Editor’s note: This is a follow up to the Colorado Politics investigation about state legislators who don’t always live in the districts they represent.

Rep. Mark Baisley, R-Roxborough Park, owns a home in Douglas County, where he has represented House District 39 since the 2018 election.

Once the new redistricting maps came out, however, Baisley decided not to run for another term in the House, and instead put his hat in the ring for Senate District 4, where the northern boundary is in Jefferson County and the southern one is in Fremont County.

Baisley, the former vice-chair of the state Republican party, is part of Republican hopes to take back control of the state Senate in next month’s election.

The district is currently represented by Sen. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen. With a 23.5% Republican lean, as reported by the state independent redistricting commission, the seat is a slam-dunk for any Republican who wants it. Story is now running against state Rep. Colin Larson for House District 25.

Baisley’s Roxborough home isn’t in SD4 – it’s in SD30, the district represented until recently by term-limited Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, R-Douglas County

But Baisley chose not to challenge then-state Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, for the SD30 seat. Van Winkle filed candidacy paperwork for SD 30 in October, 2021.

Holbert resigned his seat after the 2022 session concluded in May, with plans to move to Florida. Van Winkle was then picked by a vacancy committee to finish out Holbert’s term.

Baisley set up a new voter registration address in Woodland Park in a home he doesn’t own. The address, on Thunder Ridge Dr., is owned by two Texas residents, neither of whom is registered to vote at that address, according to Teller County assessor records.

There are four people – three listed as Republicans – registered to vote at that address, according to the Sept. 1 voter registration file from the Secretary of State.

One of them is Baisley. They also include a couple, one of whom owns a home-cleaning company. None of the other three appears to be related by name to Baisley.

Baisley still owns the Roxborough Park house, and his wife, Maryann, is registered to vote at that address.

Baisley is no stranger to Teller County. His House district included Teller County.

Baisley listed the Woodland Park home on his candidacy affidavit for SD 4, which he filed on Nov. 2, just six days before the one-year deadline residency requirement for legislative candidates, who, under the Colorado Constitution, must live in the district they represent at least 12 months before the general election.

State law, however, is silent on whether someone still needs to live in the district once that requirement is met.

The overarching rule is that, for a state legislator, living in one district while running in another – or voting to represent that other district – is illegal. Several laws are at play with the residency question. No Colorado lawmaker in at least the last 25 years has been convicted of using one address for voter registration, which also determines whether the politician resides in the district, and living in another. But with the stakes for control of the state Senate at play, both parties are trying to use the “impermissibly vague” Colorado criminal law to knock their opponents out.

In a statement to Colorado Politics, Baisley acknowledged the multiple addresses attached to him and said he and his actually own two homes in Colorado – the one in Roxborough Park, where their son lives, and a house in Littleton, where their daughter and her family live.

He also rents the Woodland Park residence for himself, he said.

“The primary answer to your question is that my wife and I live parallel existences that cross as often as we can,” he said. “Maryann works at Valor High School in Highlands Ranch and cares for our three grandkids during the week who live at our Littleton address, where Maryann frequently stays.”

“I work remotely, teach at Charis Bible College in Woodland Park and zip all around the eight counties of SD4, which is my life’s focus. Maryann’s daily activities are north of mine but we are together often.”

Baisley said the property in Thunder Ridge Rd in Woodland Park is the “primary residence of my choosing after the new districts came out that encompassed 95% of my House District but excluded Roxborough.”

He added: “I imagine (and hope) that our lives will settle into a new normal over the next couple of years. In the meantime, I am committed to the Woodland Park community that I fell in love with four years ago.”

As to the other three people in the Woodland Park residence, Baisley said he rents the top floor of the house and the other three are tenants, all affiliated with Charis Bible College, which is about 3.5 miles west of the Woodland Park home.

Baisley’s victory is crucial to the Republican Party’s goal of taking over the state Senate, which would break the Democrats’ monopoly of the two branches of the General Assembly.

Once the redistricting map came out a year ago, the new boundaries for SD 4 immediately gave Republicans one of the four seats they must take away from Democrats in order to take control of the state Senate. The new maps also resulted in several lawmakers switching addresses that would allow them to run for the General Assembly in new districts.

In the Senate, they include Rep. Kyle Mullica, D-Northglenn, who fought off a Republican complaint in Denver District Court two weeks ago and who is running for SD24; Sen. Dennis Hisey, R-Colorado Springs, who is the subject of a request for an investigation with the District Attorney for El Paso County and who is running for SD11; and, Rep. Tracey Bernett, D-Longmont, who is the subject of a request for an investigation in Boulder County and who is running for HD 12.

Democrats currently hold a 21-14 advantage in the state Senate, and the defection of Sen. Kevin Priola, D-Henderson, to the Democratic Party makes the GOP aspirations of overtaking the chamber a tall order. Should control of the chamber flip to Republicans, it would put a crimp in the Democrats’ agenda for the next two years, including for Gov. Jared Polis, who, based on recent polling, is poised to win his contest over Republican Heidi Ganahl.