Sen. Lucia Guzman of Denver and Sen.-elect Kerry Donovan of Vail at the Colorado Senate Democratic caucus at the state Capitol on Saturday. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Colorado Senate Democrats knew how leadership elections were going to go Saturday until Sen. Lucia Guzman opened with these words, “I want to nominate myself … .”
Morgan Carroll of Aurora was going to be the new minority leader and Rollie Heath of Boulder was going to be the assistant minority leader, so heads perked up when Guzman spoke.
“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Guzman said, “and I want to nominate myself for Senate president pro tem .”
Laughter ensued, helping set the tone for the since 2002. Democrats won control in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 but in 2014 Republicans captured the majority, and will have an 18-17 edge for the next two years.
Guzman’s nomination was seconded via twitter by none other than the new Senate president, Republican Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs.
Guzman had served as Senate president pro tem, the first Latina and the first gay to hold the post. Republican Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango was elected to the spot in this week.
