Democratic state Sen. Jessie Danielson has announced her bid to be the next Colorado Secretary of State.
Danielson is serving her second term in the Senate and has one more year in the legislature before she’s term-limited. She previously served in the House. Her Jefferson County district includes portions of Wheat Ridge, Golden and much of Lakewood.
At the capital Danielson has championed issues like workers and indigenous rights. She sponsored the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, and pushed for the state to adopt paid family leave. She has also had an impact on election policy, helping move the state to an all-mail ballot system in 2013 and sponsoring Colorado’s automatic voter registration law in 2019.
Danielson said she’s running to be Colorado’s top election official to defend and preserve a system that’s under attack.
“I think the primary task is to protect what we have in place that Colorado voters have come to really depend on,” Danielson told CPR News.
Prior to joining the legislature, she served as the state director for America Votes, a progressive election nonprofit.
Danielson grew up on her family’s farm in Weld County. She’s the second elected official from Jefferson County to enter the race so far; the county’s clerk, Amanda Gonzalez, is also running for the seat to replace Jena Griswold.
Griswold, a Democrat who is term-limited, is vying for Attorney General.
Two Republicans, Cory Parella of Denver and Ross Taraborelli of Highlands Ranch, have also registered to run, as has an unaffiliated candidate, Melissa Richards of Englewood.
The Secretary of State oversees both elections administration and business licensing, and has become a high-profile role in recent years, as the question of how Americans vote, and whether they trust the vote, has moved to the epicenter of some of the country’s greatest divides.
Colorado clerks have also faced increasing pressures and threats in the wake of the 2020 election and false claims that it was stolen from President Donald Trump. Danielson said as Secretary of State, she would dig in on the stresses local election officials face and work closely with clerks from across the state, regardless of party affiliation, to help them do their jobs.
“I think right now, more than ever, it is incredibly important that we stand up for this country that we love so much, and we continue to fight for it, not be bullied away from doing the right thing, because otherwise they win,” said Danielson.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this story misspelled Danielson's first name. It has been corrected.
