Colorado state senator resigns amid ethics investigation
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Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, left, and Rep. Joe Neguse, right, react to 2018 election night results. Photo: Jeremy Papasso/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images
Just months into her second term, state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis abruptly resigned Tuesday amid an investigation into allegations that she mistreated legislative staff.
Why it matters: The Longmont Democrat is a longtime lawmaker and a key part of the Democratic majority that controls the Senate agenda.
Driving the news: Jaquez Lewis announced her decision in a Facebook post just before 6am — two hours before a Senate Ethics Committee meeting where she faced possible removal from office. She notified Senate leadership Monday night.
- She said her resignation was the result of her taking another job.
Yes, but: The ethics committee planned to review potentially bogus letters in support of her service, the Colorado Sun reported.
Catch up quick: The ethics panel is investigating a workplace misconduct complaint from five former staff members that states she had them do chores at her house, such as yard work and bartending at a party, per the Colorado Sun.
- Other informal allegations reported by CPR included refusal to pay her aides and demanding work schedules, which the senator also disputed.
The other side: Jaquez Lewis, who was removed as a committee chair this year because of the allegations, dismissed the claims in her response as "falsehoods," saying she was "scapegoated" by the union representing legislative aides.
- In messages to Axios Denver, she defended her work, attributing the matter to disgruntled former employees, and said she counts many of the people she worked with as close friends.
The latest: To support her case, she submitted letters of support to the committee, but nonpartisan legislative staffers said they could not be verified.
- One former staffer claimed they didn't write the letter, and Jaquez Lewis later admitted she wrote it based on a conversation with the former staffer.
- Jaquez Lewis told Axios Denver the letter was submitted accidentally. "I take responsibility for and have apologized to [the staffer] directly that it was mistakenly sent in," she told us.
What's next: Jaquez Lewis, a pharmacist by training, said she is taking a position at an unspecified nonprofit that develops "future women and LGBTQ+ leaders through an international lens."
- A vacancy committee will fill her position.
- "It's a tough job to be in the state Legislature, emotionally, physically and financially and my family and I have made great sacrifices over the last 7 years," she wrote in her resignation post, adding: "I am ready for some real and true time off."
Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with comments from Sonya Jaquez Lewis.