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Former state representative tapped to fill vacant Colorado Senate seat


A Democratic vacancy committee has picked former state Rep. Adrienne Benavidez to fill a vacant Colorado Senate seat.

Adrienne Benavidez is a Colorado state representative for House District 32 in Adams County, and she is speaker pro-tempore.
Former state Rep. Adrienne Benavidez. She was picked to fill a vacant state Senate seat Thursday night. (Denver Post file)

Benavidez, of Commerce City, will replace former Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet after winning the Thursday night vacancy election. Michaelson Jenet resigned earlier this month to take a job as the director of the David Merage Foundation for Confronting Antisemitism.

Benavidez will represent Senate District 21, which stretches from north metro Denver to parts of Adams and Arapahoe counties.

“I’m humbled by the support and confidence placed in me by the Vacancy Committee,” Benavidez said in a statement. “The hardworking people of Senate District 21 deserve representation that will advocate for their needs and concerns. I hope to make them proud!”

Benavidez served in the state House of Representatives between 2017 and 2023. She resigned that seat in January 2023 after she lost a bid for speaker.