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Colorado Senate Republicans elect leadership team focused on families, farms and affordability
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Colorado Senate Republicans elect leadership team focused on families, farms and affordability

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice As the Colorado State Senate prepares to welcome new leadership, the upper chamber’s storied traditions—from appointing its first chaplain in 1885 to its streamlined legislative process—set the stage for a fresh chapter in state governance. The Colorado Senate GOP elected new leadership this week, and two lawmakers are stepping into new roles with the weight of the session—and its unfinished business—clearly in view. The shift puts rural concerns and working family issues squarely in focus ahead of the 2026 session. Sen. Cleave Simpson (Alamosa) was named Minority Leader, taking over for Paul Lundeen. Sen. Lisa Frizell (Castle Rock) was elected Assistant Minority Leader.  “I’m honored by the trust my colleagues have placed in me to le...
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Paul Lundeen resigns from Colorado Senate to lead American Excellence Foundation
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Paul Lundeen resigns from Colorado Senate to lead American Excellence Foundation

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 c...
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Colorado Senate rejects judicial discipline appointee over misconduct cover-up ties, approves another
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Colorado Senate rejects judicial discipline appointee over misconduct cover-up ties, approves another

By David Migoya | Denver Gazette The Colorado state Senate on Wednesday rejected the reappointment of the chairwoman to the state panel that handles judicial discipline but narrowly kept its vice-chair. Needing 18 votes to confirm their reappointments to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, chairwoman Mindy Sooter came up two votes shy (19-16 against), while Jim Carpenter was approved by the same margin. The Senate has a firm 21-14 Democratic majority. The decision to drop Sooter from the 10-member commission comes days after a Senate committee made the rare choice to refuse confirming either gubernatorial appointee. Unlike proposed legislation that can die in a committee in either house of the General Assembly, appointments by the governor, which require approval fr...
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Colorado Senate committee rejects judicial watchdog picks over misconduct concerns
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Colorado Senate committee rejects judicial watchdog picks over misconduct concerns

By David Migoya | Denver Gazette In a bipartisan rebuke of how a years-long scandal has been handled, a Colorado Senate committee on Monday made the rare move of not approving the gubernatorial reappointment of the top two members of the state’s Commission on Judicial Discipline. Just months after voters statewide overwhelmingly chose to change how Colorado disciplines judges, the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted — 4-3, with two Democrats joining the panel’s two lone Republicans — to offer an unfavorable recommendation to the full Senate on the reappointment of Mindy Sooter and Jim Carpenter, the chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the 10-member commission. It was the committee’s last official act as the legislative session rushed to a close on Wednesday. The full...
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Natelson: Colorado’s Senate Bill 276 jampacked with constitutional absurdities
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Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com, State

Natelson: Colorado’s Senate Bill 276 jampacked with constitutional absurdities

By Rob Natelson | Complete Colorado, Commentary You have to wonder about a large portion of the Colorado legislature. I’ve already written about their bills to squelch freedom of the press, freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms, and the constitutional right of parents to raise their own children. Not to mention the loony idea of wasting taxpayer money on a frivolous lawsuit to take away our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds. But now comes Senate Bill 276, or as I like to call it the “Venezuelan Gang Protection Act.” If you want gangs of illegal immigrants terrorizing your neighborhood, you’ll love SB 276.  You’ll also love it if you want less-violent illegals taking away American jobs or being subsidized at your expense. And if you are a legal&n...
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Legislature recognizes contributions of nurses, EMS responders
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Legislature recognizes contributions of nurses, EMS responders

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice The role of emergency workers and nurses was recognized Tuesday in the Colorado Senate, with a selection of each seated in the chamber. Adams County Democrat Sen. Kyle Mullica, an emergency room nurse when he's not serving in the state legislature, noted that a nurse is comfort in trying times. "It has been a tough [few] years to be a nurse," he said. "They take care of us in our most difficult times." And before a patient many times reaches the hospital or emergency room, emergency workers care for them, El Paso County Republican Sen. Larry Liston said. Republican Sen. Mark Baisley introduced EMS workers in the chamber. "Every now and then we need a hero," he said. "When that emergency medical situation comes on us or our family, or...
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Coloradans are clamoring for ‘unity, action and hope’ Minority Leader Lundeen tells Senate
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Coloradans are clamoring for ‘unity, action and hope’ Minority Leader Lundeen tells Senate

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It's a tough time to be a Coloradan, Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen summarized for the Colorado Senate as the 75th General Assembly opened this week. "In recent years, our state has been burdened with policies that are at best heavy-handed, at worst suffocating," he said. Such as, Lundeen said, regulations, fees and the hated 10-cent per-bag fee each time a Coloradan goes to the mini-mart or the grocery store. They are policies that "weigh heavily on the families we are here to serve," Lundeen said. Some have estimated the 10-cent bag fee is a $500 annual tax for the average family. The Republican warned that economic anxieties of Coloradans are real, tangible and growing. "We have passed policies that overreach," he said. "Laws th...
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When the utilities lobby received an icy reception from Colorado state senators
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Approved, Law Week Colorado, State

When the utilities lobby received an icy reception from Colorado state senators

By Michael Rummel | LawWeekColorado.com While lobbyists have always been a fairly regular fixture at the Colorado General Assembly, there have been moments in Colorado history when their presence wasn’t appreciated. Late January 1957 was one of those moments.  Improvements in transmission technology had made power generation using natural gas a more economic and feasible option following World War II. The 1950s also saw a rise in the production of natural gas in the Denver Basin, adding to the existing natural gas developments on the Western Slope.  These factors led to a rise in interest from municipalities in pursuing natural gas power plants for their citizens. But an issue arose when Rocky Ford attempted to build one. According to a Rocky Mountain News article from the ti...
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Senate District 30 committee picks John Carson to serve Douglas County in 75th Legislature
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Senate District 30 committee picks John Carson to serve Douglas County in 75th Legislature

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice John Carson, an attorney and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who previously served as a Colorado regent, was selected Saturday through a vacancy committee to serve in the 75th Colorado Legislature in Senate District 30, representing Douglas County. The seat was previously held by Kevin Van Winkle, who was appointed in December as a Douglas County commissioner. Carson was selected in the first round of balloting by 52.2% of delegates present, defeating Kim Ransom and Priscilla Rahn. The Senate District 30 vacancy committee includes 168 people, with the 135 voting members Saturday qualifying as a quorum. Carson was elected to the Douglas County School Board in 2005 and from 2009-13 served as the president of that board. He was also selected in 201...
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Marc Catlin drawing on youth football, rafting and Bigfoot for inspiration as he ‘graduates’ to Senate
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Marc Catlin drawing on youth football, rafting and Bigfoot for inspiration as he ‘graduates’ to Senate

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In preparation of his move to Colorado's upper chamber for the 75th legislative session, Marc Catlin has reflected upon a time in which he coached youth football. “There was a little boy who came up to me and said, 'Coach, I think something is wrong with me'," Catlin recalls. "When I asked him what he meant, he said, ‘It feels funny inside.’ I told him, ‘Well, that’s just butterflies. If you don’t have those, you’re not gonna play well.’ And that little critter played like a tiger that day.” The newly-elected state senator views his new role through a lens of humor, humility and determination. “If you don’t have some anxiety about it, you’re probably not thinking about it," he said. He served as a state representati...
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