DENVER—Colorado Democrats picked Sen. Peter Groff to be the first black president of the state Senate on Thursday, replacing Joan Fitz-Gerald, who was the first woman to hold the job.
Groff acknowledged his selection is historic but said more important decisions await the Senate.
“I think the bigger issue is the issues we face in this state and how the (Senate) deals with this,” he said.
Fitz-Gerald, a Democrat from the Denver suburb of Golden, announced her resignation on Tuesday, saying she wanted to focus on her campaign for the U.S. House.
The Senate Democratic Caucus picked Groff to replace her. His appointment won’t become official until the full Senate approves in January, but that will be a formality because Democrats hold the majority.
Groff, 44, of Denver was elected to the state House in 2000 and was appointed to the Senate in 2003 to complete the term of Penfield Tate, who resigned. It is the same Senate seat held by Groff’s father, Regis Groff, for almost 20 years.
Tate had stepped down for an unsuccessful campaign for Denver mayor.
Fitz-Gerald had been Senate president since January 2005 after Democrats swept into control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time in four decades.
Groff has said there would be few policy differences if he succeeded Fitz-Gerald.
Democrats chose Sen. Abel Tapia of Pueblo to be Senate president pro tem, the president’s backup and the job Groff had held under Fitz-Gerald.
Sen. John Morse of Colorado Springs was chosen to replace Tapia on the Joint Budget Committee, which sets the state’s spending priorities.
