In its history, the Colorado General Assembly has had an intimate number of black women serve in its chambers. Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver, is one of them, and a sense of reverent accomplishment shows through when the Denver legislator tells her story. Williams is proud to be included among this small, accomplished list of historic minority women, because she knows what it’s like to be underrepresented.

“I didn’t run for office for any other reason but to help the underserved,” Williams said.

The Denver Democrat is in the midst of a campaign for Colorado’s Senate District 33 seat, currently held by Sen. Mike Johnson, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits. A district eclectic in “ethnicity, geography and socio-economic status,” Williams said she enjoys serving diverse districts like 33, one not unlike her current House District 7.

Giving back through public service

An Oklahoma native, Williams moved to Colorado in 1987 after graduating from college, landing her first gig with the YMCA in downtown Denver. Over the years her career path has taken her from not-for-profit organizations to the private sector to starting her own business and a leadership development venture, she said.

A single mother and business owner in the community, Williams said she turned to public service because she felt like it was time to give back and help influence those decisions that affect so many in Denver. She was first elected to the House in 2010, winning a primary race with 57 percent and cleaning up in the general election with 77 percent. Williams also cruised to victories in both of her re-election bids in 2012 and 2014.

Her first years in the Legislature were focused on consumer protection legislation like safeguards for homeowners and reforming outdated telecommunication laws.

“My ability to focus on what’s best for the people, and not on partisan politics, not only helped me then, because I got a lot of legislation passed when we (Democrats) were in the minority reaching across the aisle and developing those relationships,” Williams said.

Williams serves as the chair of the House Business Affairs and Labor committee and as a business owner herself, she said she “eats, drinks and breathes” small business and seeks to push business-friendly legislation whenever possible.

Before she entered the legislature, “there wasn’t a small-business voice, particularly a Democrat,” Williams said. “I am the business champion at the statehouse now, because I brought that voice. That voice was missing.”

Last year, Williams said she headed up a group of lawmakers in an effort to spark dialogue between law enforcement and the community about rebuilding trust and how legislators might help bridge that gap.

“We cannot sit back and allow our black men to become extinct,” she said. “I’m the mother of a young African-American male. I couldn’t sit back and watch it anymore.”

“(The police) understand I don’t think all the police are bad police, I just want to get rid of the bad apples,” Williams said.

Of the 10 police reform bills introduced by Williams last session that would address law enforcement misconduct, she shepherded six to passage. And she’s not done, introducing five more bills within just the last week.

Williams worked with the innocence project to pass what she called her landmark legislation, which set up a fund to compensate those wrongfully incarcerated. Under the law, if a person is exonerated by DNA evidence, up to $70,000 can be awarded for each year spent in prison, as well as other possible compensation, access to health care and education.

Williams also helped champion the ASSET Bill, which granted in-state college tuition rates to those in the United States illegally.

On the campaign trail

Ask any lawmaker and they’ll tell you, a legislative session in the midst of an election year makes for a hectic schedule and a lot of hard work. But that doesn’t phase Williams. She has been working hard both in her roles as a legislator and as a candidate, actively attending community meetings, working the phone banks and walking Senate District 33 neighborhoods, knocking on doors.

She says she will campaign on her solid record in the Legislature and on her listening skills — which she says has helped keep her so in tune with her constituency over the years.

“Being involved in the community and having a pulse of the community is so important because you can’t do your work under the dome if you don’t understand what’s happening in your community,” she said.

A few of the issues Williams said she will tackle first if elected to the Senate are building a skilled worker training program to help residents earn good-paying jobs, finding solutions for affordable housing in the district and working to temper the high cost of a college education.

Williams says, as she was in her last three elections, she is fully prepared to win at the Senate District 33 Democratic assembly this spring. Two other candidates, Jonathan Biggerstaff and Khadji Katherine Haynes are seeking the Democratic nomination to run in the general election for the seat. Of the other candidates, Williams has by far shown the most support through fundraising, reporting raising over $75,000 in the fourth quarter of 2015.

— adam@coloradostatesman.com