The Colorado state Senate Tuesday unanimously elected Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg of Boulder as its next president for the remaining 78 days of the 2022 session. 

Fenberg replaces Sen. Leroy Garcia of Pueblo, whose resignation from the Senate becomes official at midnight tonight. Garcia will become special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs within the U.S. Department of Defense at the Pentagon. 

Pueblo Democrats elected Nick Hinrichsen on Saturday to replace Garcia in the Senate District 3 seat. Hinrichsen was in the Senate chambers Tuesday and is slated to be sworn in the coming days.

Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, nominated Fenberg as the next president; Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Douglas County, seconded the nomination.

Moreno now becomes Senate Majority Leader, leaving the Joint Budget Committee, where he will be replaced by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada.

“Let’s commit to making the remaining days [of the 2022 session] count,” Fenberg said in his first remarks as president.

He added: “I promise to spend each day in this role working to not only do what’s right for the people of Colorado, but to do it together. Because how we problem-solve is as important as solving the problem itself. Over the next 75 days – give or take – let’s remember that we all want the same thing for this state and how we get there matters. I hope as much as possible we get there with respect, inclusivity and a lot of listening. Most importantly, I hope we get there together.”

Senators offered congratulations and tributes to Garcia.

“Washington will be a better place with you in it,” said Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling.

“You always conducted the business of the Senate in a respectful manner and brought honor and humility” to the job, added Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton. 

Sen. John Cooke, R-Greeley, said Garcia was a good teacher on the adage, “the majority has its way, the minority has its say.” Garcia made sure the minority had its voice, “most of the time,” Cooke said, adding, “If I had one word to describe President Garcia, it’s class.” 

“I thank you for making me better, as a senator and a human being,” added Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument.

Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, said she has watched Garcia from afar for a long time, calling him principled and thanking him for being a sounding board. She said Garcia reminded her of the Lao-Tzu verse about fishing: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

In her first month in the Senate, Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, was summoned to the president’s office. Was it about one of her bills? No, it was about a change in the rules to allow children to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. It reflected Garcia’s love of family, she said.

“You’ve made Colorado a much better place for your service,” she said.

Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, said he would take up the mantle of ensuring the Colorado State Fair remains in Pueblo – to laughs in the chamber. Garcia has long defended the State Fair and fought against efforts to move it, although those attempts were always made in jest.

“This institution is missing a great leader and I am already missing a friend,” Holbert said.

Fenberg led the chamber in an official tribute to Garcia, noting his service on agriculture, transportation, appropriations, emergency preparedness and the executive committee, and one day – in July 2019 – as acting governor.

There were a few jokes about the day that colored Garcia’s first year, when Senate Republicans sued Senate Democrats during the 2019 session over the reading of a 2,023-page bill, a lawsuit Republicans won. Senate Democrats set up a bank of six computers that read the bill at an unintelligible 600 words per minute. “That was all your decision,” Fenberg quipped.

In his parting remarks, Garcia said there were many things he’s proud of, but most of all he’s proud of the Senate, and that he’s leaving it in good hands.

Garcia served one term in the Colorado House in the 2013-14 sessions and was elected to the state Senate in 2014. He would have been term-limited at the end of 2022. 

Garcia’s parents, Leroy, Sr., and Lorraine, and son Xan attended Garcia’s final day as president. Son Jeremiah is a student at the Air Force Academy.