A Senate District 5 vacancy committee on Saturday chose outgoing state Rep. Perry Will, R-New Castle, to replace Sen. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, who announced his resignation last month, effective Tuesday, Jan. 10. With Will’s selection, the General Assembly will have its full complement of 100 members. 

Will lost his bid for a second full term in the House in November, losing by seven percentage points to Democrat Elizabeth Velasco. Will was appointed to the House District 57 seat in February 2019, after Rankin, then in the House, was selected by a vacancy committee to head to the Senate to replace Sen. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, who resigned his seat.

Senate District 5, as redrawn by the redistricting commission in 2021, includes Pitkin, Gunnison and Hinsdale counties and parts of Eagle, Garfield, Montrose and Delta counties. Will will be up for election to the Senate seat in 2024.

Will is a former wildlife officer with the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.

In addition to Will, attorney Zachary Parsons of Glenwood Springs was a candidate for the seat. 

According to a news release from the SD5 vacancy committee, Will won on the first ballot. A tweet from Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, said Will got 17 votes to Parsons’ two.

The vacancy committee, which is made up of the district officers, county Republican party chairs and vice-chairs and secretaries from the seven counties that make up the 5th Senate District, and Republican state representatives whom reside within the 5th Senate District, heard lengthy presentations from the two prospective candidates, along with a robust question-and-answer period for each candidate, the news release said.

Philip Vaughan of Garfield County, who chairs the Republican Senate District 5 Vacancy Committee, noted that “the vacancy committee has conducted a transparent process for selection of the 5th Senate District seat. We are excited to have Perry Will as our new State Senator and look forward to his representation in this important upcoming legislative session.”