A Democrat lawmaker who has repeatedly been accused of mistreating her staff faces the threat of an Ethics Committee investigation that could see her being expelled from the state Senate.
The ethics complaint was filed last week against state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis by Kai Abelkis, a politically unaffiliated Boulder County resident who has donated to Democrat causes.
Lewis was just reelected to the district 17 seat that includes Longmont, Lafayette, and Erie.
Abelkis says Lewis has failed to uphold her office with integrity in the public interest.
Senate Democrat leadership has already barred her from holding any committee assignments when the 2025 session begins and has refused to fund any more staffers for her office.
Former staffers allege Lewis has temporarily withheld pay, assigned personal yard work to a staffer and assigned one bartending duties at a political fundraiser in Lewis’s home.
Now the Colorado Sun reports it could lead to removal:
If leadership in the Senate agrees to advance the ethics complaint — as they’ve indicated they will do — it would initiate a committee investigation that could lead to a recommendation Jaquez Lewis be expelled from the chamber. It takes a two-thirds vote of the state Senate to remove one of its members.
Lewis quickly jumped to her defense playing both the race and gender cards in a statement to the Sun.
“I apologize if I have treated anyone with less than respect,” she said. “As a Latina and an LGBTQ person, I understand how it feels to be treated with disrespect.”
This portends for a very interesting start to the new legislative session that begins on Jan. 8.