Colorado Democratic Party chair plans to reach out to Polis, other officials to discuss vacancy process reform

DENVER In an interview with Denver7, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib said he plans to reach out to the governor and other officials to discuss reforming the state's vacancy process.

The announcement comes one day after he called for changes to how vacant legislative seats are filled after learning of resignations from two Democratic state senators. In a statement, Chairman Shad Murib said the growing number of politicians serving in office under the vacancy process "should concern every Coloradan."

Democratic Senators Janet Buckner and Chris Hansen issued letters of resignation on Thursday, just weeks after winning re-election in their districts. The two will vacate their Senate seats on Jan. 9, 2025, the day after the next legislative session begins.

Whenever a state lawmaker resigns before their term is over, it falls to a committee made up of a few dozen party members in the district to select someone to fill the seat.

We have a vacancy process here in Colorado that allows us to fill them quickly and make sure that no district goes unrepresented for any long duration of time, Murib told Denver7 on Friday.

In addition to filling seats quickly, the vacancy process also saves taxpayers money, according to Murib.

We've always been hesitant to entertain special elections, and that's partly because Colorado's unique and prohibitive budget requirements preclude us from being able to really pay for such expensive snap elections, he said.

An analysis by Denver7 shows nearly one-third of current state lawmakers were selected by a vacancy committee at some point in their legislative careers. Next year, vacancy committees will fill three more seats for three senators who are resigning from office.

While critics say the current vacancy process means party insiders are calling the shots instead of voters, Murib disagrees.

No, not at all, he said. And actually, it's a really exciting process that anybody can be a part of in this state, especially if you're a member of the political party of that district.

But Murib said there does need to be changes to the vacancy process.

I think we've hit a critical point where such a large percentage of the General Assembly now has gotten their start in a vacancy committee, Murib said.

What exactly that reform looks like remains to be seen. Murib said he plans to reach out to Governor Jared Polis and other officials to talk about possible reforms.

We'll put together a stakeholder group of lawmakers, the governor's office, Secretary of State, voting rights groups, and other coalition partners that are interested in seeing good government reforms that represent voters, not special interests, said Murib. We're open to all sorts of creative solutions.

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams said his party currently takes no position on the vacancy process.

The Colorado Republican Party takes no position at this time because there is no better alternative that has been proposed instead of keeping the current vacancy process, Williams said. While the current vacancy process should allow for a larger group of voters to select replacements, it is still the quickest and least costly way to fill vacancies.

Williams said switching to a special election process would likely result in a district being without representation for two or three months during a short legislative session.

If reform is absolutely desired, then we should look at mirroring the congressional vacancy process where political parties select nominees for a special election to cut down on the length of time while also looking to disincentivize elected officials from resigning right after they won their election by promising voters they would serve in order to win in the first place, Williams said. Lawmakers should, at a minimum, require themselves to disclose during an election year if they are looking to secure another job or if they have been offered a job that would start after the election. Requiring transparency would likely cut down on the issue and, at least, give voters something to consider before they cast their ballots."

Colorado is one of five states that use political vacancy committees to replace state legislators.

The following state lawmakers were selected through the vacancy committee process at some point in their legislative careers. Some have since been elected by voters in their district to represent them.

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