A week after State Sen. Chris Hansen won reelection for another four-year term in the legislature, the Denver Democrat is already leaving for a new and better-paying job.
On Tuesday, the La Plata Electric Association announced Hansen will be its next CEO, taking over the nonprofit electrical cooperative that delivers energy to Durango, Pagosa Springs and other communities in southwest Colorado. He will succeed the interim CEO who led the organization since March.
In a press release, Hansen said serving in the statehouse was an honor of a lifetime.
“I am confident that my experience in the Capitol will guide me well in this next chapter in my career,” he said in the statement.
During his tenure at the legislature, Hansen served for a time on the powerful Joint Budget Committee and was often at the center of significant policy discussions. He also had a brief stint running for Mayor of Denver.
Most recently, he was a key part of Democratic efforts to reduce property tax rates to head off the chance of voters approving a much bigger tax cut at the ballot box.
Hansen won a race against a Libertarian challenger with 84 percent of the vote last week. His district covers central Denver, including Capitol Hill, down to Washington Park and neighborhoods to the east.
News that he will not serve his second term has set off a scramble over who should take over the safely blue seat. A vacancy committee of local Democrats will pick his replacement.
Democratic state Rep. Steven Woodrow, who currently represents a large part of the district, said he plans to run for the vacancy. Others who intend to try for the seat include Jaime Lewis, a disability rights activist who was appointed to the RTD board, and Monica VanBuskirk, the former Chief Policy and Relationships Officer for Connect for Health. State Rep.-elect Sean Camacho of Denver said he’s heavily considering it, too. Others may also throw their names into the race.
If a vacancy committee selects a House member to step into Hansen’s office, another committee would then need to select someone to take over that seat.
Hansen would not directly confirm to CPR News before Tuesday that he planned to step down, but didn’t dispute it and said he would be putting out a statement. A screenshot of an internal message leaked to 9News suggests the Denver Democrats were already planning to set up a special vacancy committee to fill Hansen’s seat prior to the announcement, and alerting members they might need to fill a House seat, too.
But some Democrats in the Senate caucus said that while they had heard rumors of Hansen’s potential departure in recent weeks, nothing was formally communicated until Tuesday when the caucus learned of it through the media. Some members said they were surprised at the lack of communication and that he’d been acting like it was business as usual. Just days earlier he nominated two people for positions during the caucus leadership meeting.
According to a portion of a caucus conversation Tuesday night shared with CPR News, two senators asked Hansen to address a news report about his resignation and provide more details about it, including his departure date.
Incoming state Senate president James Coleman of Denver said he’s known Hansen well over the eight years they served together, first in the House and then in the Senate, and is proud of him as a person.
“I’m really appreciative of him being an expert when it comes to budget and environmental policy and being an advocate in all areas,” said Coleman.
The two were on the State Veterans and Military Affairs Committee as was Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley who also serves with Hansen on the Joint Technology Committee. Baisley said he admired Hansen and described the outgoing legislator as accessible and respectful, even when the two lawmakers’ views clashed.
“I will not miss his voting proclivities, but I will miss Chris’ smile,” said Baisley in a text to CPR News.
Some of Hansen’s ideas proved controversial. Several years ago he was the architect of a private ranking system Democrats used to prioritize bills for funding. Backers said it was a helpful touch point that improved negotiations. However, a Denver judge sided with Republicans who sued to block the practice and agreed it violated Colorado’s open meetings law.
In addition to the budget, Hansen also set himself apart as one of the legislature’s leading voices on climate change.
In 2023, he sponsored a bill to require Colorado to eliminate its climate impact by 2050. Earlier legislation established the nation’s first clean heat standard, which requires natural gas utilities to cut their climate impact. Another bill created a state-funded discount for electric lawn equipment to help cut smog-forming pollution along the Front Range.
“Even in Colorado, advocating for strong legislation to prevent negative impacts of climate change is no easy task, and we’re thankful that Sen. Hansen rose to the challenge again and again,” said Jessica Gelay, government affairs manager at Western Resource Advocates, a leading environmental group. “His successor has big shoes to fill.”
Tax documents show Jessica Matlock, the last full-time CEO of the La Plata Electrical Association, earned more than $600,000 in total compensation in 2023. Hansen, by comparison, earned roughly $44,000 over the same year by serving as a state senator.
Editor's note: Western Resource Advocates is a financial supporter of CPR News. Financial supporters have no editorial influence.
