Daneya Leigh Esgar is a former Democratic member of the Colorado House of Representatives. She represented District 46, which covered a portion of

Pueblo County Pueblo County ( or ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,162. The county seat is Pueblo. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish la ...

. She was first elected to her seat in 2014, succeeding Leroy Garcia. In November 2020, Esgar's colleagues elected her to serve as majority leader of the Colorado House of Representatives for the two-year term beginning in January 2021. Esgar is a lifelong

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

resident and an alumna of

Colorado State University Pueblo Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) is a public university in Pueblo, Colorado. It is a member of the Colorado State University System (CSU System) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). History 1933 to 1959 The idea for startin ...

. Before taking office, she worked as a journalist and community organizer. She is openly lesbian and is a member of the Colorado House's LGBT Caucus. Esgar previously served as the House Majority Caucus Chair. She was also the chair of the Capital Development Committee, the vice chair of the House Health, Insurance, & Environment Committee, and a member of the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee and the House Transportation & Energy Committee. Additionally, she served as temporary Speaker of the House during the January 9th, 2023 Speaker election for the 74th General Assembly, making her the first openly gay representative to hold the Speaker's gavel in the state. Esgar was the first openly gay state legislator to represent the Pueblo community in the General Assembly.

Elections

Esgar was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, winning with 52.2% of the vote against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent Brian Mater. She was reelected in 2016, in which she ran unopposed.

References

External links

Official campaign website
1979 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American politicians Colorado State University Pueblo alumni Journalists from Colorado LGBT state legislators in Colorado Living people Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives People from Pueblo, Colorado Women state legislators in Colorado {{Colorado-politician-stub