Colorado Senate

The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123,000 as of the 2000 census. Senators are elected to four-year terms, and are limited to two consecutive terms in office. Senators who are term-limited become eligible to run again after a one-term (four year) respite.

The Colorado Senate convenes at the State Capitol in Denver.

History The first meeting of the Colorado General Assembly took place from November 1, 1876, through March 20, 1877.Presidents and Speakers of the Colorado General Assembly: A Biographical Portrait from 1876 , Colorado.gov, 2013 Revised Edition. (accessed May 27, 2013) Lafayette Head was the first state senate president.

In 1885, the Colorado Senate appointed its first chaplain, Methodist circuit riding missionary, Father John Lewis Dyer.

The lieutenant governor served as Senate President until 1974 when Article V, Section 10 of the state constitution was amended, granting the Colorado Senate the right to elect one of its own members as president. Fred Anderson was the first state senate president elected after the amendment. Ruth Stockton was the first woman to become Senate's president pro tempore, serving from 1979 to 1980.

Terms and qualifications The Colorado Senate has 35 members elected to staggered four-year terms. Half the chamber is elected in the same year as gubernatorial elections, with the other half elected in the same year as presidential elections.

State senators are term-limited to two consecutive terms, equivalent to eight years. Term-limited former members can run again after a four-year break. Vacancies in legislative offices are generally filled by political party vacancy committees, rather than special elections. Vacancy appointees who fill the first half of a state senator's term must stand for election at the next even year November election for the remainder of the state senate term for the seat to which the state senator was appointed.

Procedure and powers With the notable exceptions listed below, the Colorado Senate operates in a manner quite similar to the United States Senate.How a Bill Becomes Colorado Law , Office of Legislative Legal Services, October 2001 (accessed May 27, 2013)

Regular sessions are held annually and begin no later than the second Wednesday in January. Regular sessions last no more than 120 days. Special sessions may be called at any time by the governor of Colorado or upon written request of two-thirds of the members of each house, but are infrequent. Some committees of the General Assembly work between sessions and have limited power to take action without General Assembly approval between legislative sessions.

Joint procedural rules of the two chambers require most legislation to be introduced very early in the legislative session each year, and to meet strict deadlines for completion of each step of the legislative process. Joint procedural rules also limit each legislator to introducing five bills per year, subject to certain exceptions for non-binding resolutions, uniform acts, interim committee bills and appropriations bills. Most members of the General Assembly decide which bills they will introduce during the legislative session (or most of them) prior to its commencement, limiting the ability of members to introduce new bills at constituent request once the legislative session has begun.

Most bills adopted by the General Assembly include a "safety clause" (i.e. a legislative declaration that the bill concerns an urgent matter) and take effect on July 1 following the legislative session unless otherwise provided. Some bills are enacted without a "safety clause" which makes it possible to petition to subject those bills to a referendum before they take effect, and have an effective date in August following the legislative session unless otherwise provided.

Colorado's legislature does not have an analog to the filibuster in the United States Senate requiring a supermajority for approval of any matter. The state lieutenant governor does not have the power to preside or break tie votes in either house of the General Assembly. New executive branch rules are reviewed annually by the legislature and the legislature routinely invalidates some of them each year.

The General Assembly does not have a role in the appointment or retention of state judges, although it must authorize the creation of each judgeship.

Many state agencies and programs are subject to "sunset review" and are automatically abolished if the General Assembly does not reauthorize them.

The state budget process The governor submits a proposed budget to the Joint Budget Committee each year in advance of the year's legislative session. Colorado's fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30.

Bills introduced in the General Assembly are evaluated by the non-partisan state legislative services body for their fiscal impact and must be provided for in appropriations legislation if there is a fiscal impact.

A state budget, called the "LONG Bill" (Legislation on Operations and Normal Governance) is prepared each year by the Joint Budget Committee of the General Assembly. The House and the Senate alternate the job of introducing the long bill and making a first committee review of it. Colorado's state legislature is required to obtain voter approval in order to incur significant debt, to raise taxes, or to increase state constitutional spending limitations. It is also required to comply with a state constitutional spending mandate for K-12 education. The governor has line item veto power over appropriations.

Current makeup Based on the 2010 census, each state senator represents 143,691 constituents. The 2024 Colorado Elections resulted in the Democratic Party maintaining a majority of seats in the senate. Democrats currently hold a majority in the Senate in the 75th General Assembly: 23 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

At the 2024 elections 18 senate seats came up for re-election. As a result, the composition of the State Senate at the beginning of the 75th General Assembly is 23 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

With the Democratic majority in the current 75th General Assembly, James Coleman serves as President of the Senate and Robert Rodriguez serves as the Majority Leader.

Composition 23 12 Democratic Republican

AffiliationParty (Shading indicates majority caucus)TotalVacant DemocraticIndependentRepublican70th General Assembly17018350Beginning of 71st Assembly170 18 35 0December 29, 2017 16 1 72nd General Assembly 19016350 Beginning of 73rd Assembly 2001535 0 August 22, 2022 21014 74th General Assembly 23012350 Beginning of 75th Assembly 23012350 November 26, 2025 22341 December 30, 2025 23340Latest voting share

Leadership PositionSenatorPartyDistrictPresidentJames ColemanDemocratic33President pro TemporeCathy KippDemocratic14Majority LeaderRobert RodriguezDemocratic32Assistant Majority LeaderLisa CutterDemocratic20Majority WhipNick HinrichsenDemocratic3Majority Caucus ChairDylan RobertsDemocratic8Minority LeaderCleave SimpsonRepublican6Assistant Minority LeaderLisa FrizellRepublican2Minority Caucus ChairByron PeltonRepublican1Minority WhipJanice RichRepublican7

Members of the Colorado Senate DistrictNamePartyResidenceStartNext election1RepublicanSterling202220262RepublicanCastle Rock202420283DemocraticPueblo202220264RepublicanSedalia202220265RepublicanMontrose202420286RepublicanAlamosa20202028 (term limited)7RepublicanGrand Junction202220268DemocraticEagle202220269RepublicanAir Force Academy2025202610RepublicanColorado Springs20202028 (term limited)11DemocraticColorado Springs2022202612DemocraticManitou Springs2024202813RepublicanPlatteville2024202814DemocraticFort Collins2024202815DemocraticLoveland2022202616DemocraticCentennial20202028 (term limited)17DemocraticLongmont20252026 (special)18DemocraticBoulder2024202819DemocraticArvada2024202820DemocraticEvergreen2022202621DemocraticDenver20262026 (special)22DemocraticWheat Ridge20182026 (term limited)23RepublicanBrighton20202028 (term limited)24DemocraticNorthglenn2022202625DemocraticBroomfield2025202626DemocraticGreenwood Village20192028 (term limited)27DemocraticCentennial2022202628DemocraticAurora2024202829DemocraticAurora20252026 (special)30RepublicanHighlands Ranch2025202631DemocraticDenver20252026 (special)32DemocraticDenver20182026 (term limited)33DemocraticDenver20202028 (term limited)34DemocraticDenver20182026 (term limited)35RepublicanCheyenne Wells20222026

Past composition of the Senate

Colorado Senate

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