The House voted to approve the nomination of Donna Lynne as Colorado lieutenant governor on Friday by an overwhelming 54 -11 vote.

Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Lynne as his choice to replace outgoing Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia at the end of March. Hickenlooper touted Lynne’s experience as a top-level figure in corporate and government settings. He said she would serve as Chief Operating Officer for the state.

Lynne directs an $8 billion budget and oversees 16,000 employees as vice president of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. She also served in the administrations of Republican and Democratic mayors of New York City.

The 11 Republicans who voted against her nomination Friday are some of the most conservative members of the House minority caucus.

Reps. Gordon Klingenschmitt, R-Colorado Springs, and Tim Leonard, R-Evergreen, spoke on the floor, citing Lynne’s opinions on religious liberty and tax policy as reasons to vote against the nomination.

“I applaud the governor for selecting someone who is business minded, someone who obviously has a lot of experience in both the private and public sector — and I’m sure Donna Lynn will be confirmed and I welcome her as that process goes forward,” Klingenschmitt said. “Unfortunately, I’m going to be a no vote.”

Klingenschmitt read an excerpt of an article from a Catholic newspaper that reported on Lynne’s views on religious exemptions and reproductive rights. Klingenschmitt said he didn’t share Lynne’s “beliefs” on the matter.

Leonard is a member of the House state affairs committee that recommended Lynne for nomination earlier this week. He and Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, cast minority votes against the nomination then, too. They both cited her view of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as informing their votes.

“What TABOR is really about is limiting government,” Leonard told The Statesman after his committee vote. “Like the governor, (Lynne) concedes it’s the law of the land, but she thinks it’s mainly about letting people vote on tax hikes. I think her approach is to get around TABOR. She wants to set a program for the state and then find ways to fund it — to work out ways or find schemes or some other ways to pay for it. But TABOR is about the people asking us to please prioritize spending within limited revenues — to expand government only according to the increase in population and inflation.”

— ramsey@coloradostatesman.com