In a remarkable display of irony, a Denver mayoral candidate, Shontel Lewis, who proudly wears her Democratic Socialist politics on her sleeve argued over the weekend that stealing thousands of dollars in public food-stamp benefits should not disqualify her from leading the city. 

If anything, she suggested, it makes her more qualified.

"What do you say to folks who believe that that criminal conviction is disqualifying for somebody who wants to serve as mayor because it involved public monies?" Kyle Clark of 9News Denver asked.

"I actually think that experience is what actually qualifies me," Lewis said. "Twenty years ago, I was young. I was a young mom. I was grieving. I did something really silly and I paid my restitution. I did my time and I took care of what I needed to do while also navigating all the ills of poverty."

The irony is astonishing, particularly from a self-described socialist, because it reinforces one of the ideology’s most enduring criticisms: that those empowered to dispense taxpayer-funded benefits may come to view themselves as entitled to more than everyone else. George Orwell captured that critique most memorably in Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

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Now, she wants Denver taxpayers to trust her with the city’s services and finances while also trusting that she will not excuse crime based on supposedly extenuating circumstances, or govern as though some people are simply more equal than others.

The most troubling part is that Lewis stole public-assistance benefits while working as a government employee in the office responsible for administering them. In 2008, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft after investigators accused her of using her position at Colorado’s Department of Human Services East Food Stamp Office to access and reissue Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards tied to other people’s assistance accounts. 

Lewis initially faced felony charges, but ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Court records cited by The Colorado Sun state that she admitted to reissuing cards intended for other recipients for her roommate and herself. She received only 18 months of probation. 

Lewis has represented Denver City Council District 8 since July 2023.