By Jesse Paul | Colorado Sun
Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, is resigning effective Monday to become president and CEO of the American Excellence Foundation
The top Republican in the Colorado Senate announced Monday that he is resigning from the legislature to take a job in the private sector.
Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, is resigning effective Monday.
“Serving Colorado has been an honor and blessing,” Lundeen said in a written statement. “I am grateful to the people of Senate District 9 for the opportunity to fight for policies that empower individuals, protect our communities, and promote prosperity. As I transition to a national platform, I am eager to continue advocating for personal freedom, economic opportunity and common-sense conservative values.”
Lundeen said his new job is as the president and CEO of the American Excellence Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., but that has a national footprint. Lundeen said he will remain in Colorado as he enters the role.
He is term-limited and couldn’t seek reelection in 2026.
Before entering the legislature in 2017 as a state representative, Lundeen was a member of the State Board of Education.
In a recent interview with Colorado Public Radio, when asked to confirm how long he’d been in the statehouse, he joked, “too long.”
“I’ve just completed my seventh session in the Senate. So what is that, 15 years on both sides of Colfax?” he said.
Republicans have been in the minority during Lundeen’s tenure as GOP leader. The last time the GOP controlled the gavel in the Senate was 2018.
A Republican vacancy committee will be convened to select his replacement.