Eric Joss, the Libertarian nominee in the 8th Congressional District, announced the armistice with Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans during a press conference Tuesday night. Evans, a freshman legislator from Fort Lupton, signed a “pledge of liberty” to secure Joss’ support.

The pledge includes promises to oppose “military adventurism” while supporting a peaceful end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “fundamental reform” of the U.S. Department of Education, among other issues.

Evans said he signed the pledge after some changes were made, including removing language calling for the abolishment of U.S. intelligence services.

“Eric and I are united in our determination to rein in the size, scope, cost and corruption of government,” Evans said in a statement. “Beating big government starts with defeating” U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Democrat who currently holds the seat.

Last summer, the state Libertarian Party agreed not to run candidates against Republicans in contested races if the state Republican Party backed “liberty-leaning candidates.” That deal came after the previous race for the 8th Congressional District turned on a tight margin: Caraveo won the seat in 2022, beating Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer by 1,632 votes in the first election to represent the newly created district.

In that race, the Libertarian candidate, Richard Ward, garnered more than 9,200 votes.

On Tuesday night, Joss criticized Caraveo as a “rubber-stamp” on President Joe Biden’s agenda. During her nearly two years in Congress, Caraveo has pursued a moderate path and is one of the most moderate House members, according to the accountability and transparency website GovTrack.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Caraveo campaign manager Mary Alice Blackstock accused Evans and Joss of making a “backroom deal.” Blackstock said Caraveo’s record “speaks for itself. Come November, voters will decide between a Congresswoman who has delivered real results and a political opportunist siding with the extremes.”

Colorado Secretary of State spokesman Jack Todd said Joss had not formally pulled his name from the ballot as of Wednesday morning. The deadline to do so is Friday.

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The deadline to finalize the state’s ballot is coming Friday, but all of the citizen initiatives — meaning ballot questions pursued by members of the public, rather than the legislature — were finalized late last week. State election officials certified that the final ones had received enough petition signatures after clearing earlier regulatory hurdles.

Nine ballot measures from the public have been approved. But two of those — the property tax-related initiatives 50 and 108 — are both set to be withdrawn by sponsors as part of negotiations with the governor’s office and the state legislature, which on Thursday passed another property tax relief bill at the end of a special session.

The remaining seven citizen initiatives will join several questions referred to the ballot by the legislature, including one to excise an unenforceable anti-same sex marriage provision from the state constitution; another to institute a new tax on guns and ammunition; and a measure that would allow judges to deny bail to people charged with first-degree murder.

Here’s a breakdown of the citizen’s initiatives that will be on the ballot (minus the soon-to-be-pulled property tax measures):

Election overhaul

Proposition 131 — previously Initiative 310 — would change how Colorado runs elections for U.S. senators and congressional representatives; for governor, treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state; and for state senators and representatives.

It would institute fully open primaries for those seats, meaning that candidates from all parties and those who are unaffiliated would appear on the same ballot. And in the general election, it would create a ranked-choice voting system for those races in a process that’s also referred to as instant-runoff voting.

If more than four people run in the open primary, then the top four vote recipients — regardless of party — would advance to the November general election.

In a general election race that has more than two candidates, voters would rank the candidates by preference. For example, if there are four candidates, a voter would be asked to rank them from one to four.

In the first round of vote tabulation, voters’ first-place choices would be counted, with the lowest-performing candidate then automatically eliminated from contention. The votes of that eliminated candidate’s supporters then switch to the voters’ next-ranked candidate in the next tabulation round. The lowest-performing candidate is again eliminated, with their voters’ next-ranked active candidate getting those votes.

When two candidates remain, the top vote-getter wins.

If passed, the changes would go into effect in 2026 under the initiative. However, a late amendment to a law passed by the legislature in May has thrown a speed bump in front of that implementation runway, and if the initiative passes, lawmakers may wrangle further over how to implement the new law.

The measure is backed by Kent Thiry, the millionaire former CEO of DaVita. Thiry previously backed ballot initiatives to open Colorado’s partisan primaries to unaffiliated voters and to change how Colorado draws its congressional and state legislative maps, with a switch to independent redistricting commissions.

Abortion

Amendment 79 would elevate the right to abortion to the Colorado Constitution by prohibiting the government from denying, impeding or discriminating against a person’s ability to exercise that right. The initiative would also clear the way for state-funded insurance, such as Medicaid, to cover abortion services, repealing another provision of the state constitution that prohibits the use of public funds to pay for abortion.

Colorado lawmakers passed a bill two years ago that enshrined abortion rights in state law, though it didn’t affect the constitutional ban on the use of state money.

Because this initiative would alter the state constitution, it requires support from 55% of voters to approve it. The initiative is backed by abortion rights advocacy groups, including Cobalt and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights.

School choice

Amendment 80, backed by conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, would enshrine school choice — which includes “neighborhood, charter, private and home schools” — in the state constitution. Those options already exist under state law, but charter school supporters of the initiative told Chalkbeat that they want to ensure that doesn’t change via legislative debates at the Capitol.

Similar to the abortion measure, this ballot question would need 55% voter approval to pass.

Trophy hunting

Proposition 127 would make it illegal to trophy hunt or commercially trap mountain lions, bobcats and lynxes in Colorado. That includes killing, wounding, entrapping or pursuing the animals, according to the initiative, as well as discharging a deadly weapon at them.

The measure includes a few exceptions, such as killing the animals for self-defense or trapping them for legitimate research purposes. The initiative is supported by the coalition group Cats Aren’t Trophies.

Parole eligibility

Proposition 128 would tighten state sentencing terms, requiring people convicted of certain violent crimes to serve more of their sentences before they become eligible for parole. If the measure passes, anyone convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary, felony kidnapping or other listed crimes after July 1, 2025, would be required to serve 85% of their sentences before they could be released. That’s up from 75% in current law.

The initiative would also require that people who previously had been convicted of two violent crimes serve their full sentence if convicted for one of those listed felonies. The initiative is also backed by Advance Colorado.

Veterinary professional qualifications

Proposition 129 would create a new veterinarian position in Colorado: a “veterinary professional associate.” People seeking that position would have to hold a master’s degree in veterinary clinical care (or an equivalent level of qualification as determined by the state board of veterinary medicine).

This new type of provider would have to be registered with the state board. The initiative is backed by the Dumb Friends League, the Denver-based animal shelter, which says it’ll help boost the veterinary workforce. Critics, though, argue the initiative would allow for substandard medical care.

Police funding

Proposition 130 — another backed by Advance Colorado — would require that the state add $350 million to a new “peace officer training and support fund.” That money would have to be on top of existing funds already going to law enforcement agencies.

The ballot measure does not establish a new source for that money, like a tax or fee, meaning the state would have to pull the money from elsewhere in its budget.

The money would be set aside for increased salaries, for the hiring of area- or crime-specific officers, for training, and for other related services. The measure would also require that $1 million be paid from the fund to the family of each law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Sept. 9, 2024, to include the official ballot titles for the initiatives.

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What it lacks is adequate creek access for visitors to stop and savor its beauty or hike along its banks. The highway, U.S. 6, is off-limits to runners and cyclists because its five dark tunnels are so narrow, and pullouts are scarce — with some posing traffic dangers. Motorists get only occasional glimpses of the soaring canyon walls above because the curving highway commands their full attention.

That’s going to change over the next two years, thanks to an ambitious construction project that will dramatically improve recreational access to the canyon. Jefferson County’s Open Space division is spending $80 million to extend the Clear Creek Canyon trail three miles upstream from its current terminus at Tunnel 1, which is located two miles west of Golden. About 1.25 miles of new trail is slated to open just west of Tunnel 1 next year, with another 1.75 miles to follow in 2026. Eventually the trail will connect with Clear Creek County trails through Idaho Springs and beyond.

If $80 million seems like a lot for three miles of concrete trail, it is. But the complexity of the project, with a narrow creek and highway hemmed in by steep mountainsides, presents major engineering hurdles. In some sections, the trail is being built on elevated concrete viaducts resembling the sweeping roadway decks of Interstate 70 as it runs through Glenwood Canyon.

The project includes seven new bridges over Clear Creek, one new bridge over the highway, a new underpass beneath the highway and two new trailheads with restrooms and parking spaces for 170 cars. A park at one of the trailheads will feature a one-mile loop for hikers and creek access.

“It’s pretty wild,” project manager Scot Grossman said while providing a guided tour of the area in mid-August. “What we’re doing is a generational project.

“This has statewide and national significance,” he continued. “We’re creating safe access to the creek, as well as all the recreational amenities – rock climbing, slack-lining, tubing, rafting, fishing, gold panning. I love the idea of little kids growing up in Golden 15 years from now, they get their little bike posses together on Saturday and ride up the trail to go fishing, climbing, or to ride a lap at Centennial Cone (park) and ride back down.”

“We’re building this for 100 years”

Great Outdoors Colorado — which distributes Colorado Lottery proceeds — provided a $7-million grant for the current construction project. The Denver Regional Council of Governments chipped in another $10.25 million. GOCO previously gave the Clear Creek Canyon trail effort $10.5 million for segments that have already been completed.

But the remainder of the $80 million is coming out of the Jeffco Open Space budget, which is funded by a dedicated 0.5% sales tax that voters approved in 1972. That tax is not subject to the restraints of the TABOR amendment, approved by Colorado voters in 1992, which limits the amount of revenue governments in the state can retain and spend.

“Most of the open space programs around the Front Range have a similar sales tax,” Grossman explained. “Ours predates Tabor by 20 years or so, so there’s no sunset (provision) on it, which is really fortunate for us. Other agencies have a 10- or 15-year sunset, and they have to go back to the voters to re-up their funding.”

CDOT is also working on the project in an effort to create safer motorist access to creek attractions than has been the case in the past. “They’re the other landowner here,” Grossman said. “Their mission is to get people through the canyon safely and efficiently. Our visitors, when they stop, they pull out in every little nook and cranny. Doors open, dogs come out, strollers, bikes. It’s just not a safe environment to recreate in.”

In 1871 a narrow-gauge railway began service in the canyon from Golden to the mining towns of Clear Creek County. The current construction project takes advantage of some of its grades. Prior to the construction of Interstate 70 in the 1960s and ’70s, Clear Creek Canyon was the primary route to the mountains for Denver motorists. .

Now, Jeffco’s Clear Creek Canyon Park is in the process of stretching up the canyon along the creek from Golden to Clear Creek County. The first segment opened in 2021 with the debut of the $19-million Gateway trailhead just west of the intersection of U.S. 6, Colorado 93 and Colorado 58. From there, the existing trail extends 1.75 miles to Tunnel 1.

The Clear Creek Canyon trail will be the middle segment of the greater Peaks to Plains trail, which eventually will extend 65 miles from the foot of Loveland Pass through Georgetown, Idaho Springs and Clear Creek Canyon to the confluence of Clear Creek with the South Platte River in Adams County. It is already complete from the Clear Creek Gateway trailhead to the Platte, near 74th Avenue and York Street, via Golden, Wheat Ridge and Denver.

“We’re building this for 100 years,” Grossman said. “We really want to make sure this is here for three or four generations. That takes time. The geologic, ecologic and hydrologic challenges are immense. We have world-class whitewater here that gets really high in the spring. And, you can see the geologic constraints. We’re in a deep canyon with rock everywhere.”

A floating trail, like a mini-Glenwood Canyon

Construction manager Jeff Hoge, a cyclist, already is looking forward to exchanging his hard hat for a cycling helmet.

“I can’t wait for this,” Hoge said. “I’m a cyclist, I grew up here, and I’ve never been able to ride a bike legally on U.S. 6. That’s exciting. As far as the construction part of it, this is a dream job for a construction manager.”

The three-mile section now being built will climb 300 feet from Tunnel 1 to Huntsman Gulch. All of it will be wheelchair accessible and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which means maximum grades of 5%. The walls of the canyon soar 1,000 feet over the creek, which often is very narrow, which is why construction engineers opted for building a viaduct through those sections. It also has less impact on creekside vegetation, they say.

“This is a heavy civil construction project, but we really pride ourselves on having a really light touch, a really surgical approach, because at the end of the day we are an open-space organization,” Grossman said. “We’re a balance of recreation and conservation.

“That viaduct, I think, perfectly sums up ‘heavy civil’ with a light touch. That is a difficult thing to engineer and build, but the impact on the land is way smaller and lighter than cutting out (a streamside slope) and filling back in,” he added.

To create the viaduct supports, workers drill 30 to 40 feet through surface rock and soil until they reach bedrock. Then they drill another 12 feet into bedrock to anchor concrete columns that will support the deck on which more concrete will be poured for the trail.

“This is our new tool, a ‘floating trail,’ a mini-Glenwood Canyon — same design principles,” Grossman said. “We’re basically building a 10-foot-wide road. It’s like what CDOT is doing on Floyd Hill right now — same concept, just smaller.”

The first new trailhead, about a mile upstream from Tunnel 1, will include a roadside parking lot that can accommodate 40 cars, along with a bridge over Clear Creek to the trail.The second new trailhead, at Huntsman Gulch, will offer a place to park, linger and explore which Grossman calls “a park within a park.” The parking lot will be built to handle 70 cars, and there will be a bridge across the highway to the trail. Another bridge will take visitors over the creek to a secondary trail accessing a shady one-mile hiking loop with a natural surface.

When the Huntsman segment is complete in 2026, it will leave a six-mile gap between Huntsman and a segment of the project upstream that opened in 2017, providing access to Jeffco’s Centennial Cone Park near the Clear Creek County line. Grossman said filling that gap, which would complete Jeffco’s part in the Peaks to Plains trail, could take another seven to 10 years depending on funding.

“This is a really big project,” Grossman said. “There’s a lot of money invested from taxpayers of all kinds — federal, state, local, people who play the lottery.

“I start every presentation I give with how privileged I am to do this, to have the responsibility – which is weighty – to do stuff like this for generations to come,” he added. “I’m just a nameless face three generations from now, but this is a legacy for all of us.”

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Matthew Nicholas, 41, also was convicted of attempted first-degree assault and three-degree motor vehicle theft after a five-day jury trial, according to a news release from the 17th Judicial District. Nicholas is set for sentencing Oct. 28.

Commerce City police said they arrested Nicholas after he became upset with his mother on Dec. 12 while they were running errands and she was driving. Nicholas demanded she play a game of “truth or dare,” according to the news release, and threatened to shave her head if she didn’t tell the truth.

The woman said Nicholas was angry because she had sold her restaurant and was going to sell her house, leaving Nicholas without a job or place to stay, an initial probable-cause affidavit stated. She also alleged Nicholas was upset because he felt she had cheated him out of the inheritance money he was supposed to receive.

Nicholas dumped a cup of gasoline on his mother, according to the release, and pulled out a lighter. His mother then pulled the car over in a nearby construction area, jumped out and called for help. One construction worker used a concealed handgun to subdue Nicholas and his mother and keep them apart until law enforcement arrived, according to an affidavit.

District Attorney Brian Mason called the crime “egregious and unthinkable” in a statement announcing the conviction.

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Oh, and Polis cracked a Taylor Swift reference, continuing his emerging tradition of shoehorning in Swifty humor whenever possible.

The three Colorado Democrats each delivered roughly two-minute speeches at the Democrats’ Chicago convention — Polis spoke Wednesday, Neguse and Crow on Thursday — as the party formally nominated Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as its presidential ticket for November.

The trio formed the de facto face of a Colorado delegation that featured both U.S. senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, as well as Attorney General Phil Weiser, Treasurer Dave Young, and several state lawmakers, among others.

In their speeches, Polis and Crow both wielded giant book-sized versions of Project 2025, the nearly 1,000-page plan drawn up by Republican groups for a second Trump term. Among other things, the plan includes recommending that the Food and Drug Administration reverse its years-old approval of mifepristone, which is used in medication abortion.

Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025.

Polis’ comments largely focused on the plan’s references to abortion access, while Crow — a former Army Ranger — criticized its provisions related to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and NATO.

“Democrats welcome weird, but we’re not weirdos telling families who can and can’t have kids, who to marry or how to live our lives,” Polis said Wednesday, leaning on a Walz jab of Republican policies as “weird.” “These Project 2025 people like Trump and (running mate Sen. JD) Vance are not just weird; they’re dangerous. They want to take us backwards, but we aren’t going back — like ever, ever, ever.”

(That’s the Swift reference.)

Polis has been a public supporter of Harris — and, now, Walz — since President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection last month. Asked before his speech if he would serve in a Harris cabinet, Polis told The Denver Post that he planned to finish his term as governor, which ends in 2026.

Neguse, the fourth-ranking member of the U.S. House’s minority leadership, used his brief speech Thursday to praise Harris and her past work on education. He pointed to her support for historically black colleges and universities and to her time as California attorney general, when she secured a $1.1 billion judgment against a for-profit secondary education company over its predatory practices.

The convention ends Thursday night.

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Walz, who was tapped to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate earlier this month, will speak after former President Bill Clinton, according to the New York Times. The full lineup — including Polis’ expected timeslot — will be released by the DNC on Wednesday afternoon.

Polis, who served in Congress with Walz, introduced his Minnesota counterpart at a Denver fundraiser last week, during Walz’s first solo trip since joining the Democratic ticket. Polis has been an enthusiastic and public supporter of Harris since President Joe Biden announced in July that he would end his reelection bid.

The Colorado governor has been at the Chicago convention all week, alongside other Colorado Democrats including U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Reps. Jason Crow and Diana DeGette, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Treasurer Dave Young, and state Reps. Leslie Herod, Javier Mabrey and Bob Marshall.

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Remote and little-known, you’ll likely only share the water with a passing canoe at the junction of the Green and Colorado rivers, the latter of which starts in its namesake’s Never Summer Mountains.

Otherwise known as the “Center of the Universe,” the confluence is the largest in the Southwest. As the climate shifts, historic rapids resurface summer after summer, making for an even more interesting ride.

This 94-mile labyrinth of the Colorado River cuts through the heart of Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah, on the periphery of Moab.

Four districts comprise Canyonlands: Island in the Sky, The Needles, The Maze, and the rivers that carved those chasms. At the confluence, you can see all three sections simultaneously. The CFS of the Colorado River also takes a hike when it joins with the Green.

The rolling water transports travelers through the park’s 300-million-year-old rock walls, which are impassable by foot.

The river ride delivers smooth, floatable stretches intermixed with rowdy Class III-IV whitewater. Off the boat, there are likable Ancestral Puebloan sites with 11,000-year-old petroglyphs and granaries–including the rock art site at Lathrop Canyon in the Needles district, which sits across from Island in the Sky—and pearly sand beaches below 1,500-foot-high cliffs.

Whitewater Rapids: Reemerging in Cataract Canyon

Four variables cause whitewater rapids: elevation change, water volume, obstacles like sediment, and the widening or pinching of the river’s width.

Before the 1966 completion of Glen Canyon Dam, this ribbon of whitewater boasted 70 significant rapids, which dwindled to half that number due to sediment buildup.

In a form of self-restoration, those rapids are now resurfacing year-over-year as water levels decline and Lake Powell recedes.

The result is an exciting ride, as most knowledgeable boaters and guides will happily steer through another new, natural rapid, especially one that hasn’t seen daylight in nearly 60 years.

The ambient temperatures are warm enough to sleep directly under the night sky, allowing adventurers to witness prolific views of the Milky Way, constellations, and shooting stars within the International Dark Sky Park, a designation Canyonlands National Park holds.

As the historic rapids re-emerge season after season — which certainly adds river-running excitement — those rapids also help connect paddlers in a tangible way to the complex questions regarding the sediment management of Lake Powell, which federal policymakers currently face.

Over the past two years, the Glen Canyon Institute has been documenting the resurgence of rapids and shifting rivers via the Returning Rapids Project. The most recent report was released in August 2023. It includes archival images and ongoing time lapses, which are exciting to witness in person.

The most fully returned rapid at this time is Water Hole, above Gypsum and Mile 196.9, which is also re-emerging — I had a chance to run it.

This whitewater escapade is one way to witness the zone’s shifting sediment, mud glaciers, and mud blobs, which is gaining national attention. Even the Bureau of Reclamation recently published a report on dam management challenges alongside the Glen Canyon Institute’s proposal to drain Lake Powell.

Unparalleled solitude

A million visitors experience Canyonlands National Park every year, and more than 3 million explore Glen Canyon National Recreation Area during that time, but on our 6-day adventure down Cataract Canyon, we saw only two other boats, including a two-person canoe.

Professional river guide Adam Walck, who is a trip leader for OARS, has been guiding the Cataract Canyon stretch for five years.

He’s been a river guide for nearly a decade. That inaugural run was quite memorable: “The river spiked up to 50,000 CFS, and it was just truly outrageous. I had some of the best lines of my life and it was a wonderful introductory time,” said Walck — and he’s been hooked ever since.

“The lack of density is what makes Cataract special: It’s a section of a world class river that receives so little attention, due mostly to the flat water up top and down below and what is buried by the sediment that we’re sitting in,” explained Walck.

Compared to Idaho’s Main and Middle Fork of the Salmon, where Walck has also guided, he’d typically see eight daily launches: four commercial, four private.

“Down here, there are so few people doing this — and it’s just stunning and so well managed. You really get that truly wild experience through a national park.”

When and how to go

While you could wait years in the lottery system for a fair-weather permit to float the Colorado River down the Grand Canyon, river permits for Cataract Canyon are still available over-the-counter, in person, and online, so pick your prime window or sign up for a guided trip.

The campsites are first come, first served.

Aside from 14 miles of fierce rapids, the remaining miles of flatwater provide a mellow motor-assisted cruise. On the flotilla, you can connect with family and friends, swim, and take side hikes.

The result was a rejuvenating combo for all ages, including 85-year-old Charlie, who joined our 22-person guided OARS trip as a solo traveler.

The best time for friends and family to raft this zone is July through August, unless rafters prefer the higher spring runoff (and rowdier rapids) of May and June.

Each beach camp we chose was spectacular, soft, and surrounded by a natural citadel. I rafted Cataract Canyon in August and was graced with day temperatures in the 90s and nighttime temps in the 60s, as well as one of the most memorable Perseus meteor shower streaks I’ve ever witnessed.

Camps

One: Mile 31 – Muscle Man Camp

Two: Mile 14 – Corner Pocket Camp

Three: Mile 0 – Confluence Camp

Four: Mile 202.5 – Kolb Camp (between Big Drop 2 and 3 — in the middle of the big rapids)

Five: Mile 192 – Clearwater Camp

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Walz will speak at a campaign reception Wednesday before traveling to Boston for another event that day. A campaign official declined to provide details about the Denver event.

The Minnesota governor, who was selected last week by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate in the presidential race, will run through five states in three days this week during his first campaign fundraising spree. In the first 24 hours after Walz joined the ticket last week, the campaign said it raised $36 million.

His brief visit to Denver will come a few days after former President Donald Trump was in Aspen for a high-dollar fundraiser with wealthy Republican donors.

In a Sunday social media post in which he also assailed mail-in voting in Colorado and falsely claimed Gov. Jared Polis instituted it, Trump wrote that his fundraising trip to three Mountain West states raised $28 million.

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The Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Larry Don Suckla’s razor-thin margin over J. Mark Roeber in a news release Tuesday, a month after the June 25 primary.

Suckla will now advance to the November election against Democrat Kathleen Curry, who served in the House more than a decade ago.

The seat is currently occupied by Republican Rep. Marc Catlin, who’s running for the state Senate. The House race is considered a relatively safe Republican seat, according to a nonpartisan state redistricting analysis of past election results.

The race was marred by state election officials’ confirmation that 376 mail ballots were not delivered to voters in Dolores County, which is fully within the House district, by Election Day. The ballots apparently were lost between being loaded on a U.S. Postal Service truck at the print vendor’s facility in Seattle and their scheduled delivery to an Albuquerque mail facility.

More than 100 voters in the county requested replacement ballots, a 10-fold increase from the normal amount.

A secretary of state spokesman said Tuesday that the agency had no update on the lost ballots. Postal service spokesman James Boxrud said in an email that the agency was “reviewing the situation with the Colorado Secretary of State to resolve going forward.”

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Parenti, a freshman member of the House’s Democratic supermajority, is not resigning her seat and will serve out the remaining months of her term. She informed House leadership Friday morning.

Because Parenti’s decision comes after the June legislative primaries, a vacancy committee in House District 19 will select a candidate to replace Parenti on the November ballot.

She said in a statement that her decision to leave her reelection race was influenced by a Capitol culture that rewards “personal agendas and special interests … at the expense of our districts, each other and the integrity of the body in which we serve.”

“While many factors have weighed into this decision, ultimately it comes down to this: I cannot continue to serve while maintaining my own sense of integrity,” she wrote. “The two are simply incompatible.”

In an interview Friday afternoon, Parenti said she often felt that “we were being asked to compromise our values, to compromise the promises we made to constituents.” She declined to provide an example of a specific bill or policy for which that compromise occurred, saying she wasn’t “interested in poking anyone publicly in the face.”

Parenti sponsored an unsuccessful bill this year that would have required more training for armed school security officers who are not law enforcement. She also sparred with fellow Democrats on the House floor over legislation regulating youth sports. A version of that bill was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis.

In brief statements Friday, House Speaker Julie McCluskie and Majority Leader Monica Duran, both Democrats, wished Parenti luck on her next steps and thanked her for her service.

Parenti is the latest member of the 2022 freshman class to depart the House. Two other House Democrats, Reps. Ruby Dickson and Said Sharbini, resigned late last year. Several House Republicans are also leaving, though that’s to run for other political offices.

Parenti noted the number of departures among new lawmakers and said she hoped legislative leadership was taking notice.

The race for Parenti’s District 19 seat is likely to be one of the most tightly contested in the state and may help decide whether the Democrats maintain their supermajority in the House. The district has a slight Democratic lean, according to a nonpartisan state analysis. Parenti was set for a rematch with former Republican Rep. Dan Woog, whom Parenti beat in 2022.

Staff writer Nick Coltrain contributed to this story.

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