Another empty seat in the state legislature, House District 32, has been filled by a vacancy committee (Adams County Democrats pick Manny Rutinel for House vacancy). In 2023 alone, seven of 100 legislative seats have been vacated, as well as one seat on the nine-member state Board of Education.

State Rep. Dafna Michaelson-Jenet, D-Commerce City, left to take the place of former state Sen. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City. He resigned to take a position in Mike Johnston’s administration, and a vacancy committee selected Michaelson-Jenet to replace him. So now a vacancy committee has appointed Manny Rutinel to replace Michaelson-Jenet.

In February, Denver’s Fox31 reported on this topic and at that time “found the 74th General Assembly includes 24 lawmakers… who were appointed to the job, not elected. FOX31 first told you about the number of lawmakers appointed by vacancy committee in 2020, when 20 lawmakers were elected by committee, not through an election. Colorado uses this side door entrance to the Capitol, called a vacancy committee, to replace lawmakers.”

It’s a side door because vacancy committees are made up entirely of political party insiders. When someone leaves a legislative seat, it is filled by the district vacancy committee of that person’s party. Only members of that person’s party are considered as candidates.

As an unaffiliated voter in Commerce City, both of my legislators are now appointees rather than actual elected officials. Also, I had no opportunity to participate in the process.

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In most states, similar vacancies are filled by the governor, by county commissioners (if a district is entirely within a county), or with a special election. Colorado’s vacancy committees are the exception, not the rule. They are also unconstitutional.

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government” according to Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution. “Republican” does not mean the GOP. It means that each state must be a republic, a thing of the people, “res publica” in Latin.

Vacancy committees are a thing of political parties, not the people. They serve partisan interest, not the public interest. When a legislator resigns, the message is clear: “I don’t care enough to complete my term of office.” Yet their party owns the empty seat and gets to fill it exclusively?!

“We the People” are the opening words of the U.S. Constitution. All elective offices in America belong to us. All seats in a legislature belong to the citizens of the particular districts. When there is a vacancy, anyone eligible to run in a general election should qualify as a candidate to fill the office, whatever the process. Again, Colorado’s vacancy committees are unconstitutional.

I informed both the Adams County Democratic Party chairperson and the ballot access department in the secretary of state’s office of this fact when I tried to declare myself as a candidate to fill the vacancy in House District 32. The chairperson directed me to the secretary of state, then the ballot access department told me to get a lawyer.

I’m a blue-collar worker from Commerce City who lives in a low-income senior apartment downwind from the Suncor oil refinery and within the state’s worst school district, Adams 14. I’m what Democrats used to represent before becoming the elitist party. I asked two law firms specializing in constitutional law to consider me as a pro bono client, but they declined because of already depleted resources.

If history is any indicator, nearly every resident of Colorado will eventually have a state legislator appointed by a vacancy committee. When this occurs in a wealthy upscale district, I hope someone with money will hire an attorney and fight back.

Most Americans proudly pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag and “to the Republic for which it stands.” Politicians who want to sneak into elective office should be held to the same standard.

Burke Scot Beu is a lifelong resident of Commerce City. He works at a Denver nonprofit and as a substitute teacher. He was the Democratic candidate for CU Regent at-large in 2000. He has been an unaffiliated voter since 2018.