Colorado Democratic state Rep. Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village is no longer alone in his bid to succeed outgoing state Sen. Daniel Kagan.

Kagan announced Dec. 5 he would step down from his Senate District 26 seat on Jan. 11, one week into the 2019 legislative session.

The district includes areas of Denver’s south and southeast suburbs, including parts of Littleton, Centennial, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village and Aurora.

“I wanted to ease up the workload and pressure, and didn’t want to work at less than 100 percent, because my constituents don’t deserve that,” Kagan recently told Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland.

The Senate District 26 seat, and the House District 3 seat that could also be impacted, are among the most competitive for Democrats. When Kagan was appointed by a vacancy committee to fill the House District 3 seat in 2009, he was among 10 candidates vying for the job.

It looks like history could repeat itself.

In the past week, two women have announced they will join the hunt for the Arapahoe County Senate seat.

That includes Angela Engel of Centennial, an author, teacher, curriculum designer and public education advocate. Engel has run for the House before, in 2006. 

Engel told Colorado Politics that since 2006, she’s continued to work on legislation from the outside, empowering community leaders through the Family Leadership Training Institute of Colorado, a 20-week civic leadership program to give participants the tools to improve outcomes for children and families.

“Education has been my lifeblood for the last 25 years,” she said.

Over the past two decades, “I’ve helped to elect many of our current Democratic representatives and built successful coalitions around a common legislative platform, the Colorado Children’s Action Agenda,” her website states. “I’ve coordinated the Youth and Senior Commission for the city of Centennial and supported numerous education initiatives through my non-profit Uniting4Kids.”

On Thursday, Iman Jodeh, executive director and founder of the local nonprofit Meet the Middle East, and spokeswoman for the Colorado Muslim Society, announced she would also make a bid for the Senate seat. If chosen, she would be the first Muslim to serve in the General Assembly.

In her announcement, Jodeh said that in last month’s election, “we witnessed the face of state legislatures change as voters chose leaders more reflective of the populations they represent. I am eager to continue this trend here in Senate District 26.”

Jodeh added, “I’ve been extremely fortunate in my circumstances, but that has not been true for many immigrant families. That’s why I’ve dedicated my career to speaking up for the most vulnerable of new Americans. Many of the people and groups I’ve worked with don’t feel they have a voice at the Capitol, and I am running to change that.”

Bridges won re-election to House District 3 for his second term in November, a race he won by more than 20 points. He told Colorado Politics Thursday that the vacancy “comes down to three questions: who can pass our progressive agenda, who’s the most democratic choice, and who can win the most competitive state Senate re-elect in 2020 to hold our Democratic majority.”

He’s had two years of legislative successes and has already won the support of SD26 residents who live in his House district, he said.

“Our community deserves a robust competition of ideas, with a fair presentation of our visions and our records of service,” he said, adding that he’s confident that all the candidates “will engage in this important discussion with enthusiasm and integrity.”

The vacancy committee will meet on Jan. 5 to select Kagan’s successor at the Englewood City Center. That individual will have to run for a full-term in 2020.