Democrats are lining up to announce their candidacy for Senate District 17, which includes Longmont, Lafayette, Erie and parts of Broomfield, after former Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis abruptly resigned Feb. 18 amid an ongoing ethics investigation.
The seat became vacant last week when Sen. Jaquez Lewis announced her resignation hours before a Senate Ethics Committee meeting. During the meeting, the committee was set to reveal the senator had fabricated a support letter from a former aide, submitted in a response to an ethics complaint filed against her in January by several of her former aides.
The formal complaint, filed by the Political Workers Guild of Colorado on behalf of a group of Sen. Jaquez Lewis’ former staffers, included allegations of wage theft, misuse and underreporting of campaign funds and abuse of power dynamics, among other claims.
In December, senate leaders barred the senator from having state-paid legislative aides in response to a series of complaints from former staffers, detailing instances of withholding wages, and using campaign funds to pay an aide for yard work and bartending for a party at her home, as reported by the Colorado Sun.
A senate vacancy committee will convene March 18 at 6 p.m. to fill the seat. Until then, SD17 residents will be without representation.
As of Feb. 21, 10 candidates have filed a letter of intent to fill the office. Among the candidates are Erie Town Council member Anil Pesaramelli, Longmont City Council member Shiquita Yarbrough and long-time community advocate and former BVSD board member Peter Salas.
“One of my responsibilities would be to look at what's been worked on at this point at the state, and to offer whatever support I can add, relative to the efforts that are currently being made,” Salas said in a phone interview with Boulder Weekly.
“Whoever's selected, I think the primary responsibility would be to look at the leadership,” Salas said. “Leadership is very cognizant of what's going on, and it's taking actions.”
The new SD17 representative will have a narrow window to make an impact during this legislative session. The final of several deadlines to introduce senate bills for this legislative session was Jan. 31, and the current session is scheduled to adjourn May 7.
The candidate field also includes former policy advisors and aides, like Katie Wallace, a past policy advisor for U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, and Andrew Barton, a former legislative aide for SD15 Sen. Janice Marchman.
While previous state government experience can flatten the learning curve for those seeking office, Longmont Council member Yarbrough sees the vacancy as an opportunity to bring in an outside perspective.
“I understand that some committee members, maybe most of them, really want to get someone in who already knows about how the state is run,” Yarbrough said. But if the committee is looking for an elected official who is already engaging residents, “then they need someone who is actually already doing the work within [the] local community.”
In November, Sen. Jaquez Lewis was elected to her second four-year term. Whoever is selected as her replacement will serve until at least the January 2026 election.