In what is being called one of the city’s most expensive races on this year’s ballot, Denver votersare leaning heavily toward keeping the city’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco, according to the latest tally. In late December 2024, the Denver City Council decided to outlaw the sale of flavored tobacco products within the city and county. The ban, which passed on a vote of 11 to 1, makes it illegal for any retail tobacco store to “sell, offer for sale, give, barter, deliver or furnish any flavored tobacco product or samples of such products.”
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, waded into the fight over Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, contributing more than $5 million to Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco, according to Denver Searchlight, the city’s online database for campaign and finance disclosure.
Bloomberg, known for his anti-tobacco stance, has sought to advance policies that discourage tobacco use through his organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies.
In March, a group of vape shop owners — Phil Guerin, Ellen Rochelle, Shanna Finch, Kristen Hensel and Russel Hensel — pushed back by turning in 17,000 signatures to the city, almost twice the 9,500 needed, to put Referendum 310 on the Nov. 4 ballot. The referendum sought to repeal the ban…