United States congressional delegations from Colorado
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Since Colorado became a U.S. state in 1876,<ref name="LOC-statehood">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> it has sent congressional delegations to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, beginning with the 44th United States Congress. Prior to statehood, the Colorado Territory sent non-voting delegates to the House of Representatives from 1861 to 1876.<ref name="congress-delegations">Template:Cite book</ref> Each state elects two senators to serve for six years, and members of the House to two-year terms. Each state elects two senators to serve for six years in general elections, with their re-election staggered. Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the Colorado General Assembly.<ref name="NARA-17th-amendment">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Each state elects a varying number of, but at least one,<ref name="const-12" /> member of the House, depending on population, to two-year terms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Colorado has sent eight members to the House in each congressional delegation since the 2020 United States Census.<ref name="census-seat-history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A total of 80 people have served Colorado in the House and 37 have served Colorado in the Senate. The first of seven women to serve Colorado in Congress was Pat Schroeder, who served in the House from 1973 to 1996.<ref name="CAWP-Colorado" /> The first and only African-American to have served Colorado in Congress is Joe Neguse.<ref name="dp-Neguse" />
The current dean, or longest-serving member, of the Colorado delegation is Representative Diana DeGette of the Template:Ushr, who has served in the House since 1997.<ref name="CPR-DeGette">Template:Cite news</ref> She is the second-longest serving member of Congress in Colorado history, only behind Edward T. Taylor, who served in the House from 1909 to 1941.<ref name="ColoPolitics-DeGette-tenure">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Taylor-death" /> Henry M. Teller, who served more than 30 years in the Senate,<ref name="Teller-death">Template:Cite news</ref> is the longest-serving senator in Colorado history.<ref name="ColoPol-Bennet">Template:Cite news</ref>
Current delegation
Colorado's current congressional delegation to the Template:USCongressOrdinalCongress consists of two senators, both of whom are Democrats,<ref name="senate-CO">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and eight representatives comprising four Democrats and four Republicans.<ref name="reps-list">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The state of Colorado gained an Template:Ushr beginning in 2023.<ref name="dp-8thdistrict" /> The current dean of the Colorado delegation is Representative Diana DeGette of the Template:Ushr, who has served in the House since 1997.<ref name="CPR-DeGette" />
The Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI) is a measure of how strongly partisan a state is.<ref name="cpvi">Template:Cite journal</ref> It measures the party leaning (Democratic or Republican) and the number of percentage points more partisan than the national average. For instance, R+4 would mean the state voted four percentage points more Republican than the national average.<ref name="cpvi-about">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of 2025, the CPVI ranked Colorado's 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th districts as leaning Democratic, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th districts as leaning Republican. The 8th district is ranked as even.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a state, Colorado is ranked as leaning Democratic, with a score of D+6.<ref name="cpvi-s" />
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Class II senator | Class III senator | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpeg) John Hickenlooper Junior senator Template:Small |
.jpg) Michael Bennet Senior senator Template:Small | ||||
| Party | Template:Party shading/Text/Democratic | Template:Party shading/Text/Democratic | |||
| Incumbent since | January 3, 2021 | January 21, 2009 |
{{#section:Colorado's congressional districts|Current representatives}}
United States Senate
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Two senators from Colorado, Henry M. Teller and Ken Salazar, have also served as the United States Secretary of the Interior, under the Arthur administration and Obama administration respectively.<ref name="MillerCenter-Teller" /><ref name="Salazar-resignation-intsec">Template:Cite news</ref> Salazar is currently serving as the United States ambassador to Mexico under the Biden administration.<ref name="Salazar-ambassador">Template:Cite news</ref> Many senators from Colorado, including John F. Shafroth and Edwin C. Johnson, also served as the governor of Colorado.<ref name="NGA-Shafroth">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NGA-Johnson">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some have also been at the forefront of national politics during their careers, including Eugene Millikin, who served as the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference,<ref name="senate-Rconference-chair">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Gary Hart, who finished second in the 1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries and was considered a frontrunner in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries.<ref name="vox-Hart">Template:Cite news</ref>
Senators are elected every six years depending on their class, with each senator serving a six-year term, and elections for senators occurring every two years, rotating through each class such that each election, around one-third of the seats in the Senate are up for election.<ref name="senate-about">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Colorado's senators are elected in classes II and III.<ref name="senate-co">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Currently, Colorado is represented in the Senate by Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.<ref name="sun-current">Template:Cite news</ref>
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United States House of Representatives
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Many representatives from Colorado have played important roles in the House of Representatives, including by chairing congressional committees. For instance, Wayne N. Aspinall chaired the United States House Committee on Natural Resources from 1959 to 1973,<ref name="Aspinall-upc">Template:Cite book</ref> and Edward T. Taylor chaired the United States House Committee on Appropriations for more than three terms.<ref name="Taylor-death" /> Taylor was also influential in the passing of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, which is named after him.<ref name="gjsentinel-TaylorAct">Template:Cite news</ref> Others took on important roles later in their careers, such as John F. Shafroth, who later became the governor of Colorado and a senator from Colorado known for his influence over the passing of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.<ref name="NGA-Shafroth" /> Seven women have served Colorado in the House, the first being Pat Schroeder,<ref name="CAWP-Colorado" /> and the first and only African-American to have served Colorado in the House is Joe Neguse.<ref name="dp-Neguse">Template:Cite news</ref>
Each district uses a popular vote to elect a member of Colorado's delegation in the House of Representatives.<ref name="const-12">Template:Cite constitution</ref> Districts are redrawn every ten years, after data from the US Census is collected.<ref name="nyt-districts">Template:Cite news</ref> From 1861 to 1876, Colorado sent a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives; when it became a state in 1876, it had one seat in the House. Since then, its representation in the House has grown along with its population. Since 2023, Colorado has had eight congressional districts drawn according to the results of the 2020 United States Census.<ref name="congress-delegations" /><ref name="dp-8thdistrict">Template:Cite news</ref>
1861–1876: 1 non-voting delegate
Starting on August 19, 1861, the Territory of Colorado sent a non-voting delegate to the House.<ref name="congress-delegations" />
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| Congress | Delegate from Template:Ushr |
|---|---|
| 37th (1861–1863) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Hiram Pitt Bennet (Cons. R) |
| 38th (1863–1865) | |
| 39th (1865–1867) | Template:Party cell | Allen Alexander Bradford (R) |
| 40th (1867–1869) | Template:Party cell | George M. Chilcott (R) |
| 41st (1869–1871) | Template:Party cell | Allen Alexander Bradford (R) |
| 42nd (1871–1873) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Jerome B. Chaffee (R) |
| 43rd (1873–1875) | |
| 44th (1875–1877) | Template:Party cell | Thomas M. Patterson (D) |
1876–1893: 1 seat
Following statehood on August 1, 1876, the state of Colorado was apportioned one seat in the House.<ref name="congress-delegations" />
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| Congress | Template:Ushr |
|---|---|
| 44th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | James B. Belford (R) |
| 45th Template:Nowrap | |
| Template:Party cell | Thomas M. Patterson (D) | |
| 46th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | James B. Belford (R) |
| 47th Template:Nowrap | |
| 48th Template:Nowrap | |
| 49th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | George G. Symes (R) |
| 50th Template:Nowrap | |
| 51st Template:Nowrap | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Hosea Townsend (R) |
| 52nd Template:Nowrap |
1893–1903: 2 seats
Following the 1890 census, Colorado was apportioned two seats.<ref name="congress-delegations" />
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| Congress | District | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | |
| 53rd Template:Nowrap | Template:Party cell | Lafe Pence (Pop) | rowspan=5 Template:Party cell | John Calhoun Bell (Pop) |
| 54th Template:Nowrap | Template:Party cell |John F. Shafroth (R) | |
| 55th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | John F. Shafroth (Sv) | |
| 56th Template:Nowrap | ||
| 57th Template:Nowrap | ||
1903–1913: 3 seats
Following the 1900 census, Colorado was apportioned three seats.<ref name="congress-delegations" />
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| Congress | District | Template:Ushr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | ||
| 58th Template:Nowrap | Template:Party cell | John F. Shafroth (D)Template:Efn | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Herschel M. Hogg (R) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Franklin E. Brooks (R) |
| rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Robert W. Bonynge (R) | |||
| 59th Template:Nowrap | |||
| 60th Template:Nowrap | Template:Party cell | Warren A. Haggott (R) | Template:Party cell | George W. Cook (R) | |
| 61st Template:Nowrap | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Atterson W. Rucker (D) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | John Andrew Martin (D) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Edward T. Taylor (D) |
| 62nd Template:Nowrap | |||
1913–1973: 4 seats
Following the 1910 census, Colorado was apportioned four seats.<ref name="census-seat-history" />
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1973–1983: 5 seats
Following the 1970 census, Colorado was apportioned five seats.<ref name="census-seat-history" />
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| Congress | District | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | |
| 93rd Template:Nowrap | rowspan=5 Template:Party cell | Pat Schroeder (D) | Template:Party cell |Donald G. Brotzman (R) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Frank Evans (D) | rowspan=4 Template:Party cell | James Johnson (R) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | William L. Armstrong (R) |
| 94th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=4 Template:Party cell | Tim Wirth (D) | ||||
| 95th Template:Nowrap | |||||
| 96th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Ray Kogovsek (D) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Ken Kramer (R) | |||
| 97th Template:Nowrap | Template:Party cell |Hank Brown (R) | ||||
1983–2003: 6 seats
Following the 1980 census, Colorado was apportioned six seats.<ref name="census-seat-history" />
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2003–2023: 7 seats
Following the 2000 census, Colorado was apportioned seven seats.<ref name="census-seat-history" />
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2023–present: 8 seats
Since the 2020 census, Colorado has been apportioned eight seats.<ref name="census-seat-history" />
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| Congress | District | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | Template:Ushr | |
| 118th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Diana DeGette (D) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Joe Neguse (D) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Lauren Boebert (R)Template:Efn | rowspan=1 Template:Party cell | Ken Buck (R)Template:Efn | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Doug Lamborn (R) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Jason Crow (D) | rowspan=3 Template:Party cell | Brittany Pettersen (D) | rowspan=2 Template:Party cell | Yadira Caraveo (D) |
| colspan=1 Template:Party cell | Greg Lopez (R) | ||||||||
| 119th Template:Nowrap | rowspan=1 Template:Party cell | Jeff Hurd (R) | rowspan=1 Template:Party cell | Lauren Boebert (R)Template:Efn | rowspan=1 Template:Party cell | Jeff Crank (R) | rowspan=1 Template:Party cell | Gabe Evans (R) | ||||
See also
- List of United States congressional districts
- Colorado's congressional districts
- Political party strength in Colorado
Notes
References
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