DENVER — A former state legislator who resigned in 2019 amid allegations she sexually assaulted and served alcohol and marijuana to two underage campaign workers has put her name in the mix to replace Serena Gonzales-Guiterrez at the state representative of House District 4, a northwest Denver legislative district.
Rochelle Galindo, who formerly represented House District 50 in Greeley, has thrown her hat into the ring despite a long history of ethical and legal problems.
Gonzales-Guiterrez stepped down from the office after being elected to the Denver City Council in April.
According to a recent report in Axios, Galindo, who is one of at least three Denver Democrats who have expressed an interest in filling the vacant seat, is currently unemployed and suffered a stroke in January that limited mobility on her left side. State voting records show that Galindo moved into House District 4 in 2020.
Prior to that, Galindo lived in Greeley and was elected to House District 50 in 2018 after serving three years on the Greeley City Council. Her time in office was cut short, however, in 2019 when she abruptly stepped down on Mother’s Day that year after she was accused of sexually assaulting a young woman on her campaign team. At the time, Galindo was also the target of a recall effort by HD 50 constituents.
Complete Colorado was contacted anonymously in April of 2019 with the allegations. House Speaker K.C. Becker confirmed to several media outlets the allegations were being investigated shortly after.
Eventually, a police report outlining the allegations was made available, and soon after, a second girl reported to police that she, too, had been assaulted by Galindo. No charges of sexual assault were ever filed, and Galindo was eventually acquitted of providing alcohol charges. Those close to the issue said the girls involved were concerned about testifying, weakening the case against Galindo if prosecutors could not get them to testify.
Galindo’s time in public service was fraught with problems from the beginning:
- While on Greeley City Council, she spent campaign money on a non-election-related trip to Las Vegas with an undisclosed companion.
- Several reports of an “unhealthy environment” and mistreatment of her House District 50 campaign staff led to Galindo going through three campaign managers in just four months.
- Galindo also misused House District 50 campaign funds to reimburse her legal fees.
- Galindo was investigated for illegal electioneering after she was seen on video campaigning within the prohibited distance of a polling place.
- A recall was launched against Galindo for her role in the passage of Senate Bill 181, the law devastating the oil and gas industry in Colorado, although Galindo campaigned on a promise to leave oil and gas alone.
Galindo’s desire to fill the vacant seat comes as no surprise, as she has close ties to the current outspoken and controversial Denver Democrats Secretary Adrian Felix, who recently told fellow Democrat and Colorado Sun columnist Trish Zornio on X (Formally Twitter) that he would “take (Zornio’s) opinion and wipe my ass with it during my evening shit.”
Felix pinned the Tweet to the top of his feed with another comment saying he would wait to see if he regretted it, followed by “probably not!”
Felix, who also formerly lived in Greeley, eventually became Galindo’s campaign manager, despite admitting during a radio program that Galindo “doesn’t compromise as much as she should.”
House District 4 includes the Denver neighborhoods of Jefferson Park, Sunnyside and Westwood, among others.
A vacancy committee consisting of the precinct leaders will pick their selection at a yet-to-be-announced meeting sometime before the new legislative session begins in January.
Complete Colorado will continue to follow the progress of filling the vacancy.
