CO: Denver Democrats pick Tim Hernndez to fill vacant House District 4 seat
Teacher and activist Tim Hernández will represent Colorado’s House District 4 during the 2024 lawmaking term, a committee of district Democrats decided Saturday.
Hernández, 26, is replacing former Democratic state Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez. The seat became vacant when Gonzales-Gutierrez was elected to an at-large seat on Denver’s city council earlier this year.
He grew up on Denver’s north side, something he repeatedly referred to during Saturday’s candidate forum and vacancy committee vote.
“We need not just somebody from this neighborhood who knows this place, who knows our history, who knows our issues, but more importantly somebody who is going to fight for them — who can win on our issues, who can build collaborative tables, who can work and pass legislation that improves the lives of students and families and workers and women and black folks and brown folks and people of color an indigenous people,” he said.
Hernández received 39 votes, just over 57% of the 68 total votes cast. He needed a simple majority to win.
Three candidates were vying for the seat: Hernández, retired appellate judge Cecilia Espenoza and former state Rep. Rochelle Galindo. All three are Latino. Espenoza received 27 votes and Galindo received two votes.
A vacancy committee convenes to select a new representative or senator when a lawmaker vacates their office. The committee is made up of members of the former lawmaker’s political party in the district. In this case, the committee was made up of Democrats who live in House District 4.
https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/tim-hernandez-chosen-to-represent-house-district-4-next-year-in-legislature/