At least seven Victory Fund-endorsed candidates will compete for state legislative seats in Colorado this fall, which could give the state one of the largest LGBT legislative caucuses in the country.  All seven advanced in uncontested Democratic primaries Tuesday night, though some could face well-financed GOP opponents in November.

“These are all truly impressive people with strong records of community service.  They will be fantastic representatives for their districts, and they will add energy and authenticity to the debate about LGBT equality in Colorado,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

The now-official openly gay and lesbian Democratic nominees for the Colorado General Assembly are:

Rep. Mark Ferrandino, Colorado State House of Representatives, District 2 (incumbent)
Joann Ginal – Colorado House of Representatives, Dist. 52
Dominick Moreno - Colorado House of Representatives, Dist. 32
Paul Rosenthal – Colorado House of Representatives, Dist. 9
Sen. Pat Steadman – Colorado State Senate, District 31  (incumbent)
Rep. Sue Schafer – Colorado State House of Representatives, District 24 (incumbent)
Jessie Ulibarri – Colorado State Senate, Dist. 21

Sen. Lucia Guzman, an incumbent, is not up for reelection this year.

Lucia Guzman was already running a strong campaign for the District 34 seat in the Colorado Senate, but now she’ll be running as an incumbent.

The openly lesbian candidate, an ordained minister and former Denver school board member, was appointed Saturday by a vacancy committee to complete the term of Paula Sandoval, who resigned to serve on the Denver City Council.

Guzman, who is endorsed by the Victory Fund, was the group’s candidate of the month in April.  She told GayPolitics she hopes to use her experience building coalitions to help the Colorado LGBT community get partnership rights legislation passed in 2011.

Colorado is one of only three states, along with Massachusetts and Wisconsin, with openly LGBT elected officials at the municipal, county, state and federal levels.

The Victory Fund today announced its Candidate of the Month for April is Lucia Guzman, who’s running for the Colorado Senate.  Guzman is an ordained minister and a former elected school board member with a record of building coalitions to get things accomplished.  If elected, she would be one of just a handful of Hispanic openly LGBT state legislators in the U.S.

Colorado is likely to consider legislation next year that will grant broad new partnership rights to same-sex couples, a legislative priority for the state’s LGBT organizations.  Guzman said she plans to work with openly LGBT colleagues in the House and Senate to build support for the bill.

Guzman faces at least one opponent in the upcoming primary, which will likely decide who represents the Denver area district in the Senate.  Learn more about Guzman and how you can help her campaign here.