A few days ago, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s office remained hopeful about a citywide ballot measure to advance his affordable housing priorities.

But on Saturday, Johnston conceded Ballot Issue 2R’s failure, which lost at the ballot box by a slim margin.

The latest tally showed the ballot measure trailing by fewer than 5,000 votes, despite no organized opposition and more than $2.4 million in support from Affordable Denver, the group that campaigned for the measure. 

As of Monday, 50.74% of voters said “no.”

“We are grateful to the council members, housing advocates and community leaders who took on the challenge of addressing our affordability crisis head-on,” Johnson said in a statement on social media. “We knew this would be a difficult struggle, but thanks to their courage, 2R fell short by the narrowest of margins, and Denverites continue to speak loudly about the need to confront rising housing costs across Denver.”

More significantly, the proposal was directly tied to one of Johnston’s campaign promises.

During his campaign for mayor last year, Johnston offered what he described as an ambitious plan to create more than “25,000 permanently affordable units within 8 years.” He envisioned those units going to teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers. At the time, Johnston said it would cost $72 million a year to construct 25,000 homes.

His funding proposal this year — which would have raised the city’s sales tax rate by 0.5 points— would have cost roughly $30 million more than his campaign pitch.

Johnston’s administration also sees affordable housing as key to curbing the city’s homelessness crisis.

Political observers and others offered two explanations for the measure’s failure: the proposal’s clear lack of spending guardrails and its “frustratingly vague” rollout approach.

“Denver voters weren’t quite ready for this ballot measure after the considerable amount of money and successful effort that Mayor Johnston put forth in addressing homelessness and the migrant influx,” said Michael Dino, a political expert who served as campaign manager for former Mayor Wellington Webb. “I think Denver voters will be more receptive to a future affordable housing ballot proposal with a clearer implementation plan.”

Others cited the plan’s ambiguity, as well as worries about the impact of sales tax increases on low- and middle-income residents.

Despite the loss, Johnston said he is optimistic about future housing efforts.

“Our toughest problems are solvable, and we are the ones to solve them — that will never change,” he wrote.