Colorado Republicans said Friday morning they will take up Rep. Steve Lebsock on his tacit invitation for the GOP, not his former party, to fill his seat in north metro Denver.

Lebsock, the House District 34 representative from Thornton, switched his party affiliation less than an hour before he was voted out 52-9 over multiple sexual harassment allegations and his retaliatory efforts against his accusers and those he said were politically aligned against him.

“Statute clearly assigns our vacancy committee the authority and responsibility to fill this seat,” Colorado Republican Party chairman Jeff Hays, said in a statement. “After careful consideration, we concluded it would be dereliction of duty to punt the appointment to Governor John Hickenlooper. We owe it to the people of House District 34 to give them the experience of ethical representation, which the Democrats, when they controlled the seat, signally failed to provide.

The state GOP committee said the District 34 committee will convene a vacancy committee to fill the seat by the end of the month. The day and location have not yet been set.

Democrats will still retain an eight-seat majority for the last two months of the four-month session, but the appointee could have a leg up in November’s election.

The race, so far, includes Republican Casey Cole and two Democrats, Kyle Mullica and Jacque Phillips. Lebsock won re-election by a little over 6 points in 2016,  almost 10 points in 2014 and more than 20 points in 2012.

A former Thornton City Council member, Lebsock had announced he was running as a Democrat for state treasurer this year. He conceded to Colorado Politics last weekend he had virtually not path to win the office this year.

The GOP sought to keep the attention on House Speaker Crisanta Duran, who was told two years ago that Lebsock had aggressively propositioned Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, at a legislative party at a bar. Winter did not want to file a formal complaint or have Duran punish Lebsock, wishes Duran respected.

Statehouse Republicans have characterized the decision as a “cover-up” that endangered other women in the Capitol.

Hays concluded, “It’s important to remember that Democratic leadership hushed up Rep. Lebsock’s harassment scandal in May 2016. Without the cover-up, it’s highly unlikely the Democratic nominee, Lebsock, would have won re-election in November 2016. If voters had known what Democratic leadership knew, they would have roundly rejected Lebsock.

“We won’t reward the Democrats’ bad behavior by allowing them to choose the replacement for a representative who won his seat in November 2016 only thanks to their cover-up.”

Democrats were happy to fire back.

“Democrats took action to expel Steve Lebsock because it was the right thing to do, regardless of the political consequences,” state party chairwoman Morgan Carroll said in a statement. “Lebsock has now found his natural home in a political party that protects sexual predators instead of holding them accountable.”

She called on Republicans to do more on three GOP senators who have been accused, invoking the message it would send to voters.

“This seat does not belong to either political party,” Carroll concluded. “It belongs to the voters, who will have the ultimate say in November. We are confident that the voters of House District 34 will be represented by a Democrat by the time the next session begins.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated when we received a statement from the state Democratic party.