A nine-member Democratic vacancy committee in Weld County on Sunday selected Mary Young to replace former Rep. Rochelle Galindo following Galindo’s resignation from her seat last month.
Young is a first-time public official who works as a school psychologist and was previously a special education teacher. Her husband is Colorado Treasurer Dave Young, a Democrat who held the seat until Galindo took over this year.
She was selected from a field of six candidates vying for the House District 50 seat based in Greeley. The Colorado Democratic Party says she got six of the nine votes.
“I’ve thought about public office for awhile,” Young said after her appointment. “… I have many agendas, but my primary is mental health and school safety. I think we’re in a critical time.”
Galindo, 29, stepped from from the post after only one year of her two-year term. She was facing a recall and then was accused of sexual misconduct.
Police have cited her with providing alcohol to a minor but did not pursue charges in connection with allegations of sexual assault leveled by a someone who worked on her 2018 campaign. Galindo says the accusations made against her are false.
Mary Young, 68, endorsed Galindo’s 2018 bid to be a state lawmaker. “I made that endorsement based on my knowledge (at the time),” she said. “I think it’s important to move on. The people of House District 50 worked hard to fill this vacancy and I appreciate all of their hard work. There were wide variety of excellent candidates.”
One of the chief criticisms of Galindo was her vote in favor of Senate Bill 181, Democrats’ omnibus oil and gas regulation measure that was fiercely opposed by the industry and Republicans. Young said Sunday that she doesn’t have enough information right now to say how she would have voted on the legislation.
“I’m going to be really honest: I don’t have enough information at this moment of time because I wasn’t knocking doors in the district at that time,” she said. “That will definitely be one of the things I am going to learn about — is how the constituents of House District 50 really feel about this.”
Young will hold the seat until the 2020 election, when she must run again if she wants to continue serving as House District 50’s state representative.
Young becomes the 19th lawmaker in the current 100-member Colorado legislature to have entered a post at the Capitol through the vacancy committee process rather than a vote in the primary or general election.