Democratic state Sen. Faith Winter violated the Colorado Senate’s ethics rules when she appeared to be intoxicated when attending a community meeting earlier this year in Northglenn, a legislative committee convened to investigate her conduct ruled Monday.
The Colorado Senate Committee on Ethics voted 4-1 to find that Winter, the chamber’s assistant majority leader, failed to meet the Senate’s ethics standards requiring that she promote public integrity and public confidence. Democrats hold a 3-2 majority on the panel, which met for weeks to review an ethics complaint against Winter.
The lone “no” vote came from Sen. James Coleman, a Denver Democrat who is likely to ask his colleagues in the coming months to elect him president of the Senate. Coleman is currently the chamber’s president pro tempore.
The Democrats on the committee who voted to find that Winter, of Broomfield, violated the Senate’s ethics rules were Sens. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Dylan Roberts of Avon. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, also found that Winter violated the rules.
“The evidence that we received indicated that this was part of a larger pattern, that it was not the first instance,” Gardner said.
The committee also voted Monday to send a formal report to Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, to decide how to proceed. It also decided to invite Winter to address her behavior before the full Senate and warned her that future alleged ethics rules violations related to alcohol could lead to sanctions.
The committee could have recommended censure or expulsion.
An ethics complaint was filed against Winter in May by the Northglenn City Council for her behavior during an April 3 community hearing in the city about a state plan to open a controversial mental health transitional living facility that could house people convicted of sex offenses.
Winter’s speech was slurred and halting and she seemed to struggle to gather her thoughts.
Northglenn Police Department officers were at the event and encouraged Winter not to drive home when it ended.
A day after the meeting, Winter announced that she was seeking medical treatment for substance abuse. She also stepped down as chair of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.
Winter was then excused from the Legislature for a period of time before returning in the weeks ahead of the end of the lawmaking term May 8.
As part of the Senate Ethics Committee’s investigation into Winter’s conduct, she admitted to drinking alcohol before the Northglenn event, but not in excess.
“I expected the meeting to be emotionally charged, so I had a drink before walking in,” she said in a written statement to the ethics committee last month, asking for the complaint to be dismissed.
Winter cited the culture of alcohol use at the Capitol in her response, saying “it is used in many ways, including promoting camaraderie and as a coping mechanism.”
“Though I regret having a drink before entering the April 3 community meeting, and I would reverse that decision if I could, I can confidently say that I have fulfilled my responsibilities and duties as a senator,” she wrote. “Northglenn alleges that I consumed alcohol while acting as a senator, but consuming alcohol while acting as a senator is commonplace in this state, so much so that it is widely publicized.”
Winter submitted a letter from a doctor saying she is being treated for substance abuse and taking medication to curb alcohol cravings “and has demonstrated a strong commitment towards achieving her treatment goal.”
Members of the committee appeared to be skeptical of parts of Winter’s letter.
Several rejected Winter’s link between her actions at the Northglenn meeting and the Capitol drinking culture.
“I am incredibly troubled about that,” Gardner said. “We make this culture, we are the culture.” Roberts said he strongly disagreed that the Capitol culture is to blame for Winter’s behavior.
Winter wrote in her letter that she was never invited to speak at the April 3 meeting in Northglenn. Committee members raised questions about that claim.
“I think there was an expectation, at least by those who organized the meeting, that she was there not only to be in attendance, but to be on the panel speaking,” Roberts said.
Winter also wrote that she hadn’t received any letters from constituents expressing that they have lost confidence in her.
Gonzales, however, said there were plenty of people raising concern. “There are a number of emails from constituents to the Northglenn City Council,” said Gonzales, the committee chair. “Not one, but two public bodies (the Northglenn and Westminster city councils) discussed that behavior.”
Winter’s colleagues in the Senate had been concerned for years about her drinking. Some tried to confront her and encourage her to seek treatment before the April meeting.
Winter had an opportunity to ask the Senate Ethics Committee for an evidentiary hearing after the panel found probable cause that she had violated the chamber’s ethics rules. She waived that right.
A former Westminster city councilwoman, Winter has been a state lawmaker since 2015, after she was elected in 2014 to represent a Colorado House district. She was elected to the Senate in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Her term ends in January 2027.
