(from left to right) Chris Chiari, Matt Ball, Rep.-elect Sean Camacho, Iris Halpern, Monica VanBuskirk and Rep. Steven Woodrow speak during a candidate debate on Dec. 17, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)
The seven people hoping to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen next year met on Tuesday evening in a rare public-facing forum ahead of the vacancy committee meeting to decide Hansen’s successor.
Hansen, who has represented Denver in the Legislature since 2017, announced shortly after winning another Senate term in November that he will resign in order to take a private sector job. That means a group of local Democrats will need to pick his replacement in early January.
“Chris made the decision that was right for him and his family. Did I think it was unfair to voters? Yeah, I do, because we just had an election, and now you have this entire panel up here trying to recreate that on a much smaller scale,” Rep.-elect Sean Camacho, a newly elected Denver Democrat in House District 6 running for Hansen’s seat, said during the event, which was hosted by the podcast City Cast Denver and open to the public.
Camacho’s comments echo the recent frustration over the vacancy committee process, where a relatively small group of party volunteers and officials pick a replacement for a state legislator who leaves office early. Hansen’s district, Senate District 31, has over 100 people on its Democratic vacancy committee. That is larger than most — 16 people picked a new representative for House District 31 last year — but a tiny fraction of the nearly 60,000 people who voted in the Senate district last month.
Hansen endorsed Camacho as his replacement. If Camacho is successful, another vacancy committee will need to meet to replace him in the House.
Democratic Rep. Steven Woodrow of Denver is also running for the seat and is endorsed by a handful of lawmakers.
“They know that right now, we need effective representation more than ever, and that it takes relationships and experience to get big things done in the Senate,” he said. “I’m the only one in the race with actual legislative experience.”
The other candidates for the seat are:
- Matthew Ball, the policy director for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston
- Chris Chiari, the owner of the Patterson Inn in the Capitol Hill neighborhood
- Iris Halpern, a civil rights attorney
- Shaneis Malouff, the chief of staff at the Auraria Higher Education Center
- Monica VanBuskirk, the former chief policy officer for Connect for Health Colorado
The candidates faced questions about their top legislative priorities, areas they agree with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and how they would approach an ultra-tight budget year as a new lawmakers.
Ball, leaning on his experience with the Denver city budget, said he would look to budget cuts that wouldn’t affect essential state services like health care and education.
State Sen. Chris Hansen likely to resign as he joins southwestern Colorado electric cooperative
“There are a lot of grant and pilot programs that the state currently runs that are not part of those core services we need to protect,” he said. “The sad truth is that a lot of other things are up for grabs, and you have to look for what is going to have the least amount of impact over the next year. It’s a terrible process, but that’s how it is done.”
Candidates largely agreed that education funding needs to remain whole, especially given that the state Legislature fully funded its constitutional obligation for the first time in over a decade last session.
“The truth is that in this session, we’re a billion dollars in the hole and this session will be about ‘What do you protect?’” Ball said.
Halpern said she would support stalling Proposition 130 enactment to help with budget worries. That voter-approved initiative directs $350 million to law enforcement to recruit, train and retain officers.
“That is one of those pilot programs that we should be delaying implementation of as we try to, at least, understand where we think that funding would best be spent,” she said. “This was a voter initiative, so we don’t really have a choice on that in the long run, but I think this is one of those areas where we can delay until we have a better budget.”
Malouff said she would be interested in working with Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, on construction defect reform. This year, a bill from Bill to limit lawsuits over construction mistakes and in turn boost condominium construction died in the final days of session.
TABOR issues
The candidates unanimously agreed that Colorado should repeal its Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires the state to return money to taxpayers if revenue exceeds a constitutional limit set by population and inflation.
“Any progressive policy that we care about is hamstrung by the fact that our system of government does not allow us to create the change that we need,” Camacho said. “We can’t raise enough because we have to give it away in a TABOR check.”
They also unanimously supported a likely bill to reform Colorado’s union laws to make it simpler to bargain for union security.
Everyone except for Chiari agreed that state senators should make more than $47,561 annually. All but Chiari also indicated that Hansen did a good job as a senator.
Finally, none of the candidates said they would quit the Legislature to take a high-paying job, as Hansen did.
Senate District 31 is not the only district facing a vacancy committee ahead of the new legislative session. Democratic Sen. Janet Buckner of Aurora is also stepping down, so there will be a vacancy committee in Senate District 29. Additionally, Republican Sen. Kevin Van Winkle of Highlands Ranch was elected as a Douglas County Commissioner — he will start early following former Commissioner Lora Thomas’ resignation — creating a vacancy in Senate District 30.
The Legislature reconvenes on Jan. 8.
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