Mike Johnston, Kelly Brough maintain their big leads in Denver’s mayoral race; several City Council contests remain close

Former state Sen. Mike Johnston and former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Kelly Brough remained the top two vote getters in Denver’s mayoral contest on Wednesday afternoon after officials counted a surge of ballots that were submitted on Election Day.

Johnston had about 25% of the vote while Brough had 22% as of 2 p.m. In third place was Lisa Calderón at 16%, about 8 percentage points — or 7,000 votes —behind Brough.

A candidate needed to win 50% of the vote to win outright. Instead, the top two vote getters will advance to a runoff on June 6. The next Denver mayor will replace Michael Hancock, who took office in 2011 and won reelection twice. Denver’s mayor is paid more than $188,000, with the City Council poised to potentially hike the salary and benefits…