, you are happy.

It's going to a runoff.

VERONICA BARELA: So I'm expecting to be in a runoff.

I don't think the ballots that came in from this morning will put me over 51%, or 50... What is it, 51%?

TAFOYA: 50 plus one vote.

- 50 plus, wow, that's amazing.

So anyway, I'm, I'm not expecting anything.

- It's possible-- it's possible.

- Anything's possible.

- Anything's possible.

So the person... WOMAN: He's not going to get 50%-- you're already in a runoff.

He will not win, okay?

- Okay, this is... - So proud of you.

- ...(bleep) hard, man, it sucks.

Well, you know, if it was easy, we'd have the incumbent in office.

Y'all got another three-and-a-half weeks.

CALDER ÓN: Yeah, that's right, you do, you do.

WOMAN: Of course you do.

CALDER ÓN: I'm using my mama voice now.

- You do.

- You do.

- I have to.

- You have come too far.

And, and this last leg is not about him.

It's about the community.

- It's about the community.

- When you focus on the community, you will get your strength and you will run with it.

It's not about him anymore.

(cheering) MAN: Barela for District Three!

(cheering and applauding) Thank you, thank you so much for being here.

Over a year ago, when we protested the ink!

Coffee, we said at that time that things are not going to change unless we elect new leadership.

And we heeded the call that you all have for us to run for office-- are we going to win?

When you do a campaign, that's the first question, right?

But even if that question is uncertain, the next question is, can we build power?

(cheering) And I think what we have proven tonight is that we have built power across this city.

(cheering) We have at least two progressive candidates who are headed for the runoff: Veronica Barela and Candi CdeBaca.

(cheering and applauding) CDEBACA: When we entered this race, we didn't expect it to be easy.

(voice trembling): This race would have been a slam dunk if we didn't stand with our community on the streets, if we didn't stand for the poor people in this city.

(crowd reacting) WOMAN: You got this.

WOMAN: You got this, Candi!

(cheering and applauding) (cheering continues) - We love you!

WOMAN: We love you!

I did not want to win alone, but over and over, the people I have run with, the community I have run for, has said, "We know that at least one of us has to get through."

(crowd agreeing, clapping) 'Cause if we don't get one, I don't know... - Claim it, Candi, claim it!

- I don't know how many of our families will be left in this community after four more years of what we've been under.

And so I'm ready.

I didn't want to fight for another 28 days.

(all laughing) I didn't.

But I will dig deep and I will pull out what I need to pull to run for this.

And we are still positioned for a runoff right now.

- That's right!

(cheering and applauding) - (sniffles) FARD: We're getting an update, and there was a late rush of ballots, and they will be counting them for a while.

Your next results are gonna come in at about 10:00.

One minute-- oh, here we go!

(music playing in distance) She pulled ahead by 40 votes.

(music continues) 40 votes.

WOMAN: So, what does that mean, moving forward?

- Same thing, runoff.

Here we go.

JESSICA: Jamie and Veronica... - Yes.

- Jamie's pulled ahead.

Oh, 42 votes is not that serious.

WOMAN: Go to nine, go to nine, go to nine!

WOMAN: Nine, nine, nine, nine!

(crowd cheering) - Whoo-hoo!

Yes!

- Look, you went from 37.94 to, look, to 38.18... - And he went... - To 39.35-- that's math, baby!

- And he went down to 47.

- He's down to 47.

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

- Boom!

Come on, Candi!

(woman cheering in background) - What's the numbers... What's the number... What's the number differences?

- Of the number of votes?

- Yeah, the number differences.

WOMAN: We just got the largest share that was the votes that just came in.

But also, the people on this team were excellent.

(cheering) WOMAN: Never give up.

WOMAN: We know that we made over 15,000 contacts.

(crowd cheering) (woman continues) CALDER ÓN: We're all a bit exhausted, but we fought a good fight.

You all did, worked your hearts out.

I will do it again.

CALDER ÓN: You were great.

- I believe in you.

- Thank you, Brian.

CALDER ÓN: All right, Ashley, great job.

All right, we'll figure out what next, cleanup, all of that stuff.

So, we're going home.

CROWD (chanting): We love Candi!

We want Candi!

We want Candi!

We love Candi!

We love Candi!

(cheering) CALDER ÓN: I was not emotionally attached to winning or losing.

Maybe it comes from being a longtime organizer and never expecting to win a battle, but you expect to fight and to strategize and to keep going.

Social justice change is always incremental.

You know, it's rare when it all of a sudden happens.

You know, some people would want to, like, fantasize, like, "What, what if you're mayor?

What would you do?"

And I'm just, like, reluctantly would talk with them, but that's not how I thought about stuff.

I'm dealing with here and now.

And I'm dealing with the strategy to get us from A to B.

MAN: Give me the big smile, and stand by, and action.

GIELLIS: I'm Jamie Giellis.

As mayor, I'll take action to rein in out-of-control growth in housing costs.

MAN: You look great.

- GIELLIS: This run-off part?

- Jamie, you just look great.

- Can I just go ahead and say it (bleep) sucks?

HENDERSON: Yeah.

- (laughs): It really is not my favorite thing right now.

(voiceover): So, the night of the election, I reached out to both Penfield and Lisa, and said that night, "I would love to talk with you, I'd love to just sit, I know it's been a rough race."

You know, initially, I was not even thinking about endorsing Jamie Giellis, wasn't even on my radar.

I was, like, "Okay, we ran our race, we're done."

But after she and I met, along with Penfield Tate, for, it then became, "Am I gonna be able to live with myself "if I didn't do everything I possibly could do "to try to defeat someone "who has a history of sexually harassing women, "who didn't listen to the voices of folks of color "who are being gentrified out of our communities at a record pace?"

We all got into this for one reason, and that was to take Michael Hancock out of office.

We may have agreed, we may have disagreed along the way, but there was, there was still that primary focus.

You know, you go to war with the army that you have, not the army that you want.

And that's what I did.

(talking in background) We've come here today not to surrender our activism, not to be pushovers.

We've come because we decided not to say we're gonna sit this out.

CALDER ÓN: I understand that there's this mourning that had to happen.

Like, people really needed to express their sorrow around having someone that they wanted to vote for as opposed to someone who is a default, and not that they were excited about, like, I totally got that.

I couldn't process that with people, because I was still in campaign mode.

WOMAN: We love you, Lisa!

- ...means a lot to me... WOMAN: We love you, Lisa!

(cheering and applauding) CALDER ÓN: This convening today is not about Jamie or me or Penfield.

It is about what is in the best interest of Denver.

(applauding) WOMAN: Thank you, Lisa!

- You're welcome.

(laughing and cheering) We have a new opportunity to write a new playbook, and to have people come together.

That's what will win this election.

REPORTER: Is Ms. Giellis able to take a question?

- She'll be over in a moment, she just needs-- she got a little light-headed.

(people talking in background) HENDERSON: Hello!

(door creaking) May I come in?

ANDREA BARELA: Come on in, come on in.

(people talking in background) - Come on in!

Hi!

- Hi, mamacitas!

- (laughs) WOMAN: How are you?

- Good.

- Are you recording?

- Yes, I'm always recording.

So I'm coming by to see how you guys are doing.

ANDREA BARELA: We're good, we're just getting ourselves organized.

So are they loading our list, or how do we do it?

ANDREA BARELA: Let's get your phone out, and... ANNA ABEYTA: Should I give him that or West Colfax?

ANDREA BARELA: West Colfax.

MAN: Rock and roll, all right.

Did you pull it?

WOMAN: I didn't mean... MAN: Yep, that one worked.

- Okay, cool.

ABEYTA: So who's gonna get that other territory?

- You and I, because we're the best talkers-- okay, ready?

VERONICA BARELA: A lot of people are working on Candi's campaign... - But... - And kind of ignoring my campaign.

- I don't know if that's true.

I committed to helping her with an event she had on Friday.

There was, like, less than ten people there.

People believe that she's only in support of Jamie Giellis, and the people that believe she should have been supporting Hancock... VERONICA BARELA: Oh, that's happened to me... Yeah, that's happened to me left and right, so that's what I said: "Keep me out of this."

- Yeah.

- You know, I'm not telling you who I'm supporting, you know.

I met with both of them, that's the way life is, and don't push me to endorse either one of them.

♪ That's the way I live ♪ ♪ I live from day to day ♪ Ooh.

VERONICA BARELA: Hey, Jason.

- I'm singing, honey, I gotta go.

HENDERSON: Are you gonna be glad when this is over?

Yes, I'm gonna be very glad when it's over.

(clears throat): This has been very stressful.

- Are you open to the possibility of not winning?

- Yes.

- Like, how deeply do you think that will impact you?

I think it's certainly gonna deeply impact me.

Because I worked so hard.

We did everything we could to put out who I am and what I'm about, and my experience.

I guess what really bothers me is, a couple of people put a lot of money in my campaign.

- Mm-hmm.

- And that's gonna be really devastating for me if I don't win.

Don't beat yourself up for that.

HENDERSON: Yeah.

- I mean, you know what I mean?

HENDERSON: You can't even share that (bleep).

- This is actually-- in the way I see it, it's, it's really, in a lot of ways, payback for all you've given.

WOMAN: Where's your phone?

- Again, for free.

(laughs) And, and so, damn right they should be giving you money.

I mean, in all campaigns, there's a winner and a loser, unfortunately, and I believe you're going to win.

But if you don't, I know there's gonna be this natural inclination to be, like, "(bleep), people gave me a lot of money."

But you didn't waste it.

VERONICA BARELA: No.

- So, don't ever think that.

- Okay, thank you, honey.

- I'm ready, Anna!

Three more days, let's do it!

(jazz band playing) CDEBACA: Runoffs are strategically built around the incumbent's ability to inject a lot of resources very quickly into a do-or-die situation.

And so I knew that if we made it to the runoff, the runoff was gonna be harder than the entire time previous.

And so I definitely had concern, but I knew that our community wanted something different.

55% of our district voted against the incumbent.

Yes, I'm starting off behind, but I have an advantage here.

55% is a big deal, and we can take this.

(jazz band continues) Oh, my God, welcome, welcome, welcome.

Thank you guys for tuning in.

It's your host Shay J on the Brother Jeff network, Five Points news, here with mayoral candidate runoff Jamie Giellis.

Let's show her some love.

(others clapping) Thank you so much for being here today.

Do you know about the NAACP?

Just clearing up for the people that you know about the NAACP.

- Yes, yes, absolutely.

- Okay.

MAN: What does it mean?

- National African American... MAN: No.

- (laughing): You're gonna test me on this?

WOMAN: Yeah, you are gonna be tested on this.

MAN: Definitely, yeah.

- Yeah.

ANNOUNCER: Jamie Giellis for mayor?

Like Trump, she called undocumented immigrants criminals.

- Yes, we won't tolerate crime or criminal activity.

We will comply with authorities, we will comply with ICE.

ANNOUNCER: What does NAACP stand for?

- National African American... MAN: No.

- (laughing): You're gonna test me on this?

ANNOUNCER: Now Jamie Giellis has deleted racially insensitive tweets to hide her past views.

This isn't Denver.

We are all Denver.

MAN: I think she's a Republican who's voiced her opinion of what she thinks of minorities.

How do we support her?

CALDER ÓN: And she's actually not a Republican, 'cause that was one of the questions that I... - All the things she says sound Republican to me, whether she's a blue dog...

When I read this stuff she said, there's no way that I could flip my efforts into voting for her.

- And so the question becomes, do we go with someone who clearly... MAN: Who has, on the surface, said she dislikes us.

Well-- but she's never said that, to be fair.

WOMAN: No, she's never... - She's never said that.

MAN: No... - But I understand that that's the impression... - The impression she gives from the things she says are such, like, Latinos are criminals.

- Which she also never said.

I think your critiques are fair.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I'm, and I'm not here to defend her, 'cause believe me, Rebekah knows... (woman laughing) - You ran against her.

- I'm the last...

I know, I know, and what I'm trying to say is, I, I need us to really move past these two bad options.

Yes, there's things that she's said and done that we don't like.

But when she says "I will have you on my transition team, because I do have deficits," it means possibilities when we didn't have them with this guy.

WOMAN: That's right.

♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Man.

Lisa-- I can't believe she's doing this.

♪ ♪ I feel like I don't have the stomach for these politics (bleep), honestly.

Don't have the stomach for it.

(directional clicking) REPORTER: Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks says a supporter contacted him this morning after finding flyers on cars near Curtis Park with his face on them-- his face attached to the body of a monkey.

Just disgusting, right?

It has no place in our society.

CDEBACA: It was as offensive to me as it was to my opponent when I saw it, and I wasn't called about it.

I found out because I logged in to Facebook and had a notification where I was being accused of producing it by the mayor's director of public affairs.

So to find out about it in that way, one, it was public; two, it was directly accusing me from a high-level staff member on another campaign.

It completely disregarded all of the work that I've been doing throughout my career.

I have exclusively focused on racial justice, and people knew that.

It was my first real lesson in what desperation can look like when the power structure is crumbling.

They had a very far reach and they had a lot of power to shape that narrative.

You know, we talk in general about the power of money in elections.

But I don't think people really absorb the power of money in elections.

Because in the last week of the campaign, they were able to buy ads on every television station every five minutes that smeared me.

And we didn't have enough money to combat that.

So perception becomes reality.

And so unfortunately, we were left in a responsive position.

To sit there and say that, I think you need to acknowledge that you've made your own mistakes, as well, and we learn through them every single day.

- Just to clarify, Ms. Giellis is referring to text messages that you acknowledged sending in 2012 to the police, to the city employee.

There was never a lawsuit against me, there was never a sexual harassment claim against me, and there's never been a settlement that was directly related to my actions.

And the other thing is, when you see the texts from Detective Branch-Wise, you see my texts.

WOMAN: That's right.

(audience applauds) Mayor, can you... MAN: No, no, no!

You gotta finish that.

- Hold, please.

- You don't see...

The reason why I did that, the reason why I never said that it was sex-- that's why, the reason why I said it wasn't sexual harass... 'Cause you don't see the back-and-forth conversation that occurred.

(crowd exclaiming) That's the point I said.

And so, that's all I ever said... - Hold your applause, please.

(crowd yelling) - Sir.

(crowd yelling indistinctly) WOMAN: That's all the questions... We can't just avoid all the questions.

CDEBACA: I really am most worried about truth not coming across in its complete form.

And I'm looking to community to make sure that we are reclaiming that narrative and really taking an active role in shaping it.

- So I'm Detective Leslie Branch-Wise.

And as you all know, I worked in the mayor's unit for a short time before requesting to leave due to the culture that the mayor created while employed in his unit.

CDEBACA: Leadership starts at the top.

And I think when you have a mayor who blames the victim after sexually harassing... (audience applauds) someone who is in the police and tasked with protecting him, and then you have a council that refuses to investigate that, you create and feed into a culture of toxic masculinity that puts women in jeopardy and danger every single time they step into work, especially when they're in those spaces, in the department.

We all came together as city council and looked at all the evidence before us.

Now you have the evidence in front of you, that Detective Leslie Branch-Wise said that she was not sexually harassed through... (audience murmuring) ...through the affidavit.

CDEBACA: I think the cracks that we've created in the dominant power structure are significant.

MAN: Show some tact, show some class.

MAN 2: Hey, hey, hey, hey!

WOMAN: Yeah, you're one to talk.

- BROOKS: Okay, okay, bruh.

(audience erupting) You said she was a communist, bruh.

She never said that.

- What she said was a communist statement.

- She never... How is that a communist statement?

WOMAN: She's not a communist!

JOY: How is that a communist statement?

So if you can use that, that specific platform... - When she denounced capitalism.

- ...to lie about her, then you can use your platform... - I never lied about anything.

What she said she said.

I never took anything that she said out of context.

MAN: Yeah, it's not worth it.

JOY: Okay.

- She said what she said.

MAN: It's not, definitely.

Great to see you.

JOY: I'm okay, I just-- I just needed him to know where I stood.

MAN: I wanted to come over there and...

But you were handling it.

- I appreciate you.

CDEBACA: Whatever happens, we win, because what I come out of this with is more ammunition than I've ever had.

Now that I know the truth and the insides of this ugly machine, I think I can not only be an effective legislator if I get in, but I can be an incredible support and ally for people who want to put themselves through this hell going forward.

HENDERSON: What are you doing on Election Day?

VERONICA BARELA: Making phone calls all day.

ANDREA BARELA: We've been calling, making phone calls all day.

VERONICA BARELA: All day.

HENDERSON: Excited?

- No, I'm not excited.

I'm not.

- Okay.

- I'm just, just trying to hang in there is what I'm trying to do.

- All right.

- And excitement isn't a part of it.

(both laugh) HENDERSON: Oh, my God, you look so nervous.

Stop it.

- (chuckles) HENDERSON: So, how many ballots got turned in so far for your, for this district?

TAFOYA: Over 5,277, according to the last update.

- Wow.

But it's more than double what the last two municipal races were, which speaks to, I think, our outreach, and then the candidates that are running.

I think it's a good thing.

REPORTER (on radio): Does it seem like this race kind of got small?

HANCOCK (on radio): It got small, and it went places that unfortunately, that I can tell you I never felt the need to go or wanted to go.

(radio switches off) HENDERSON: I'm not happy about who I feel like I had to vote for for mayor.

I think it should have been Lisa.

Just when I started working on this, I kept thinking, "Oh, it doesn't matter, like, "who wins or who loses.

It's still gonna be, like, this amazing story."

But now I really care, 'cause I feel like the city of Denver is, like, losing, because they don't want to elect people that care about our most vulnerable members of society.

(bleep) politics sucks.

Like, I saw things over the course of almost a year of doing this, and none of it's (bleep) fair.

The whole thing is rigged in favor of money and white privilege and white supremacy.

And just, like, the power is not there for us.

And it never was meant to be there for us, and so for me, what Candi and Lisa and Veronica represent is, like, power and how much we need to have that in all levels of our government if we want a country that we can be happy to pass on to our children and our grandchildren.

Okay, so I'm going to vote.

(sniffles) (sighs) LADY SPEECH: So, you've upset everyone quite a bit with your gay (bleep).

(CdeBaca laughs) With your pro-homeless people (bleep).

And that's why you got as far as you did.

May your legs be replenished from all the walking you've done for freedom.

May you be grounded in the love from your ancestors, from your community.

May you be cleansed from all negativity that other people have tried to surround you with.

And you celebrate tonight, you did that.

You've already won in the hearts of so many.

There are little Black girls, little brown girls who think and who understand, who know they can be leaders because of what you have done.

That is a win.

And then you stand up for me.

♪ ♪ (man speaking on P.A.

in background) WOMAN: We need to sing a song now, everybody.

TAFOYA: Thatcher, you're the best singer.

You want to sing a song?

THATCHER BARELA: What do you want to sing?

I can break out my spiritual book.

(all laughing) WOMAN: I don't know if she voted.

(all talking in background) WOMAN: What I notice a lot about... - We're losing.

- ...Latinos these days, is, they like to blame poor people.

- (sighs, clicks tongue) (bleep).

- For a lot of (bleep).

And so, she was talking about...

I'm already losing.

THATCHER BARELA: You're already losing?

How do you know?

- They just updated the results, Grandpa.

MAN: You're losing?

What was it all about?

♪ ♪ (woman inhales sharply) (all laughing) LADY SPEECH: Turn on into that glow!

Turn into that glow!

(all laughing and exclaiming) - It's not over, but you went up.

It's not over, but you only came up.

(all exclaiming) (all laughing and cheering) (woman exclaims) LADY SPEECH: Put your shoes on and go to see your people.

JOY: Look at your people.

(CdeBaca exclaims) (crowd chanting): Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

- (shouting excitedly) (chanting continues, group cheering) (cheering and applauding) (cheering thunderously) - (speaking inaudibly) (cheering continues) (crowd chanting): Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

(cheering) So when are they gonna do the next count?

Has it come out yet?

- Yeah, the next count-- I lost.

I lost.

- For sure?

- Yeah, for sure.

MAN: Did you lose?

- Mm-hmm.

- By what?

By how many?

- 700.

(people talking in background) (firework going off) MAN: Whoa!

WOMAN: Hey, you.

- Hi.

- How are you?

- Good, how are you?

I'm sorry I put you through so much.

(chuckling) (crying softly) (people talking in background, harmonica playing) (Tafoya crying) - It's okay.

- (sniffles) - It's okay.

- (gasps) - It's okay.

- (sniffles) - We did everything we could, you did everything you could.

- (gasps) - Couldn't have done any more.

- (gasps) (sniffles) - Here.

- (sniffles) TAFOYA: Losing is the worst, but it's part of it.

Everyone wants the top, but none of the growing pains.

Thing is, Veronica scratched and clawed for the rest of us for 40 years.

It's been a real honor to walk the road with a real civil rights champion.

And of all the progressive women that were in here, one won.

And I guess that is-- at least one won, and, and I hope she won.

You are looking at the next city councilwoman.

(crowd cheering) CDEBACA: I don't...

I honestly... (cheering continues) MAN: You got it!

- (speaks inaudibly) - Uh!

Listen!

Listen, y'all, listen!

Listen, fam!

Listen.

- I've been talking... - Hold on.

- ...for a year and a half.

I don't even know what else to say.

- Ain't nothing else to say.

(laughs) - Because everything that I have been saying every single day, sometimes for hours at a time, is right here-- when we show up for ourselves... - Yes.

- ...we have power.

- Yes.

WOMAN: Raise your hands... - Raise your hands.

- ...if you volunteered.

Raise your hands!

JOY: That's you.

Y'all did this.

- Raise your hand!

- Y'all did this!

(crowd cheering) CDEBACA: They say that our supporters are rowdy... (crowd laughing and cheering) Misbehaved!

- (exclaims) - Inappropriate.

Too liberal!

And that is why I love all of you.

When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...!

CROWD: We win!

- When we fight...

CROWD: We win!

Oh, yeah!

(crowd cheering) (cheering and applauding) - So eat, drink, have fun, stay, do whatever you want.

We are done.

(people talking in background) ♪ ♪ HENDERSON: Do you think that if Jamie Giellis hadn't had made her, like, "gaffes," as the kids were calling it, like the NAACP thing.

If those things hadn't have been in place, do you think she could have won?

- I think she could have won.

She was polling, actually, ahead of Hancock before the negative campaign ads.

So...

But I also don't want us to be na ïve about it.

So, yeah, she made some gaffes, so did Hancock.

The Hancock administration dumped a million dollars the last week of the runoff to run that negative campaign ad.

She was the one who got it then.

I would've gotten it if I would've been in the runoff, and there's no counter.

I would not have had the money to counter whatever they put out against me.

We had, second to the mayor, the most individual donations of any other campaign.

And we had well over 1,000.

We were able to raise close to...

I think we were a little bit over $150,000 or $160,000.

And it was through grassroots donations.

None of those dollars were really from some big entity.

It was from regular, everyday people all over, who sacrificed a cup of coffee or a movie, and instead gave those dollars to our movement.

(group exclaiming and clapping) You like?

WOMAN: Damn!

(howls, others laughing) CDEBACA: People are viable when we invest in them, and we make them viable by investing in them.

CALDER ÓN: Hello!

(all exclaim) (CdeBaca exclaims) CALDER ÓN: Candi and I had a conversation, and, you know, it was interesting, 'cause I was thinking about, "What am I gonna do next?"

And applying for different jobs and things.

And then it just hit me, like, why am I not offering my support and services to Candi?

Like, I'm in her district.

We ran together; that's how we met.

Before I could get, like, all of my sentences out of my mouth, she was, like, "Yes, let's do it!"

(people talking in background) ♪ ♪ Yeah, I'm gonna be her chief of staff, and we're gonna be able to do some things in this district that we both have been fighting for for a long time.

And we're aligned on all of the issues that put us in the race in the first place.

HENDERSON: When you guys walk through the building, how does it feel?

It's hilarious.

WOMAN: Yeah, it's pretty funny.

- 'Cause they don't expect to see us here.

WOMAN: They don't even know-- they don't even know which way to scatter.

(all laugh) They're, like...

It's, like, "We have no contingency plan for this!"

Candi, quick reminder: You cannot disrupt yourself from the dais.

CDEBACA: Right.

Okay, okay, okay... WOMAN: Lookit!

- It has my name on it.

(all speaking at once) - It's... (group laughing, exclaiming) (all laughing and talking) WOMAN: Okay, great.

WOMAN: Congratulations.

- Congratulations.

WOMAN: You are now a councilwoman.

- (softly): Yay!

♪ ♪ (people talking in background) MAN: Good morning, Denver!

(crowd cheers) Welcome to the 2019 inauguration of municipal officials of the city and county in Denver.

Councilman Christopher J. Herndon, representing District 8.

(crowd cheering) Councilwoman Candi Lee CdeBaca, representing District 9.

(crowd cheering) WOMAN: Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

Candi!

CALDER ÓN: Campaigning is one thing, but we have to really think about what does it mean to lead an uplift an entire district, not just speak to your base of supporters.

Part of governing is reaching out to people who disagree with you.

It was one of the things that I was a critic of of this administration, that they didn't listen to people whose views that they didn't like.

WOMAN: Stop criminalizing the homeless, Mayor Hancock!

Stop the sweeps!

Stop criminalizing the homeless, Mayor Hancock!

(crowd cheering) MAN: Four more years!

Four more years!

(crowd applauding) HENDERSON: So in your new role, like, will you be interfacing with the mayor?

Most definitely, and I'm looking forward to it.

(laughs) But I also think in a different capacity-- like, for me, my focus isn't him.

My focus is continuing to build power in the community, and that excites me.

HENDERSON: I feel like we're gonna see you on the national stage.

Ooh.

I don't know.

You know, a lot of people keep saying that and bringing that up, and...

When I talked about the mayoral race and how hard it must be to craft a message that resonates with such a broad spectrum of interests and desires, that challenge is exponentially greater when you run to represent us at the federal level.

And I don't know if our state or our country is ready for the message that I'm willing to carry.

♪ ♪ CALDER ÓN: I had read something that, even though Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won, there was something like 60-something candidates that were backed by, you know, the same organization who didn't win.

I think it's important to remember that, because this is a process, and it's going to take multiple attempts, and it doesn't necessarily mean it has to be by the same person.

But we have to, like, keep going and keep building on the efforts.

Whether that a person won or didn't win, that was still a organization that was built, that was still lots of names in a database, that was still messaging that happened.

Like, we have to keep that momentum, but I also don't want to be flippant about it.

Like, it is hard (bleep), right?

It is emotionally hard, it is financially hard.

And there has to be something inside you that burns within you to keep going day in and day out.

That's why I'm, like, proud of my race.

Like, I don't have any regrets or angst or shame about my race.

I mean, like, you know, this, we built power.

It's what we set out to do, and we're not done yet.

We're gonna keep going, and it's gonna just take on a new form, but the energy is still there.

The initial ideas and principles are still alive.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You got the... Ooh ♪ ♪ You got to put it there, you got to triple it ♪ ♪ Starvin', stomach touchin', no lunchin' ♪ ♪ Broke, no hope ♪ ♪ Pocket lint clutchin' ♪ ♪ Can't eat, can't sleep, can't function ♪ ♪ Cop pushin' me in the street, bum rushin' ♪ ♪ Pull somethin' out of the trash can and ate it ♪ ♪ Pretend imaginin' my mom just made it ♪ ♪ Breath smelling like boat smoke with no soap ♪ ♪ Sprinkle of soap, holes that my toenails poke ♪ ♪ In my sock from walking the block with no shoes ♪ ♪ If I die, I won't even make it on the news ♪ ♪ Bump Chill giving this shpiel a narration ♪ ♪ Hancock, it's on your watch, legislation ♪ ♪ Talk about my tax dollars, put it in context ♪ ♪ Buy land, build a complex ♪ ♪ It's not that complex ♪ ♪ I'm not impressed because we're failin' the test ♪ ♪ Folks claimin' that they're blessed ♪ ♪ But you're lookin' a mess ♪ ♪ Keep a watchful eye in my eye ♪ ♪ What you do when the dark comes out on the block ♪ ♪ Kids with no place to go, they just roamin' ♪ ♪ Pushed out from gentrification and zonin' ♪ ♪ Hone in on the issues, get it fixed ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ ♪ Picture the vision ♪ ♪ Do you care how they livin'?

♪ ♪ Is your pride a mile high?

♪ ♪ Hancock, the unforgiven ♪ ♪ Forbidden people who treated unequal ♪ ♪ Never-endin' sequels, this world is pure evil ♪ ♪ It's a war going on outside ♪ ♪ Face your fear ♪ ♪ Lack of humanity damaged us from the rear ♪ ♪ We got money for wars but can't house the poor ♪ ♪ Bank accounts galore hiding billions offshore ♪ ♪ Too many rich people making mils ♪ ♪ Poverty's prophets are deceptive ♪ ♪ Now tell us who's a villain ♪ ♪ You'd rather see them in... ♪ - I look forward to serving you... ♪ ...like a toy all wound up ♪ ♪ Homeless caps round up ♪ We'll build from the ground up ♪ ♪ Scared to come around Bluffs ♪ ♪ What would you do if this was you?

♪ ♪ Would you take it for granted the way you do?

♪ We knew you would ♪ ♪ To Mayor Hancock ♪ ♪ The streets need you ♪ ♪ You promised you'd do something ♪ ♪ But we don't believe you ♪ - So, Running with My Girls, we finished the film in 2020.

It premiered 2021, and it is now 2023.

Dr. Lisa Calderón ran for mayor again in 2023.

She again came in third place.

She recently just started a new training program for women to, to run for office.

So she's working on continuously, like, building that army to run powerful women.

Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca ran again in 2023.

Unfortunately, she was unseated this election.

But, on the positive note, she's also a new mom and has a brand-new baby.

So she lost the race, but her baby won.

That's how I feel about it.

Veronica's still working, running nonprofits, saving them, housing, working on, you know, affordable housing projects.

She will not quit, she is just, stays, stays working for the community.

Shayla Richard is continuing to work and raise her son and working on her philanthropy.

She's on the board of the new training org Women Uprising.

Shontel Lewis ran for city council and she won.

We couldn't be more proud, we couldn't be happier.

She's actually my councilwoman now.

She represents my district.

At the end of the film, it is noted that I said I would never run for office, but I did run for a seat on my, on my H.O.A.

And I won my seat.

I'm not running for any other office.

So please don't ask me that.

I am not running for office, and people need to stop asking me.

(laughs): It's not happening.