An Aurora activist who helps run an overdose prevention group was elected to the state House by a Democratic vacancy committee Wednesday night.
Jamie Jackson beat two opponents to represent Aurora’s House District 41. She succeeds now-Sen. Iman Jodeh, who won a separate vacancy appointment to the state Senate in early January.
Jackson will serve essentially a full term in the House and will be up for a full election in 2026.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected to serve as the next Representative for House District 41,” Jackson, who is the chief operating officer of the Naloxone Project, said in a statement released by the Colorado Democratic Party. “Thank you to the vacancy committee, community members, and everyone who supported me throughout this process. Your trust and confidence mean the world to me, and I do not take this responsibility lightly.”
Jackson beat Anne Keke, who serves on the Aurora Public Schools board, and Aly DeWills-Marcano, who works for the Community Economic Defense Project, a nonprofit group.
Jackson’s selection was the fourth vacancy appointment to the legislature in recent weeks. In addition to Jodeh, Democratic Sen. Matt Ball was elected in early January to succeed Chris Hansen, who resigned to take a job in southeastern Colorado, and Republican Sen. John Carson was appointed to succeed Kevin Van Winkle, who was elected to the Douglas County commission.
Vacancy committees are controlled by the party that most recently won the vacated seat, and the committees are populated by local party officials, volunteers and elected officials.
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