In the final hours of a special session on Tuesday, Colorado lawmakers voted to denounce former Rep. Ryan Armagost for his role in a harassment incident involving Rep. Yara Zokaie, sparking a heated exchange between party leaders.

An incident on April 11, in which Armagost, the third-ranking member of the House Republican caucus, took a photo of Democrat Zokaie and turned it into a mockery of her appearance, earned him a resolution from House Democrats condemning his behavior.

The resolution was offered rather than a censure resolution that had been planned for last week. But the resolution’s reading turned into a battle between the majority and minority leaders of the House.

Armagost immediately resigned when news broke about the censure resolution last Thursday, and it did not move forward, since it would only apply to a current member of the House. Armagost had already announced in June that he intended to resign on Sept. 1 to move to Arizona.

He was not at the Capitol for the special session. 

At the time of the April incident, Armagost was the chair of the House’s Workplace Harassment Committee. He was removed from that position by House Minority Leader Rep. Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, days before Colorado Public Radio published a story on the incident in early August.

That wasn’t lost on Zokaie, who told the House on Tuesday that if she had wanted to file a complaint, it would have gone to the person responsible for the incident. She recounted the incident and the trauma to House members, all of whom stood while she spoke. The resolution also drew almost the entire Senate Democratic caucus to the chamber.

The photo first appeared on Signal, an encrypted app that allows members of the Republican House caucus to send messages to each other. 

Some of the members of the caucus made crude comments about Zokaie on the Signal chat. According to Colorado Public Radio, some apologized; others doubled down and did not. 

The photo was posted on a conservative social media account on X, and a poll followed, asking people’s opinions about Zokaie’s appearance.

Zokaie said the posts led to threats against her and her children. 

“This has been a coordinated harassment campaign,” and it is relentless, and speaking about it will make it worse, Zokaie said. “It is indicative of a greater issue that exists in culture against women. “I am so disappointed to see women perpetuate that culture,” she added.

House Majority Leader Rep. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, who co-sponsored the resolution along with Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, said, “This is not about one incident, this is about a culture, a mindset, that says women in public service are fair game” to be humiliated.

It tells Coloradans the state Capitol is not a place of public service but a locker room, she added. 

“To my colleagues across the aisle, you should be ashamed,” she said. “You have not just failed, but also failed to uphold the principles the House is supposed to abide by.

But the quiet of the resolution didn’t last long. 

Pugliese was accused of knowing about the incident when Zokaie came to her about a week later to ask who took the photo. She already knew, Zokaie claimed.

Pugliese began by apologizing again to Zokaie. “I do not believe the behavior exhibited was right. I have seen degrading behavior from both sides of the aisle,” she said. “We must do better as an institution,” to preserve its integrity. 

However, she disputed both the claims by Zokies and Duran and shared an open records request, showing that video footage of the incident had been requested by the chief clerk of the House. That request showed the approximate time the photo was taken, which would indicate that leadership knew about the Signal chat and when the photo was taken, since at the time, Pugliese said she was unaware of the Signal chat. She was not at the Capitol on April 11 and did not return until the April 14.

When she returned, she realized that it was Armagost, and she said she talked to Duran and told her it was Armagost. “I’m sorry that she had bills with Rep. Armagost that was more important than your safety,” which drew gasps from the chamber. There were no conversations about the incident after April 14, not even a call to the Speaker’s office to find out what it would take to make her caucus happy. She said House Speaker Julie McCluskie did not respond.

An angry Pugliese criticized what she called challenges to her character and integrity, primarily by Duran.

“My character has been assaulted, and I have a right to defend myself,” she said. “I have had to clear my name, and that’s unfair…I am not a liar.”

Duran fought back. “There are two sides to this story,” she said, addressing Pugliese. “I’m trying to move forward…the point of this day is to acknowledge what one of your members did to a member of mine. If you want to talk about your character or lack of character or honesty, let’s have that conversation. I won’t have that conversation here in this well, in this moment. Everyone here deserves better than this…I will not have my character impugned or be made into a liar because of your perception. I find it offensive that you used this moment to say something like this.”

Pugliese stormed out of the chamber.

Until recently, the relationship between Duran and Pugliese has largely been collegial, with the two meeting or talking multiple times every day, even when things get contentious in the House.

Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, said how people treat each other in the Capitol is “egregious. I’m sorry it happened to her.” There’s no respect in this building, he said.

Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-Colorado Springs, questioned why the resolution was being brought up during the special session, rather than during the last three weeks of the regular session.

This is a good resolution, and we should do better, DeGraaf said.

Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, attempted to play peacemaker with an amendment that called out what she said was coarse, dehumanizing language, growing disrespect and distrust that members of the public amplify. 

“Each of us has an obligation to uphold the integrity of the House,” the amendment said. 

Duran rejected Luck’s amendment, stating that while she couldn’t agree with the language, they appeared to be on the same page. It lost on a party-line vote.

Negative and even hateful comments on social media between members of both caucuses toward each other have been a problem for several years.

Zokaie, before the vote, said it was fitting to close the special session with the resolution.

Armagost abused and degraded me, she said. He invited the caucus to sexualize her and set in motion a chain of events that endangered her and her family. This was not a careless lapse in judgment, she said.

Last week, Armagost noted the censure resolution on X, in a reply to someone who commented on a story on that resolution posted by Colorado Politics. “Why did it matter if the crazy Dems censured you?” he was asked.

“No, taking their power away so that my R colleagues don’t have to speak on a resolution for censure where their words would be used against them by liberal media, no matter speaking in support or against the resolution… This is what the leftist leaders want but I will take the hit rather than the caucus or the party. This on my way out to new professional and personal ventures in AZ? Typical distract and deflect technique. We all need to stand up and speak up against them and their lunacy, not our own party…”

The resolution passed on a 59-2 vote, with Reps. Brandi Bradley and DeGraaf voting no, and Luck was excused from the vote, although she was at her desk at the time.

Pugliese also voted in favor.