Special Interest Money for Special Election
Campaign Financial reports for four issue committees related to the zoning referendum election were posted on February 6, 2026. The reports show a lot of non-Lakewood special interest money on one side.
special interests
Special Election Set for April 7
Lakewood City Council unanimously decided to put the zoning code up for a vote on a special election on April 7, 2026. Both pro-zoning and anti-zoning advocates requested the special election. Both sides believe they have the support of the people.
The decision to put the zoning code on the ballot was not about the zoning code. The issue was whether City Council would listen to the people. City Council rushed to approve a new zoning code without a public discussion of the underlying densification decision. The actual changes were a different discussion than the broader Comprehensive Plan or “affordable housing” discussion. Once people started to understand zoning densification impacts, there was a rising number of complaints. City Council Members discounted these voices as a “small minority.”
Council Beholden to Housing Special Interests
Lakewood City Council may be beholden to housing special interests for their place on council. Overall campaign contributions to sitting Lakewood City Council are about 38% from local residents, and 62% from non-resident or special interest donations. This raises the question of whether these special interest obligations are influencing local Lakewood zoning decisions. The National Association of Realtors is the biggest named contributor with the Metro Housing Coalition being the second largest.
Note these numbers do not reflect current campaigns.
Councilors Sophia Mayott-Guerrero and Jeslin Shahrezaei did not receive any local resident donations.
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