EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been edited from an earlier version to clarify Aaron Futrell’s comments during the Zoom meeting. Futrell said that when he dropped out of the city council race earlier this year, he did not feel pressured by Democrats to end his campaign.

AURORA | In a last-ditch effort to narrow the candidate pool in the Aurora at-large city council race, a handful of local Democrats attempted but failed to persuade an independent running candidate to withdraw from the November contest.

“I’m independent,” Watson Gomes, at-large city council candidate, said. “We might align with a lot of things. I chose to be independent for a reason. Because I don’t like party ideology. I like to engage with people. I like to see different things, but also stay true to my core values and

See Full Page