Colorado Politics

2nd police complaint filed against Democratic lawmaker who resigned seat

A second complaint has been filed with the Greeley Police Department against Rochelle Galindo, the Greeley Democrat who abruptly resigned her seat in the Colorado House of Representatives earlier this month, multiple news outlets have reported.

A police spokesman confirmed last week that Galindo was the subject of an active police investigation based on a complaint filed just days before Galindo stepped down from the legislature on May 12.

When she announced her resignation, Galindo issued a statement saying that “the allegations against me are false,” without saying what the allegations were.

Police haven’t disclosed any details about the allegations. Last week, a spokesman said the contents of the initial complaint were being kept confidential due to the nature of the complaint.

Galindo hasn’t responded to multiple requests from Colorado Politics for comment.

The new complaint was filed after Galindo resigned her seat, according to Complete Colorado, which first reported that an additional person had come forward with unspecified allegations against Galindo.

The Greeley Tribune reported that police hope to conclude the investigation later this week. 

Galindo, a former member of the Greeley City Council serving her first term in the legislature, was facing the threat of a recall before she announced her resignation.

Her resignation ahead of a possible recall election means a Democratic vacancy committee will name her replacement.

If her opponents had turned in enough signature to force a recall election, voters would have decided whether to remove Galindo from office and picked her replacement from among candidates who petitioned onto the ballot, potentially including Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated candidates.

In a May 12 statement, she said the unspecified allegations “will make our fight against the pending recall effort untenable. I will not put my constituents through what will clearly be a recall campaign based on political smear tactics and false allegations.”

She won election in November by a 6.7 percentage point margin to the Democratic-leaning House District 50, which includes parts of Greeley and Evans and Garden City in Weld County.

A 12-member Democratic vacancy committee is scheduled to meet June 2 to elect Galindo’s replacement, the Greeley Democratic Party said.

Applicants have until May 28 to deliver written notice to Jerad Sutton, the county Democrats’ chair, he said in a release.

In order to be considered, applicants for the vacancy must be 25 years old, a U.S. citizen, and have been both a resident of House District 50 and a registered Democrat for at least a year.

The appointment will be through the end of Galindo’s two-year term, which is up for election again in 2020.

Colorado state Rep. Rochelle Galindo and the Greeley-area district she represented.
KUSA-9News, Denver
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