Three Democrats are battling it out to determine who will be the next to represent northwest Denver in the state House of Representatives. 

Colorado’s House District 4 seat will be vacant beginning on Friday, as its current occupant, Rep. Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, resigns to join the Denver City Council. The Democratic of Party of Denver has until Sept. 3 to identify her replacement through a vacancy election. 

As of Tuesday, three candidates have added their names to the ballot: former state Rep. Rochelle Galindo, community activist and teacher Tim Hernández, and retired appellate judge Cecelia Espenoza. 

All three candidates are familiar faces within the Democratic Party. Galindo briefly represented the party while serving on the Greeley House seat in 2019, and both Espenoza and Hernández are captains of the Denver Democrats’ House District 4 political subdivision. 

The candidates all also share Latino backgrounds. This is particularly important as they vie to represent a Denver district with a large Latino population, Gonzales-Gutierrez said. 

“I’m very hopeful. All of them bring their own strengths,” Gonzales-Gutierrez said of the candidates. “We are still not at parity in the legislature to the population of Latinos. … I am grateful there is that opportunity to continue that representation.”

Rochelle Galindo

Galindo, 33, represented Colorado’s House District 50 for less than a year in 2019 before stepping down amid a recall effort from Republicans. At the time of her resignation, Galindo had been accused of sexual assault and providing alcohol to a minor, but she was acquitted of the charges in 2021. 

Galindo moved to Denver following her resignation, and now says she wants to finish the work she started in the legislature. She attributed the abrupt end to her initial stint in office to political backlash over her progressive policies and identity as a Latina and member of the LGBTQ community. 

“I have unfinished business in the legislature,” Galindo said in her campaign announcement. “I hope that I might continue to advance our shared progressive values in the halls of a Capitol that too often shies away from them with inaction and half-measures that fall short of the justice that all of our people need.”

Galindo said she wants to advance racial, gender, climate and economic justice. She intends to pass legislation to increase rights for workers and renters, expand renewable energy and advocate for people with disabilities, she said.  

Galindo most recently worked as a training manager at Emerge, a nonprofit seeking to get more women in public office. Before her time in the state House, Galindo served on the Greeley City Council, led Latino outreach for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, and managed multiple Democratic political campaigns. 

Tim Hernández

Hernández, 26, is a Chicano community activist and teacher at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy. He made headlines last year, when he was let go from his teaching job at Denver’s North High School, sparking student protests about his job and the lack of diversity among educators. 

Hernández was born in Pueblo and moved to Denver’s Northside neighborhood as a child. He says he wants to use his love of the community to make Denver and Colorado more just and equitable. 

“I’m running for office now because north and west Denver is filled with bold, relentless, and creative leaders who are demanding justice, integrity, and opportunity from our Democratic majorities in our state legislature,” Hernández said in his campaign announcement. “I will listen, organize and fight for you.”

A progressive Democrat, Hernández’s main policy goals include fully funding public education, reducing what he describes as unnecessary community contact with law enforcement, making housing affordable, and preventing gun violence. 

As captain of the Denver Democrats’ House District 4 political subdivision, Hernández organizes for Democratic candidates across the state and has testified in support of education, workers’ rights and tenants’ rights bills. He previously interned for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, in Washington D.C. 

Cecelia Espenoza

Espenoza, 64, is a retired appellate immigration judge and former counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice. She led the National Hispana Leadership Institute and served as a board member on the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.

Espenoza has lived in House District 4 since 1991. She said her understanding of the district and its changes over the decades – in addition to her law experience – make her uniquely qualified for the House seat. 

“Public service is the heart of everything I’ve done in my life,” Espenoza told Colorado Politics. “All of my work in HD4 made me, I believe, the perfect candidate. … I bring a willingness to listen to all of the communities that need to be represented at the state House, not just a segment of the community.” 

Espenoza said her top policy priority is gun safety, calling it the No. 1 issue in her district. She also aims to sponsor policy on education, housing and zoning, and to improve transparency in the state Capitol, she said. 

During her five years as captain of House District 4 for the Denver Democrats, Espenoza has organized local get out the vote efforts, fundraised, and created value statements and codes of conduct for the party. As the former chair of diversity and inclusion, Espenoza said she also played a pivotal role in pushing for the prioritization of equal representation among Democratic politicians. 

Next steps 

Gonzales-Gutierrez hasn’t endorsed any candidate to fill her House seat and doesn’t plan to, saying she knows the each of the candidates personally and is happy that all three would represent Denver’s Latino population in the legislature. 

Though she doesn’t get a vote on who will succeed her, Gonzales-Gutierrez said she hopes the winning candidate will be a collaborative worker who seeks to continue the fight for social justice and elevate the voices of the underrepresented. She also intends to work with the new lawmaker from her position on the Denver City Council. 

“I want to make sure that folks are doing the work to make progress and create change, not just make headlines,” Gonzales-Gutierrez said. “I hope that whoever goes into this role is ready to do the work.”

Whoever is selected to fill the vacancy will represent House District 4 for just one year, completing Gonzales-Gutierrez’s term. The successor may then choose to run for a full term in the 2024 election. 

The vacancy election is tentatively planned for Aug. 26, though the date is subject to change as the party is still confirming venue details, said Emma Bliesener, chair of the House District 4 Central Committee. 

Additional candidates hoping to represent House District 4 have until 10 days before the vacancy election to add their names to the ballot. Candidates may also be nominated from the floor during the vacancy meeting.

Candidates must have been both a Democrat and a resident of the district for at least a year. Nominations should be sent to emma@denverdemocrats.org and scott@denverdemocrats.org.