DENVER — Senate President Leroy Garcia, the first Latino in state history to hold that position, announced Thursday he will resign later this month to join the Biden administration.
Garcia, D-Pueblo will become special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs within the Department of Defense at the Pentagon. His appointment does not require U.S. Senate confirmation.
Garcia's appointment had been rumored for several weeks, and his resignation will be effective Feb. 23.
Garcia, first elected to the state House in 2012 and to the state Senate in 2014, has served as president of the upper chamber since the 2019 session. Before Democrats took control of the state Senate in the 2018 election, he served as minority leader in the 2018 session.
The Pueblo Democrat is a sixth-generation southern Coloradan and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq in 2003. His legislative agenda included bills on veterans' issues and first-responders, a topic he's familiar with as a licensed paramedic.
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