Meet the candidates running to fill state Sen. Chris Hansen’s seat 

Seven candidates seeking the vacancy appointment in Colorado Senate District 31 to replace outgoing Democratic state Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver appeared at a forum last week where they talked about why they should get the nod.

Here are the highlights:

• State Rep. Steven Woodrow touted how he is the only one seeking the appointment who has “actual legislative experience,” vowing to revive a bill that would ban price-setting algorithms for rent after it failed this year. Woodrow said he wants to stop offering so many tax breaks as a way to combat the legislature’s projected $750 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year.
• State Rep.-elect Sean Camacho said he would help boost Latino representation in the Senate. He said unwinding the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights will be his top priority in the legislature. “Until we address TABOR we are just nibbling around the edges of our real problems,” he said. Camacho didn’t offer specifics on how he plans to get around the 1992 constitutional amendment approved by voters, but he boasted about his legal work to try to get rid of TABOR.
• City of Denver Director of Policy Matt Ball said he struggled with mental health after his military deployments and would advocate for the issue if selected to fill Hansen’s seat. Ball said he would slash grant programs to help draw down the state’s budget deficit.
• Civil rights attorney Iris Halpern said she is best positioned to push back on the Trump administration given her work as a union organizer and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorney. “I have walked the walk, I don’t just talk the talk, on making sure that our communities are protected,” she said. “I know that we are in for a difficult four years and we need someone who is going to have the experience to be able to take the fight to the federal government.”
• Monica VanBuskirk , a health care policy guru, said she wants to tackle the budget deficit by imposing new fees.
• Chris Chiari , CEO and founder of The 420 Hotels Inc, took a swipe at Woodrow for working on housing policies that affect his work as a plaintiffs attorney for renters. “I have no interest in pushing any agenda that would benefit me personally,” he said. Chiari said addressing climate change would be his top priority as a state lawmaker.
• Shaneis Malouff , chief of staff at the Auraria Higher Education Center, said climate would be her top priority in the legislature, though health care — given her work in the field — would also be top of mind.

You can watch the full debate, organized by City Cast Denver, here.

CITY CAST: How undemocratic is Colorado’s legislature? Plus, inside the latest vacancy election

A FEW OTHER TAKEAWAYS

The moderators asked the candidates whether it was ever appropriate for a lawmaker to consume alcohol or cannabis at the Capitol. Woodrow’s hand shot up to say “yes,” and he was eventually joined by Camacho, Halperin and VanBuskirk, who agreed that there were circumstances when using those substances at the Capitol would be OK.

All of the candidates but Chiari said senators should be paid a higher annual salary. There was unanimous agreement that TABOR should be repealed.

Camacho talked carefully when addressing Hansen’s decision to resign from the legislature a few weeks after being elected to a second four-year term in the Senate. Hansen, who is resigning Jan. 9 to become CEO of a utility in southwestern Colorado, has endorsed Camacho’s vacancy bid.

“I think you can really like Chris Hansen and all the things he’s done … but you can disagree with the way things rolled out,” Camacho said. “I am not here to judge. Chris made a decision that was right for him and his family. Do I think it was unfair to voters? Yeah, I do.”

Woodrow was asked about a controversial social media post he made in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and Woodrow’s decision to use legislative privilege to get out of a speeding ticket. He said his post about the effect of the shooting on Trump’s reelection chances “could have commented that in a more effective manner.” When it comes to the speeding ticket, he said, “I’ll own that one.”

COLORADO LEGISLATURE

Three Colorado Senate committees are expanding, meaning triple duty for 12 members of the chamber

Democrats expanded the number of people on three Colorado Senate committees next year, meaning that at least seven Democrats in the chamber will be serving on three panels when the legislature convenes next month.

The Senate Finance and Senate Transportation and Energy committees will grow to nine members from seven, while the Senate Judiciary Committee will grow to seven committee members from five. The Senate Appropriations Committee will shrink to seven members from nine.

Because of the committee expansions, there will also be five GOP senators on three committees. The result is an increased workload for the senators who will have triple duty in 2025.

The Democratic senators on three committees next year will be Nick Hinrichsen, Janice Marchman, Julie Gonzales, Chris Kolker, Faith Winter, Kyle Mullica and Mike Weissman.

The Republican senators on three committees next year will be Byron Pelton, Mark Baisley, Larry Liston, Janice Rich and Lisa Frizell.

Some other things that stood out from the Senate committee assignments announced last week:

• Sen. Faith Winter , D-Westminster, is getting her role back as chair of the Transportation and Energy Committee. She stepped down from the position after appearing intoxicated in April at a community meeting in Northglenn, which prompted an ethics investigation that found she violated Colorado Senate rules.
• Democrats are keeping a spot open on the Senate Judiciary Committee for one of the people selected to fill the vacancies of either departing Democratic Sens. Chris Hansen of Denver and Janet Buckner of Aurora, both resigning Jan. 9.
  

THE POLITICAL TICKER

LEGAL

Denver City Attorney Kerry Tipper, a former state representative, has been named the next vice president, university counsel for the University of Colorado system.

“Education has played a transformative and empowering role in my life,” Tipper said in a written statement. “I’m grateful and thrilled for the opportunity the Board of Regents and President Saliman are entrusting in me. I’m thankful to Mayor Johnston, to former Mayor Hancock who first appointed me, and to all who I work with at the city. Though I will miss them, I am excited for this opportunity, which will allow me to put my legal, management and legislative skills to work for the University of Colorado.”

Tipper will depart her position with the city March 1.

JAMES COLEMAN

Incoming Colorado Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, earned $25,000 in 2023 for his role as president of the Black Capital Foundation, a nonprofit he helped form.

The group, like most nonprofits, doesn’t report its donors. The salary was disclosed in an annual tax filing.

Coleman also earned $120,000 in 2023 for his role as “founder” of Faithbridge, a different nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors.

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COLORADO LEGISLATURE

Third-party investigation into Colorado House workplace harassment complaint didn’t uncover any policy violations

A third-party investigation into a workplace harassment complaint filed against a state representative or partisan staffer in the Colorado House of Representative didn’t uncover enough evidence to show the chamber’s workplace harassment policy was violated.

That was the conclusion last week of the House Workplace Harassment Committee, a bipartisan panel that’s convened when a complaint is lodged.

The complaint was first brought to the panel in July. It’s unclear who filed it or who it was brought against; that information remains confidential.

The committee unanimously voted Friday to find that while the workplace harassment policy wasn’t violated, they have concerns about the conduct of the person who drew the complaint that fall outside of the panel’s purview.

The committee unanimously instructed Ben FitzSimons, director of the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations, to follow up with the complainant to offer other reporting options to them. The panel also told FitzSimons to inform chamber leadership overseeing the respondent — it’s unclear if the person is a Democrat or Republican — about the committee’s concerns that fall outside of the House workplace harassment policy.

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