House Democrats reelect Julie McCluskie as speaker as close races leave supermajority in question

Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, was elected again to lead the state House on Monday morning, though it was unclear if her caucus would keep its supermajority.

McCluskie has led the chamber as speaker since 2023. The speaker steers the legislative chamber. She was unchallenged in her reelection.

“We’ve shown time and time again what is possible when we stand together,” McCluskie said, highlighting Democrats’ legislative accomplishments from the past two years. “I promise to build on that foundation, strengthening our position and enhancing our policy wins and continuing to advance our progressive agenda.”

House Democrats also reelected Rep. Monica Duran, a Wheat Ridge Democrat, as House majority leader, and Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat, as the assistant majority leader. Neither had any formal challenge.

House Democrats initially planned to hold their leadership elections on Friday, but a handful of outstanding races prompted the caucus to reschedule the meeting. Democrats went into Tuesday’s election with a 46-19 majority, three votes above the two-thirds threshold for supermajority status.

The Democrats lost one seat when Rep. Mary Young conceded her race in Greeley-based District 50 to Republican challenger Ryan Gonzalez.

And as of Monday morning, two races still sat at razor-thin margins, with Republicans leading in both tallies. If the GOP wins both, the party will break the Democratic supermajority in the chamber.

In District 16 in northern El Paso County, Republican Rebecca Keltie held a 21-vote lead over incumbent Democratic Rep. Steph Vigil. In District 19 just north of the Denver metro, former Republican state Rep. Dan Woog led Democrat Jillaire McMillan by 207 votes in the race for the vacant Democratic-held seat.