This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com.
State elections officials Monday rejected a Republican vacancy committee’s pick for a seat in the Colorado legislature, finding that the panel didn’t follow state law in making the selection.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office told the GOP vacancy committee in House District 14 that its members did not get 10 days of notice ahead the gathering to make their appointment as is required by state law.
The committee was picking a replacement for former House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese. She resigned Sept. 15. The vacancy vote was held Sept. 22.
The rejection, which appears to be a first for the state, likely leaves the vacancy committee with two options: redo the vote or take on the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office in court.
The saga is the latest drama surrounding Colorado’s vacancy process for the General Assembly, which has been increasingly panned as more and more members reach the Capitol through the state’s relatively unique way of replacing members of the legislature when they resign, are ousted or die while in office.
Ironically, Pugliese was a lead sponsor of the latest bill passed by the legislature to try to improve the vacancy process.
Pugliese’s eventual replacement will be one of at least 25 members of the General Assembly next year who at some point were appointed to the House or Senate by or through a vacancy committee. That means 1 in 4 state lawmakers in Colorado owe their legislative careers, either in whole or in part, to the vacancy process.
The House District 14 vacancy committee selected Ava Flanell, a firearms instructor and gun rights activist, of Colorado Springs to replace Pugliese. She beat out Joe Woyte, a military veteran backed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, in a 28-26 vote.
But a day after the election, Republican Joshua Griffin, who sought the vacancy appointment but says he was blocked from participating in the contest, filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, alleging the selection was carried out illegally.
Griffin pointed out that the vacancy election happened less than 10 days after Pugliese resigned, which would appear to run afoul of a state law requiring that members of vacancy committees be notified by mail 10 days before a vacancy election happens.
Second, Griffin said that the meeting wasn’t livestreamed as required by a bipartisan state law passed by the legislature this year. Pugliese was one of the lead sponsors of the measure.
Ken Davis, chair of the El Paso County GOP, told The Colorado Sun last week that notice of the meeting was provided to members of the vacancy committee in compliance with the House District 14 bylaws, “which superseded any redundancies to the state.”
Davis conceded that while the meeting was recorded, it wasn’t livestreamed. He said that’s OK because the bipartisan vacancy law doesn’t take effect until 2026. Except that’s not true. The law took effect in August. (Read the bill here.)
The Secretary of State’s Office told the vacancy committee to redo the vote, rejecting Davis’ explanation.
The Colorado House GOP was already making plans for Flanell, who is also a social media influencer, to join their caucus. They sent out a news release last week congratulating her and welcoming her to the Capitol.
Flanell last week celebrated her victory on Instagram.
“I am honored to announce that I will be the next House representative of District 14,” she wrote.
Davis didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday night. But in a written statement to The Sun on Monday, Flanell said she planned to run again.
“Obviously this is a disappointing development, but mistakes happen,” Flanell said. “I’m ready to go through the vacancy process again and present my vision of a Republican Party that bands together to fight the left, rather than each other.”
The legislature isn’t set to reconvene until January.
