LONGMONT, Colo — Three weeks after State Rep. Jennifer Parenti announced she was dropping her re-election bid for House District 19, a Democratic vacancy committee selected a replacement nominee for the party.
The committee voted for Jillaire McMillan as the party’s new nominee for the district, which includes parts of Boulder and Weld counties.
“I'm pretty excited, a little overwhelmed,” said McMillan.
McMillan, who has four children, said her experience as a former PTA president, a leader in her church, and working at a nonprofit will come in handy if voters send her to the Colorado State Capitol.
“That's really prepared me to be informed, to really look at issues from different perspectives, and to work with people from across the political spectrum,” said McMillan.
McMillan said if elected, she’ll fight to expand access to transit and affordable housing and provide more money for schools.
“There are a lot of challenges that they need to be able to face and we need to be able to provide them the resources to do that,” said McMillan.
She will face Republican Dan Woog in November. Woog is a former state lawmaker who represented parts of the area before redistricting. He ran for House District 19 in 2022 but lost in a close race against Parenti.
“I took a lot of time off to think about things and didn’t think I probably would run again. I wasn’t feeling like it was my time,” Woog said.
He said supporters convinced him to run again.
“I know it’s going to be close, no matter what,” said Woog. “It’s a very balanced and even district as far as that goes.”
Woog said if elected, his top priority would be reducing the cost of living.
“I want to focus on the cost of living and anything I can do as a former business owner,” said Woog. “I think we got to focus on lowering taxes for properties. I think we've got to focus on business owner regulations that are just hurting them and hardly allowing them to make a profit in a lot of these smaller businesses.”
The winner could determine whether Democrats hold on to their supermajority in the House. If they lose it, they will need Republican support to override gubernatorial vetoes or send ballot measures to voters.
Just 31 people participated in Thursday night’s vacancy committee selection. McMillan said while only a small slice of voters in the district helped select her, she believes she will still be a strong candidate and will have an opportunity to earn their support in November.
“I just hope that I can show the people of HD 19 that I am a hard worker and that they really take the time to talk to me and get to know me,” said McMillan.
If she’s elected in November, she will be one of several lawmakers from both parties who were selected through a vacancy committee process. Many of them have since been elected by primary and general election voters.
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