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 Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

from 2010 to 2019. Prior to her tenure in the state senate she served on the school board in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and led the Colorado Council of Churches. Guzmán was born to farm workers from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and educated at Sam Houston State University and the

Iliff School of Theology Iliff School of Theology is a graduate Methodist theological school in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1892, the school's campus is adjacent to the University of Denver. Fewer than 200 students attend the school. Iliff is one of thirteen United ...

. She became a minister in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

and led the Colorado Council of Churches before being elected to the school board. Mayor

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...

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 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 ...

's handling of sexual harassment cases in the legislature.

Early life

Guzmán was born in

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city o ...

, in 1945, as one of nine children to farm workers from

. Her father, Tomas Guzmán, was murdered at age seventy-three in 1975, during a gas station robbery. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from Sam Houston State University. and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

in divinity from the

. She worked at the

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a public academic health science center in Galveston, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the oldest medical school in Texas, and has about 11,000 employees. In Febr ...

from 1975 to 1983.

Career

Local politics

Guzmán became an ordained minister in the

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

school board and served on it from 1999 to 2007. She was appointed by Mayor

to manage the Agency for Human Rights. She is married to Martha Eubanks.

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. She defeated Representative Joel Judd in the primary and won in the general election. She was reelected in the 2014 election against

nominee Stuart Siffring and Libertarian nominee Brian Scriber. She was term-limited during the 2018 election and endorsed

Julie Gonzales Julie Gonzales is an American politician. After graduating from Yale University in 2005, she worked as a community organizer in Denver. She is a member of the Colorado Senate from the 34th district in the City and County of Denver. She is a De ...

, who won in the general election, to succeed her.

Tenure

Guzmán served on the Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Judiciary committees. She replaced Senator Steve King as chair of the Legislative Audit committee while King faced felony charges. She was a member of the LGBTQ caucus. She supported

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

during the

2008 Democratic presidential primaries From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African Ame ...

and 2016 primaries and Amy Klobuchar in the 2020 primaries. 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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the 6th congressional district. She was the first Latina lesbian to serve as Minority Leader in the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The se ...

. 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 Daniel Kagan (born January 1953) is an American politician who served in the Colorado Senate from the 26th district from 2017 to 2019, and in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 3rd district from 2009 to 2017, as a member of the Dem ...

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.

Political positions

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

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

. She introduced and supported legislation to create same-sex civil unions and to prohibit

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...

on minors. 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. She received an A rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Legislative homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guzman, Lucia 1945 births American lesbians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party Colorado state senators Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Colorado Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Lesbian politicians LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT state legislators in Colorado Living people Politicians from Denver Women state legislators in Colorado