Colorado House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, left, talks with supporters, including former sen. Polly Baca and former House Speaker Ruben Valdez before the opening of the Colorado legislature at the State Capitol in Denver. (Photo By Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post)
As the minutes ticked down to the 10 a.m. start of the 70th General Assembly Wednesday, House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran hosted 20 people in her Capitol office, including her parents, Ernie Jr. and Teresa Duran, and other mentors were members of a group called LatinasRepresent, a national non-partisan to public service.
Duran is the kind of leader the group dreams of: an accomplished Hispanic woman passionate about her causes while blazing a path for others to follow. Wednesday Duran became the first Hispanic woman to serve as either party’s majority leader in Colorado.
“I am humbled that all of you are here this morning as we begin this journey,” Duran told the other women in the room. “This is a journey that we will continue to work on together.”
“I think the key to this for young people is to have the passion to make a difference and make things a little bit easier for the next generation.”
— Polly Baca
Sitting at Duran’s left was Polly Baca, the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Colorado General Assembly after she was elected in 1974. Four years later, she was elected to the Senate, breaking the barrier in that chamber, as well. Baca was the first Hispanic woman to serve in both chambers of the same legislature anywhere in the country.
After the House gaveled in, Baca sat on the front row and looked on with a proud glow as Duran helped new House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst do the state’s business.
“It’s a journey that begins with a passion to serve,” Baca said of Duran’s position as a role-model for the next generation, the way she had been for Duran. “You have to figure out what it is that you want to do to make a difference.
“For Crisanta and I and many of legislators that are here, it’s about helping make things better for our fellow citizens in our community, this country and the world. So it’s a journey to find your place, to find where you can serve best.
“I think the key to this for young people is to have the passion to make a difference and make things a little bit easier for the next generation.”
