Travis Leiker

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Travis Leiker

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

April 4, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

University of Colorado Boulder

Graduate

University of Colorado Denver

Personal

Profession

Development director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

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Travis Leiker ran for election for an at-large seat of the Denver City Council in Colorado. He lost in the general election on April 4, 2023.

Leiker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Travis Leiker received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver. His professional experience includes being a senior director of development for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Leiker has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, past president and supporter
• Cobalt Advocates (Previously NARAL Pro-Choice), past president and supporter
• World Wildlife Fund, supporter
• Nature Conservancy, supporter
• Historic Denver, member
• Museum of Contemporary Art, member
• Denver Pride Professionals, member
• Colorado Symphony, supporter
• Dumb Friends League, supporter
• Denver Animal Shelter, supporter
• PFLAG, supporter
• University of Colorado Boulder Alumni Association, member and supporter
• The Park People, supporter
• Denver Park Trust, supporter

Elections

2023

See also: City elections in Denver, Colorado (2023)

General election

General election for Denver City Council At-large (2 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Denver City Council At-large on April 4, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez (Nonpartisan)	20.6	52,891
✔	Submit photo	Sarah Parady (Nonpartisan)	16.6	42,662
		Penfield Tate (Nonpartisan)	15.6	40,070
		Travis Leiker (Nonpartisan)	15.1	38,757
	Submit photo	Tim Hoffman (Nonpartisan)	10.3	26,518
		Marty Zimmerman (Nonpartisan)	7.6	19,649
		Will Chan (Nonpartisan)	6.5	16,647
	Submit photo	Jeff Walker (Nonpartisan)	4.2	10,772
	Submit photo	Dominic Angelo Diaz (Nonpartisan)	3.3	8,572
	Submit photo	Janelle Jenkins (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.1	319

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 256,857
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Antonnio Benton II (Nonpartisan)
• Carlos Anderson (Nonpartisan)
• Danny F. Lopez (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

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To view Leiker's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Leiker in this election.

2015

See also: Denver, Colorado municipal elections, 2015

The city of Denver, Colorado, held elections for mayor and city council on May 5, 2015. A runoff took place on June 2, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 11, 2015. All 13 city council seats were up for election. In District 10, candidates included Chris Cornell Wedor, Wayne New, Travis Leiker, Anna Jones and Chris Chiari. Because no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote in the general election, the top-two candidates — New and Jones — faced each other in a runoff on June 2. New was the winner. Incumbent Jeanne Robb did not run for re-election.

Denver City Council, District 10 Runoff Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Wayne New	51.9%	5,291
Anna Jones	48.1%	4,910
Total Votes		10,201
Source: City of Denver, "Official runoff election results," accessed July 30, 2015

Denver City Council, District 10, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Wayne New	34.7%	3,942
Anna Jones	33.1%	3,754
Travis Leiker	20.9%	2,369
Chris Cornell Wedor	6%	677
Chris Chiari	5.4%	609
Total Votes		11,351
Source: City of Denver, "Official general election results," accessed May 19, 2015

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Travis Leiker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Leiker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

When Travis Leiker moved to Colorado nearly twenty five years ago, Denver was on its way to becoming a world class city. The economy was growing. New residents were moving here each month. Investing in neighborhoods was essential. The community and city leaders were united and focused on a clear vision–shaping the future of a great city.

Denver has changed, and Travis Leiker is a different kind of candidate.

Growing up, Travis moved around a lot. His father worked his way up the corporate ladder, which meant Travis attended nine schools in five states by the age of 16. During that time, Travis spent some time in the conservative south as a young, bookish, gay man. Needless to say, he was the frequent target of bullies. These experiences, coupled with the strength and confidence instilled in him by his mother, taught Travis the importance of home and why it matters to have roots in a community. His background has shaped who he is. Travis possesses a deep empathy for those who have been counted out and the determination to fight for those who have been marginalized.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Opportunity can be created through smart public policy and consensus building. Your zip code is one of the key determinants of your destiny. We need to invest in Denver neighborhoods to foster economic opportunity and ensure neighborhood vitality. Each Denver neighborhood should have access to the things that make a place special – parks, libraries, transit, walkability, and safety.
• Breaking down silos and forging partnerships is essential to Denver’s future. I am committed to working with housing providers to boost significantly affordable and attainable housing city wide. We can and should build a diverse housing stock and we can work with state and federal leaders to invest in rental assistance, down payment support, or other new ideas.
• Responding to vexing issues requires steady, but decisive, leadership. On the issue of homelessness, we must develop and implement strategies that build neighborhood cooperation and support for city-wide solutions. This includes more funding, better city management, data centered analysis, and more effective program implementation.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Environment and sustainability, affordability, safety, and equity.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

For nearly two decades I have reshaped organizations to deliver the outcomes we need to improve communities. I have managed staff, overseen boards, administered large scale budgets, and facilitated millions of dollars in philanthropic-private-public partnerships. As senior director of development at the University of Colorado, I expanded the university’s influence and impact through impact investing. These initiatives invest millions in research, scholarship opportunities for underrepresented populations, and deliver health care programs in underserved areas. Additionally, I have served as president of Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods. CHUN was once a decades-old nonprofit facing insolvency. Now the organization is one of the most effective organizations in Denver. We collaborate with other neighborhoods and organizations across the city to get important work done. Equally important, we lean into our shared values, remain solutions oriented, and say “No” to distracting pettiness and squabbles. I also accomplished a lot early in my career at organizations like Conservation Colorado and as past president of the NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado [Cobalt Advocates] where I fought for policies that resulted in more equity, freedom and opportunity. Right now, our city faces unprecedented challenges around homelessness, the housing shortage, safety, and bringing forward long-term, smart growth policies and investments that will shape our city for future generations. I am acting as an honest broker to bring people together, find solutions that work, and fixing broken systems.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Denver needs leaders who are focused on not only tackling the problems we currently face, but also looking for opportunities 5, 10, and 20 years down the road. By the time I leave Denver City Council, I hope that constituents see and feel that I helped make our city more affordable, sustainable, and accessible. that I will have exhibited integrity, fairness, and a commitment to equity that shaped a great city for everyone.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Gatekeepers. It provides different approaches to reaching complex goals in government, and I enjoyed the historical background and behind the scenes look on White House administrations.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Growing up reading comic books, I’d want to be Superman. When you are from a small town in Kansas, your options are to be Bob Dole and Superman. I chose Superman and sport the Clark Kent glasses, too.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2023 Elections

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