Lucía Guzmán
Member of the Colorado Senate
from the 34th district
In office
May 21, 2010 – January 4, 2019
Preceded byPaula Sandoval
Succeeded byJulie Gonzales
Personal details
Bornc. 1945
Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMartha Eubanks
EducationSam Houston State University (BS)
Iliff School of Theology (MS)

Lucía Guzmán (born 1945) is an American minister and politician who served in the Colorado Senate from the 34th district as a member of the Democratic Party from 2010 to 2019. Prior to her tenure in the state senate she served on the school board in Denver and led the Colorado Council of Churches.

Guzmán was born to farm workers from Mexico and educated at Sam Houston State University and the Iliff School of Theology. She became a minister in the United Methodist Church and led the Colorado Council of Churches before being elected to the school board. Mayor John Hickenlooper to manage the Agency for Human Rights.

She was appointed to replace Paula Sandoval in the state senate and served until she was term-limited in the 2018 election. During her tenure in the state senate she served as the Minority Leader until she resigned in protest of the Republican's handling of sexual harassment cases in the legislature.

Early life

Guzmán was born in Katy, Texas, in 1945, as one of nine children to farm workers from Mexico. Her father, Tomas Guzmán, was murdered at age seventy-three in 1975, during a gas station robbery. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Sam Houston State University. and a Master of Science in divinity from the Iliff School of Theology. She worked at the University of Texas Medical Branch from 1975 to 1983.[1][2][3][4]

Career

Local politics

Guzmán became an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church in 1992. She led the Colorado Council of Churches from 1994 to 1999, and was the first Hispanic and woman to lead it. Guzmán left the council to run against Rita Montero for a seat on the Denver school board and served on it from 1999 to 2007. She was appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper to manage the Agency for Human Rights. She is married to Martha Eubanks.[5][6][4]

Colorado Senate

Elections

Paula Sandoval resigned from the Colorado Senate to serve on the Denver city council in 2010, and Guzmán was appointed to replace her.[7] She defeated Representative Joel Judd in the primary and won in the general election.[3] She was reelected in the 2014 election against Republican nominee Stuart Siffring and Libertarian nominee Brian Scriber.[8][9] She was term-limited during the 2018 election and endorsed Julie Gonzales, who won in the general election, to succeed her.[10][11]

Tenure

Guzmán served on the Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Judiciary committees.[12] She replaced Senator Steve King as chair of the Legislative Audit committee while King faced felony charges.[13] She was a member of the LGBTQ caucus.[14] She supported Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and 2016 primaries and Amy Klobuchar in the 2020 primaries.[15][16][17]

In 2015, she was selected to replace Senator Morgan Carroll as the Minority Leader in the state senate after Carroll gave the position up so that she could run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from the 6th congressional district.[18] She was the first Latina lesbian to serve as Minority Leader in the Colorado General Assembly.[19]

She resigned her position as Minority Leader in protest of the Republican's handling of sexual harassment allegations against members of the state senate. She stated that the last straw was when the Republicans condemned Senator Daniel Kagan for demanding a floor debate on the conduct of Senator Randy Baumgardner. Guzmán and Senator Leroy Garcia switched positions with Garcia becoming Minority Leader while Guzmán became the assistant minority leader.[20][21]

Political positions

Guzmán introduced legislation to add homeless people to the list of protected categories in hate crime legislation.[22] She introduced legislation to abolish the death penalty in 2013.[2] She and nine other Democrats in the state senate were given a score of 100% from the AFL–CIO.[23]

She introduced and supported legislation to create same-sex civil unions and to prohibit conversion therapy on minors.[24][25] Guzmán was among thirty-seven legislators who endorsed a letter in 2018, calling for Planned Parenthood to allow for their workers to form an union.[26] She received an A rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.[27]

Electoral history

2014 Colorado Senate 34th district Democratic primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lucía Guzmán (incumbent) 6,507 100.00%
Total votes 6,507 100.00%
2014 Colorado Senate 34th district election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lucía Guzmán (incumbent) 31,889 74.38%
Republican Stuart Siffring 8,390 19.57%
Libertarian Brian Scriber 2,592 6.05%
Total votes 42,871 100.00%

References

  1. ↑ "Lucia Guzman". University of Colorado Boulder. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Personal Stories Grip Lawmakers On Death Penalty". KCNC-TV. March 17, 2013. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Meet the Candidate: Lucia Guzman Runs for State Senate". HuffPost. May 25, 2011. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Lucia Guzman Papers". Denver Public Library. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022.
  5. ↑ "With Nature as Teacher, Former State Senator Lucía Guzmán Has Learned Well". The Denver North Star. November 15, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Council of churches director to leave job". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. June 16, 1999. p. 17. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Newest state senator sworn in". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. May 22, 2010. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "2014 Primary Election Results - Democratic Party Ballot". Secretary of State of Colorado. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "2014 General Election Results". Secretary of State of Colorado. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Alan Kennedy-Shaffer makes the ballot in the race to succeed Lucia Guzman". Colorado Politics. April 22, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  11. ↑ "2018 General Election Results". Secretary of State of Colorado. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ "State Senators". Colorado Democratic Party. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  13. ↑ "King removed from legislative panel". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. September 3, 2014. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "LGBTQ Coloradans to lobby the Colorado Capitol on Monday". Colorado Politics. February 24, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Hillary rips Republicans, rallies Dems at Denver organizing event". Colorado Politics. August 7, 2015. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Among top Colorado Democrats, gap remains on supporting Clinton". The Denver Post. June 7, 2016. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Colorado primary notebook: Klobuchar buys TV ads, Bernie backs DIA union workers". The Denver Post. February 25, 2020. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Democrats Pick Sen. Guzman Of Denver As New Chamber Leader". KCNC-TV. July 15, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Sens. Lucia Guzman, Jessie Ulibarri take Colorado's LGBT fight to national stage". The Denver Post. September 29, 2015. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Colo. Senate minority leader steps down, cites misconduct". Fort Collins Coloradoan. March 23, 2018. p. A6. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "Senate Democratic leader Guzman stepping down from top post". Colorado Politics. March 22, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Homeless hate-crime bill passes hurdle". Fort Collins Coloradoan. February 18, 2011. p. 5. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "AFL-CIO's legislative scorecard: Dems do well; Republicans, not so much". Colorado Politics. August 16, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Colorado advocates cheer U.S. Supreme Court ruling for gay marriage". The Denver Post. June 26, 2015. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Conversion therapy ban for LGBTQ minors passes Colorado House committee". Colorado Politics. March 21, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Lawmakers back Denver Planned Parenthood workers' union cause". Colorado Politics. June 13, 2018. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Lucia Guzman". NARAL Pro-Choice America. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021.
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