A Republican state representative abruptly resigned Thursday afternoon ahead of a censure vote.
State Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, was already set to leave the legislature Sept. 1 to pursue a job and personal relationship in Arizona. His resignation spares him the embarrassment of being censured by Democrats on Friday for taking a picture of a Democratic colleague last legislative session without her knowledge or permission.
The Colorado House of Representatives’ rules allow for a censure of a member, but don’t appear to allow the body to censure anyone, or anything, else.
“We’re exploring next steps,” said Jarrett Freedman, a spokesperson for the Colorado House Democratic caucus.
Armagost shared the photo of Democratic colleague Rep. Yara Zokaie of Fort Collins in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal where fellow Republicans piled on with crude comments about her appearance.
The April incident led to sexual harassment of Zokaie and threats against her and her children after an anonymous social media account with conservative followers shared the photo online.
Armagost has refused to discuss the photo. He was marked excused Thursday as lawmakers gathered at the Colorado Capitol for a special legislative session.
Zokaie said Armagost never apologized to her.
“Rep. Armagost chose to walk away rather than face accountability for his actions,” she said of his resignation. “Resigning may remove him from this chamber, but it does not erase the harm he caused or the responsibility he bears for perpetuating a culture of violence against women.”
The censure vote was scheduled by Democrats for Friday, and Armagost was all but guaranteed to be the first lawmaker censured by the legislature since 2008. Democrats have an overwhelming majority in the House and censures in the Colorado legislature need a simple majority to pass.
House Democrats met Thursday to discuss the plans for a censure resolution against Armagost, shortly after the special legislative session began.
Some Democrats hoped to censure House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, as well.
When the photo was shared online, Zokaie said she approached Pugliese for help figuring out which colleague was responsible for the photo, Colorado Public Radio first reported. Pugliese offered to help, Zokaie said, but did not tell her who took the photo.
Zokaie later learned that Pugliese was in the group chat where Armagost first shared the photo.
“My trust with minority leadership and with a number of our Republican colleagues is completely broken and will not be rebuilt,” Zokaie said Thursday. “Minority leadership did lie to me.”
Armagost announced June 30 that he would resign from the legislature Sept. 1. The Colorado Sun first reported on the photo he took of Zokaie in mid-July, and then earlier this month Colorado Public Radio followed up with a story about how Armagost shared the image in a House Republican caucus chat.
He has remained eligible for legislative pay and other benefits since June 30.
Armagost, a fierce gun rights advocate and former sheriff’s deputy, was elected to the legislature in 2022. He used to be the House minority whip, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber.
A Republican vacancy committee will be convened in House District 64, a GOP-dominated district that includes Mead, Johnstown, Milliken and part of Greeley, to select Armagost’s replacement.
Armagost’s replacement will be one of at least 24 members of the General Assembly next year who at some point were appointed to the House or Senate by or through a vacancy committee. That means nearly 1 in 5 state lawmakers in Colorado owe their legislative careers, either in whole or in part, to the vacancy process.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, urged her Democratic colleagues Thursday to refrain from inappropriate social media posts and name calling that she said have become common from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Still, she said, “what happened with Rep. Zokaie was at a completely different level.”