The president of the Denver teachers union will hang onto his position, according to results of a mandatory recount.
Henry Roman, head of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, held off challenger Tommie Shimrock, a middle school teacher and leader of a slate of progressive, social justice-oriented candidates, according to the union.
Initial results announced last month showed Roman with 906 votes to Shimrock’s 857. The margin was within the 3 percent threshold for an automatic recount.
The recount, conducted Friday night, changed little, according to a union announcement: Roman finished with 905 votes to Shimrock’s 855.
Still, the progressive slate — which grew out of a new caucus within the union — took four of the seven union leadership seats in play, including vice president.
Roman and his allies ran on a platform that the union has been making progress in better engaging members, challenging Denver Public Schools in court and turning out large numbers for contract bargaining.
The challengers portrayed the establishment as ineffective in battling a “corporatist” district agenda, unsuccessful in influencing school board elections and inadequate in addressing broader social justice issues.