Colorado’s Political Landscape & New State House Leadership
November 8th saw a lot of political change nationally, however, the political landscape in Colorado looks similar to how it did before voting began. U.S. Senator Michael Bennet won re-election as Colorado’s Senior Senator and all seven of Colorado’s Congressional Representatives retained their seats. The Colorado Statehouse will not see a change is party control with the Democrats increasing their majority to 37-28 in the House of Representatives and the Republicans maintaining their 18-17 majority in the Senate.
Colorado Congressional Delegation Members on the 2016 Ballot
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1) - Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2) – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton (CO-3) – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (CO-4) – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-5) – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (CO-6) – Re-elected
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-7) – Re-elected
Quickly following the election, all four of the Colorado Statehouse caucuses held elections to set direction for the next two years:
House Democratic Leadership
Speaker-Designate - Rep. Crisanta Duran (HD5 - Denver)
Majority Leader - KC Becker (HD13 - Boulder)
Assistant Majority Leader - Alec Garnet (HD2 - Denver)
Whip - Brittany Pettersen (HD28 - Lakewood)
Deputy Whip - Jovan Melton (HD41 - Aurora)
Caucus Chair - Daneya Esgar (HD46 - Pueblo)
Deputy Caucus Chair - Jeni Arndt (HD53 - Fort Collins)
House Republican Leadership
Minority Leader - Patrick Neville (HD45 - Castle Rock)
Assistant Minority Leader - Cole Wist (HD37 - Centennial)
Whip - Perry Buck (HD49 - Windsor)
Caucus Chair - Lori Saine (HD63 - Firestone)
Senate Republican Leadership
President-elect - Kevin Grantham (SD2 - Canon City)
President Pro Tempore - Jerry Sonnenberg (SD1 - Sterling)
Majority Leader - Chris Holbert (SD30 - Parker)
Assistant Majority Leader - Ray Scott (SD7 - Grand Junction)
Whip - John Cooke (SD13 - Greeley)
Caucus Chair - Vicki Marble (SD23 - Fort Collins)
Senate Democratic Leadership
Minority Leader - Lucia Guzman (SD34 - Denver)
Assistant Minority Leader -Leroy Garcia (SD3 - Pueblo)
Whip - Michael Merrifield (SD11 - Colorado Springs)
Caucus Chair - Lois Court (SD31 - Denver)
Additional Leadership Election News Stories
Duran, Grantham top list of new legislative leaders
State House and Senate elect new leadership
Colorado House, Senate leadership choices could spark heated debates