Sometime in the next 24 days, a vacancy committee for Senate District 21 will hold an election to choose a successor to former Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City.

Michaelson Jenet resigned on Feb. 13 to take a job as director of the David and Laura Merage Foundation for Combating Antisemitism.

The competition for her seat is heating up.

The state Democratic party has so far listed five candidates for the vacancy.

Former state Rep. Adrienne Benevidez has already picked up endorsements from Reps. Manny Rutinel and Lorena Garcia, who was chosen by a 2022 vacancy committee to replace Benevidez.

Benevidez served three terms in the Colorado House and was re-elected to a fourth, but resigned on Jan. 5, four days before the start of the 2023 session.

Benevidez, then the Speaker Pro Tem, resigned after losing to Rep. Julie McCluskie for House Speaker.

Chris VanDijk, a firefighter, has put his name in for Senate District 21, although he’s also running for House District 32, the seat currently held by Rutinel, who is running for Congressional District 8.

Ben Elwood is an X-ray inspector and chairs the Colorado Nuclear Alliance.

Anita Mariotti is a former special education teacher with the Boulder Valley schools and is currently a facilitator & instructional coach.

Marc Paga is the only candidate to file with TRACER, the state’s campaign finance system, for the vacancy. He’s a mortgage loan assistant with First Western Trust.

Michael Scanlon is the founder of ClimateCon! and initially announced last year that he would run for the U.S. Senate. He’s currently a candidate for House District 32.

Adams County Commissioner Steve O’Dorisio also had been rumored to be interested, but quipped that “right now, being a state legislator seems like it’s the worst job in the world, second only to Congress.”

None of the candidates has filed for the Senate seat for the 2026 general election.

The vacancy election is slated to take place on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.