This year’s general election will feature an unusually high number of state Senate races — 21 seats, the most in at least three decades.

The surge stems from the number of new senators appointed to fill vacancies during the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, which triggered additional seats to go before voters.

That group of 21 includes six senators who are term-limited, running for other offices, or simply choosing not to return.

Fifteen House members, meanwhile, will not return next term — they are either term‑limited, running for another office, or choosing not to seek reelection.

Here’s a look at the lawmakers who are wrapping up their service in the General Assembly.

Open Senate seats

The 2026 election will see the end of the second term for four Democrats who were elected in the 2018 “wave” election for the state Senate, when Democrats took control of that chamber for the first time since the 2015 session.

Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, who represents Senate District 20, is now running for Jefferson County Commissioner, hoping to succeed former state Sen. Andy Kerr.

Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, is finishing out her second term in the Senate. She also served two terms in the House. Danielson, who represents Senate District 22, is running in the June 30 primary for Secretary of State against Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzales.

Sen. Julie Gonzales, D‑Denver, who represents west Denver in Senate District 34, is now running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, seeking the seat currently held by fellow Democrat U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, D‑Denver, who represents Senate District 32, which stretches from west Denver across south‑central neighborhoods to the city’s eastern limits, has not yet announced what he plans to do next.

Also departing

Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, is not running for a second term. He has not announced his future plans. 

Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park, is also not running for a second term, instead choosing to run for the U.S. Senate.

Two other members of the Senate are running for other offices, but still have two years remaining in their second Senate terms.

Sen. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, is running for state treasurer. Should he win that race, it would create a vacancy for his Senate District 26 seat.

Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, is running for governor in the June 30 primary. Should she win the primary and the general election, it would create a vacancy for her Senate District 23 seat.

Five senators who were appointed to their seats through the vacancy process will face their first election in November: Democratic Sens. Matt Ball of Denver, Adrienne Benavidez of Adams County, Iman Jodeh of Aurora, and Katie Wallace of Longmont, along with Republican Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson of Colorado Springs.

Zamora Wilson faces a primary challenge from former Rep. Terri Carver. Benavidez will face Alex Ryckman for the June 30 primary. 

House roster shifts

All 65 House seats are up for election in November, with seven members who are term-limited.

Another eight are either running for other offices or chose not to come back.

They include Rep. Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs, who won the hardest-fought race of the 2024 election, taking her House District 16 seat after a recount showed she had won by just three votes.

Her opponent in the 2024 race, former state Rep. Stephanie Vigil, is running for the HD 16 seat. 

Term-limited

House Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, who represents House District 23, is running for the Senate District 22 seat.

Rep. Meg Froelich, D‑Englewood, who represents House District 3, has had a distinctive legislative path — first running for the seat in the 2016 primary against the eventual winner, now‑Sen. Jeff Bridges, D‑Greenwood Village.

Bridges was chosen by a vacancy committee in 2019 to replace Sen. Daniel Kagan. A documentary filmmaker, Froelich was appointed by a different vacancy committee to replace Bridges, and she rose through the ranks in the House to chair the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee.

So what’s next?

“I’m going to do real life!  Family, friends and travel,” Froelich told Colorado Politics,

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, who has now spent four years wielding the Speaker’s gavel, did not respond to an email about her future plans.

Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, who represents House District 9, is running for Senate District 32.

Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta, who represents House District 54, was formally accused of not living in the area, using the address of a house owned by his mother that had been rented to a family with disabled family members. After the accusation became public, the family was evicted. Soper had used his mother’s rental address for voting in both the 2018 primary and general elections. 

The three complaints were eventually dismissed. Soper did not respond to an email on his future plans.

Rep. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada, Colorado’s first transgender lawmaker, represents House District 27, which had been in Republican hands for years. She told Colorado Politics she’s trying to figure out what’s next.

“I’m exploring opportunities but also waiting to see the results of the primary election to see what opportunities might be there in the next administration,” she said.  

Alex Valdez, D-Denver, who represents House District 5, which includes part of downtown Denver and neighborhoods west of downtown, did not respond to an email about his future plans.

Not coming back

Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, who has served two terms in the House and represents District 15, is now running for the GOP primary for governor.

Rep. Mary Bradfield, R-Colorado Springs, represents House District 21. She is not running for a fourth term. She did not respond to an email about her future plans.

Rep. Sheila Lieder, D-Lakewood, who has served two terms for House District 28, is now running for Senate District 20.

Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, who is not running for a fourth term to represent House District 60. She did not respond to an email about her future plans.

Rep. Manny Rutinel, D-Commerce City, is turning down an opportunity for a second full term for House District 32 and is running against former Rep. Shannon Bird for the 8th Congressional District primary.

Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, is not running for a third term. Weinberg was admonished by the House Ethics Committee this year for misusing a master key and for inappropriate comments toward female lawmakers. The committee also recommended that he take sexual harassment prevention training. He did not respond to an email about his future plans.

Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, who has served House District 2, which includes Capitol Hill, for three terms, is not running for a fourth. Woodrow told Colorado Politics he’s already back to spending time with his family and “giving my law practice my full, undivided attention.”

Woodrow has drawn heat for social media comments, particularly over the July 2024 assassination attempt then-candidate Donald Trump, in which he referred to the Republican as “the devil.” He apologized for his comments and deleted his X account.