Two Democratic vacancy committees this week will meet to pick successors to two state senators who resigned in December.
Two candidates will vie on Monday for Sen. Janet Buckner of Aurora’s seat in Senate District 29.
Buckner resigned in December, telling Colorado Politics 2024 that it had been challenging due to family and friend deaths and other issues. She said that made her put things in perspective, and during the interim, she spoke to family and friends about priorities.
“For the first time in a long time, I decided to prioritize Janet,” she said.
BREAKING: Colorado Democratic Sen. Janet Buckner to resign, effective Jan. 9
The candidates looking to replace Buckner are Rep. Iman Jodeh and Maya Wheeler.
Jodeh won re-election to her third term in the House in November. Her legislation has focused largely on affordable housing and health care. She sponsored the Colorado Option bill, which established a state-mandated health insurance program, and in 2023, she was one of the prime sponsors of Gov. Jared Polis’ failed land use bill.
In 2024, she again sponsored Polis’ chief housing measure on transit-oriented communities, which was signed into law in May.
Wheeler is the executive director of the Wezesha Dada Center of Aurora, which works with women of color on economic prosperity. She previously led the African American Chamber of Commerce.
The vacancy meeting, which will be live-streamed, starts with a candidate forum at 6:15 p.m. and ends with the election at 7:15 p.m.
On Tuesday, seven candidates are expected to face off to succeed Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver for Senate District 31. Hansen resigned to take a job as CEO of La Plata Electric in Durango.
The candidates are:
Rep-elect Sean Camacho who was elected to represent House District 6 in November. In the June primary election, he defeated the incumbent, Rep. Elisabeth Epps.
Rep. Steven Woodrow, who was re-elected to his fourth term in November. Woodrow, known for sometimes inflammatory rhetoric on social media, was the other House sponsor of Polis’ transit-oriented communities bill as well as the 2023 version. His 2024 legislation also included regulations on use of prior restraint and an attempt to prohibit the use of algorithms to set rent.
Matthew Ball is the director of policy for the city of Denver.
Christian “Chris “Chiari is CEO of Denver-based The 420 Hotels.
Iris Halpern is an attorney and partner at Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC.
Shaneis Malouff is chief of staff at the Auraria Higher Education Center, which houses the Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Community College of Denver, and the University of Colorado-Denver.
Monica VanBuskirk is the CEO of the consulting firm Meapta, Inc. She previously served as chief policy and relationships officer for Connect for Health Colorado.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 with a candidates’ forum, with the election following at 7:40 p.m. It will also be livestreamed.
With these two elections, 20 lawmakers will have gained seats through the vacancy process at some point in their legislative careers. That number could rise depending on who wins the elections this week.
In the 2023-24 sessions, 28 lawmakers gained seats through vacancies at some point in their terms of office.
The resignations by Buckner and Hansen have prompted more calls for vacancy reform.
3 Colorado senators are expected to resign, prompting calls for vacancy reform
On Saturday, Douglas County Republicans chose former CU Regent John Carson to fill out the last two years of the term of former Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, who resigned in December after being elected to the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners. Van Winkle resigned from the Senate in December after the resignation of Commissioner Lora Thomas, who stepped down five weeks early after what she called a pattern of abuse and harassment from the other two commissioners, Abe Laydon and George Teal. Gov. Jared Polis appointed Van Winkle to complete Thomas’ term.
All three new senators must run for those seats in 2026 to stay in office.
