Denver’s Initiative 300 , which would have required all businesses in Denver to provide paid sick leave to employees lost big tonight, with a margin approaching 2-1. Early polls showed the sick leave measure winning, but Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and a majority of the Denver City Council urged no votes and opponents raised nearly twice the money supporters raised during a campaign that quickly became ugly. From a press release issued by opponents to the measure, Keep Denver Competitive: Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Michael Hancock, a majority of city council members, the state’s leading business and employer organizations and hundreds of small, family-owned businesses, voters understood Initiative 300 was flawed and would have hurt Denver’s smallest businesses the most.