Another Colorado state senator announces their resignation just after winning reelection to a four-year term

A second Democratic state senator who was recently reelected for a four-year term at the Capitol said Thursday that she will resign early next year. 

State Sen. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, submitted a letter of resignation to legislative leadership and said in a written statement that she will resign Jan. 9, one day after Colorado’s 2025 lawmaking term begins,  “to prioritize my family and health.

“Serving the people of Aurora in the Colorado General Assembly in both the House and Senate for the past nine years has been an honor of a lifetime,” she wrote in her formal resignation letter. “I am proud of the work we’ve accomplished to better the lives of all Coloradans and I look forward to contributing to my community in new capacities.”

Buckner, who is in her late 70s and is chair of the Senate Education Committee, is the second Democratic state senator reelected by constituents Nov. 5 to announce they will be resigning from the legislature early next year when the General Assembly convenes for its 2025 lawmaking term. 

State Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, also plans to resign Jan. 9 as he becomes CEO of the La Plata Energy Association. He won reelection in Senate District 31 by about 60,000 votes, easily beating his Libertarian challenger.

Buckner ran for reelection in Senate District 29 unopposed this year. She received more than 45,500 votes in her bid for a second, four-year term in the Senate. 

Democratic vacancy committees made up of party insiders will select the replacements for Buckner and Hansen. The replacements will have to run for reelection in 2026 to a two-year term in the state Senate if they want to finish out the terms of Buckner and Hansen.

It’s been nearly 40 years since someone elected to a four-year term in the Colorado Senate has resigned shortly after after their victory, as Hansen and Buckner will do.

In 1987, Republican state Sen. John Donley resigned after being reelected to the Senate in 1986. His Senate District 16 seat based in Weld County was filled in 1988 by then-Republican state Rep. Tom Norton through a vacancy appointment.

Vacancy rules require that when there is a resignation or death in the state Senate, the district be up for grabs in the next general election. But usually a senator resigns more than halfway through their term, so the next general election happens when the seat is up for grabs for a four-year term anyway.

However, when a senator leaves office less than halfway through their term, the next general election comes in the middle of the four-year term, meaning the election for the seat is for just a two-year term. That keeps the cycle of half of the Senate’s 35 seats being up for grabs every two years from being thrown off.

So in 1988, Norton had to run to finish the two years remaining in Donley’s term.

Norton ran again to represent Senate District 16 in 1990, when he was elected to a full, four-year term in the chamber. He was reelected in 1994 — before legislative term limits were fully in effect. He served as president of the Senate from 1993-1998.

If Hansen and Buckner’s replacements run and win in 2026, they would then be eligible to run in 2028 for a four-year term before they are term-limited. They would still get eight years in the Senate, just in a roundabout way.

Colorado Politics was first Thursday to report Buckner’s resignation. “For the first time in a long time, I decided to prioritize Janet,” she told the news outlet.

Buckner first entered the legislature in 2015 when she was appointed to a state House seat following the death of her husband, Rep. John Buckner. She was elected to the Senate in 2020.

“Janet Buckner is a friend and champion for the people of our state and Aurora,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a written statement. “I have greatly enjoyed working alongside Sen. Buckner and I know she will be dearly missed by her colleagues on both sides of the aisle at the legislature. When her husband John passed away in 2015, Janet didn’t hesitate to step up and powerfully build upon the legacy of his service. Janet and John are giants of the community and will leave a lasting legacy. I have no doubt that whatever Janet does next, she will continue to make Colorado even better.”

A prime candidate to fill Buckner’s seat is Rep. Iman Jodeh, an Aurora Democrat who lives in Buckner’s District 29. However, she declined to comment Thursday on her interest in the vacancy appointment.

“Today is Janet’s day,” Jodeh said in a text message to The Colorado Sun.

The Colorado Democratic Party said Democratic vacancy committees that will choose replacements for Hansen and Buckner will meet in early January.

Colorado Sun staff writer Brian Eason contributed to this report.