Jillaire McMillan was selected by a Democratic vacancy committee Thursday night to be the party’s nominee in the toss-up House District 19, which may decide whether Democrats keep their supermajority in the House next year.
McMillan, who lives in Weld County and runs a small business with her husband, beat out three other candidates in two rounds of voting to win the vacancy election. There were 31 voting members of the vacancy committee.
“I know it will take hard work to win this seat,” she said. “I’ll put in the time to knock doors and connect with voters.”
McMillan will replace state Rep. Jennifer Parenti of Erie as the Democratic nominee on the November ballot. Parenti dropped her reelection bid on July 19, about a month after she ran uncontested in the primary, saying she “cannot continue to serve while maintaining my own sense of integrity.”
“The two are simply incompatible,” she wrote in a statement, blaming personal agendas and special interests for making the job too difficult.
Parenti beat then-state Rep. Dan Woog, a Republican, in 2022 by 1,467 votes, or 3 percentage points. Woog is running again in the district, which straddles Boulder and Weld counties.
The district is estimated to lean 1.5 percentage points in the GOP’s favor, according to a nonpartisan analysis of past election results conducted as part of Colorado’s 2021 redistricting process.
McMillan said the time she spends at church means she frequently interacts with Republicans.
“I’ve been actively practicing what it takes to be a Democrat in a swing district for years, by building relationships and actively listening while never straying from my progressive values,” she said.
McMillan said school funding, public transportation and housing affordability are top issues for her.
Democrats have a 46-19 supermajority in the House. That means they can only afford to lose two seats to keep their two-thirds advantage in the chamber, which, among other things, gives Democrats the ability to override vetoes by Gov. Jared Polis.
There are six districts, including House District 19, in which Democrats won by fewer than 1,500 votes in 2022. All but two of them lean in Republicans’ favor, meaning they will be difficult to defend in November.
Democrats are pursuing a supermajority in the Senate — they are one seat shy now — and the odds are stacked in their favor, according to past election results.
If Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers next year, they would be able to refer constitutional amendments to the ballot without Republican support and ask voters to make lasting changes to the tax system and around social issues. Supermajorities would also give Democrats in the legislature the ability to override vetoes by Gov. Jared Polis, who has been a persistent roadblock to progressive bills.
McMillan is months behind Woog in fundraising and campaigning.
If McMillan wins in November, she will join a long list of state legislators who at some point secured a position at the Capitol via vacancy appointment.
The 31 members of the vacancy committee who participated in the election Tuesday night represent just 0.06% of the Democratic and unaffiliated voters in House District 19.
The candidates McMillan beat were former Boulder Valley School District Richard Garcia, former Boulder Valley School District Board President Jim Reed and entrepreneur Anil Pesaramelli.
Garcia is the father of Democratic state Rep. Lorena Garcia of Adams County. Lorena Garcia also first entered the legislature through a vacancy appointment.
In the second and final round of voting, McMillan won 53% of the vote to Garcia’s 47%. Candidates had to win a majority of the vacancy committee members’ support to win the appointment. The lowest vote-getters were dropped after the first round.