Rep. Jennifer Bacon ​becomes first Black woman​ elected ​Colorado House speaker

Colorado House Democrats on Friday elected Rep. Jennifer Bacon of Denver to serve as the next speaker of the chamber. She will be the first Black woman to hold the position. 

Bacon will lead a Democratic supermajority in the 76th General Assembly, which will convene on Jan. 11. She will succeed Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat who is term-limited and won’t return to the chamber in January. 

“I know that my job is to help lift you up, lift up your communities, share successes, share insights and fight for you,” Bacon said to House Democrats. 

Bacon defeated Rep. Andrew Boesenecker of Fort Collins for the role.

Voters made clear in the June primaries and on Tuesday that they want change, not the status quo, Bacon said. She said she will prioritize the agenda constituents have asked for.

“You want people to meet the moment. You want leaders who stand for what’s right and who won’t waver,” Bacon said about Colorado voters. “And you want to know what our values are and what decisions we will make.”

Reps. Jamie Jackson and Michael Carter, both of Aurora, nominated Bacon. 

“Our caucus is blue. This house is blue.
My speaker is going to be Black,” Carter said. 

Bacon is currently the assistant majority leader. Voters in the northeast Denver House District 7 first elected her in 2020.

The caucus also elected Rep. Javier Mabrey of Denver as majority leader. Others elected to leadership positions: Rep. Jenny of Willford of Northglenn, assistant majority leader; Rep. Matthew Martinez of Monte Vista and Carter, majority whips; and Jackson and Rep. Chad Clifford of Centennial, majority caucus co-chairs.

Colorado House Republicans elected Rep. Jarvis Caldwell of Colorado Springs to continue as minority leader. The caucus also reelected Rep. Ty Winter of Trinidad as assistant minority leader, Rep. Anthony Hartsook of Parker as caucus chair and Rep. Carlos Barron of Fort Lupton as minority whip. 

Rep. Ken DeGraaf of Colorado Springs objected to the Republican leadership election happening Friday since a handful of statehouse races had yet to be called. Caldwell said he is comfortable moving forward with leadership elections because caucus bylaws allow it, and because Republicans in the uncalled races “are currently losing by a pretty large margin, where there’s not even enough ballots that even if they cured them at 100%, that they would come back in the lead.”