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Longmont City Councilmember Shiquita Yarbrough and nine other candidates are interested in the Senate District 17 seat that was vacated by Sonya Jaquez Lewis. Jaquez Lewis resigned earlier this month and wrote in a post on social media that she had “the opportunity to serve with a regional not-for-profit that focuses on developing future women and LGBTQ+ leaders through an international lens.” Jaquez Lewis’ resignation came days before an ethics committee was going to decide whether to pursue an investigation into her treatment of aides.
Now, a vacancy committee will convene at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, to fill the seat.
Senate District 17 includes Longmont, Lafayette and Erie and Yarbrough thought all three were trying to tackle similar issues. “We all are strategically working on the influx of growth in our communities and District 17 and throughout the entire state of Colorado,” Yarbrough said. Yarbrough said housing affordability is also an issue “across the board.
” First elected to the Longmont City Council in 2021 as an at-large member, Yarbrough’s current term on the council expires in November. Yarbrough said there are so many connections between housing, transportation, early childhood education and other issues impacting residents. “We’re talking about basic needs,” Yarbrough said.
“It’s not even about the wants anymore, it’s about what we need.” In addition to Yarbrough, Andrew Barton, Justin Brooks, Kathy Hagen, Julie Marshall, Michael Rayl, Peter Salas, Katie Wallace and Martha Wilson had applied to be candidates for the Senate District 17 vacancy as of Thursday, according to information on the Longmont Area Democrats website . “I don’t know everybody that is on that list but I truly believe that we all .
.. are putting our names out there, ourselves out there to serve our community,” Yarbrough said.
“I am grateful that people did step up.”.
