Christopher Louis Kennedy (Colorado state representative)

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Christopher Louis Kennedy
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Prior offices
Colorado House of Representatives District 23
Successor: Monica Duran

Colorado House of Representatives District 30
Successor: Rebekah Stewart

Education

Bachelor's

University of Colorado, Boulder, 2002

Graduate

University of Colorado, Denver, 2010

Personal
Religion
Agnostic
Contact

Christopher Louis Kennedy (Democratic Party) was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, representing District 30. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. He left office on January 8, 2025.

Kennedy (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Colorado House of Representatives to represent District 30. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Christopher Louis Kennedy earned a B.S. in architectural engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002 and an M.A. in political science from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2010. Kennedy's career experience includes working as an engineer, a campaign consultant, and a legislative aide with the Colorado House of Representatives.[1][2]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Colorado committee assignments, 2017
Finance
Health, Insurance and Environment

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2024

Christopher Louis Kennedy did not file to run for re-election.

2022

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 30

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy defeated Russ Carter in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 30 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy (D)
 
65.9
 
22,504
Image of Russ Carter
Russ Carter (R) Candidate Connection
 
34.1
 
11,665

Total votes: 34,169
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 30

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 30 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy
 
100.0
 
8,295

Total votes: 8,295
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 30

Russ Carter advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 30 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Russ Carter
Russ Carter Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
5,412

Total votes: 5,412
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy defeated Fred Clifford and Doug Anderson in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy (D) Candidate Connection
 
60.2
 
29,615
Fred Clifford (R)
 
34.8
 
17,126
Doug Anderson (L)
 
5.0
 
2,437

Total votes: 49,178
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
15,352

Total votes: 15,352
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Fred Clifford advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Fred Clifford
 
100.0
 
6,290

Total votes: 6,290
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Doug Anderson advanced from the Libertarian convention for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on April 13, 2020.

Candidate
Doug Anderson (L)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Kennedy's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy defeated Joan Poston in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy (D)
 
62.9
 
25,414
Image of Joan Poston
Joan Poston (R)
 
37.1
 
15,011

Total votes: 40,425
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Incumbent Christopher Louis Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Christopher Louis Kennedy
Christopher Louis Kennedy
 
100.0
 
9,539

Total votes: 9,539
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23

Joan Poston advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 23 on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joan Poston
Joan Poston
 
100.0
 
5,509

Total votes: 5,509
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Colorado House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 28, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 4, 2016. Incumbent Max Tyler (D) did not seek re-election.

Christopher Louis Kennedy defeated Chris Hadsall in the Colorado House of Representatives District 23 general election.[3][4]

Colorado House of Representatives, District 23 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Christopher Louis Kennedy 55.88% 23,872
     Republican Chris Hadsall 44.12% 18,850
Total Votes 42,722
Source: Colorado Secretary of State


Christopher Louis Kennedy ran unopposed in the Colorado House of Representatives District 23 Democratic primary.[5][6]

Colorado House of Representatives, District 23 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Christopher Louis Kennedy  (unopposed)


Chris Hadsall ran unopposed in the Colorado House of Representatives District 23 Republican primary.[5][6]

Colorado House of Representatives, District 23 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Chris Hadsall  (unopposed)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Christopher Louis Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Christopher Louis Kennedy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kennedy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm a lifelong Coloradan, having grown up in Colorado Springs and gone to college in Boulder. After college, I started my first career as a structural engineer and moved to Lakewood. After a few years, I felt called to public service and grew increasingly passionate about issues including climate change, public education, health care reform, and equal rights. After leaving engineering, I spent several years working on campaigns and at the capitol before running for office myself. I was elected in 2016 and reelected in 2018. I have served on the Health Insurance & Environment; Finance; State, Veterans, & Military Affairs; Appropriations; Opioid & Substance Use Disorders; and Investor-Owned Utilities committees. I currently serve as Assistant Majority Leader in the House. I live in Lakewood with my wife, Kyra, as well as two dogs, two cats, two goats, and six chickens.
  • I believe we must work together and listen to science as we get through the pandemic and work towards economic recovery.
  • I believe that everyone who works hard and does their fair share deserves a fair shot to earn a good life. We must provide great educational opportunities and support affordable childcare, health care, housing, and higher education to make sure people can reach their potential.
  • This planet is the only one we have, and we need to take climate change seriously and protect our clean air, clean water, and public lands for the next generation.
I have spent more time on health care reform than any other issue. The big, corporate health care interests have too much power and are deeply invested in the status quo. I have fought to shift the balance, increase access, and lower the high cost of health care. I have also focused energy on reforming our tax code to increase our investment in education, accelerating our transition to a clean energy future, election/campaign reform, addressing the opioid epidemic, and many other issues.
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
I believe Colorado has set the gold standard with the passage of Amendments Y & Z in 2018, which create independent commissions, clear criteria, public hearings, and judicial review to ensure maps are drawn fairly and not to benefit incumbents.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2016

Kennedy issued the following statement regarding his bid for office:

"I’m running for the Colorado House of Representatives because I want to make sure everyone who works hard has the opportunity to be part of the middle class and enjoy everything Colorado has to offer. We must make sure all kids get a high-quality education, work with small businesses to provide opportunities for good-paying jobs with good benefits, protect the basic civil rights of every Coloradan, and preserve Colorado’s natural beauty for the next generation.

Education

Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. Jefferson County has a long history of great schools and great teachers, and I am committed to making sure every kid has access to a great education. This means providing the resources to keep class sizes small and attract and retain highly-qualified teachers to provide more one-on-one time with each student. We also need to make sure there are many affordable opportunities for every student who wants to go to college, community college or pursue a technical degree.

Economy

Small businesses drive our economy forward. As we continue to recover from the Great Recession, it has been incredible to see all the new businesses spring up. Along the major thoroughfares of HD23 – including Colfax, Union, Alameda, and more – we are seeing new restaurants, breweries, art galleries, architecture firms, and more.

Government’s job is not to build these businesses, but instead to provide a strong infrastructure, a level playing field, and an environment in which people can grow, thrive, work, and ultimately retire with a little money left over.

Civil Rights

Our country has come a long way since our early days, but a strong democracy requires constant maintenance. We must continue to work hard to protect both individual liberties and equal rights for all citizens regardless of race, religion, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

This last point has always been especially important to me. A close friend came out to me in 7th grade at a time when growing up in Colorado Springs was really tough for gay kids. She and I used to talk about how unfair it was that the law would never treat her as equal. Colorado has made remarkable progress on this issue over the last decade – more progress than we used to imagine would ever be possible. I am committed to making sure our law upholds the civil rights of every Coloradan.

Protecting Colorado’s Natural Beauty

When I look west from Lakewood, I am often blown away by the beauty of the foothills and mountains beyond and I am reminded how lucky we are to live in a place like this. It is critical that we protect our air, water, and land – not only because hiking in Jeffco’s amazing parks and trails is a great way to spend a Saturday, but also because the health of our citizens depends on it. If we want the next generation to be able to take advantage of our natural resources, we must prioritize sustainability and we must continue to propel Colorado’s renewable energy sector (which also supports thousands of jobs, I might add)." [7]

—Christopher Louis Kennedy, [1]

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Christopher Louis Kennedy campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Colorado House of Representatives District 30Won general$48,328 $41,397
2020Colorado House of Representatives District 23Won general$70,180 N/A**
2018Colorado House of Representatives District 23Won general$85,427 N/A**
2016Colorado House of Representatives, District 23Won $160,305 N/A**
Grand total$364,240 $41,397
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Colorado

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Colorado scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

In 2024, the Colorado State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 8.

Legislators are scored on their votes on issues relevant to the mission of the Centennial Institute and the strategic priorities of Colorado Christian University.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills that the organizations supports or opposes.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills that the organizations supports or opposes.
Legislation is scored on its "reduction of taxes, regulation, and spending accountability."
Legislators are scored on their stances on animal issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills about Colorado's climate, land, water, and communities.
Legislators are scored on their votes related to public health issues.
Legislators are scored on votes related to "the principles of individual rights, free markets and limited government."
Legislators are scored on their votes related to mental health issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017



See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Dafna Michaelson Jenet (D)
Colorado House of Representatives District 30
2023-2025
Succeeded by
Rebekah Stewart (D)
Preceded by
-
Colorado House of Representatives District 23
2017-2023
Succeeded by
Monica Duran (D)


Current members of the Colorado House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Julie McCluskie
Majority Leader:Monica Duran
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
Dan Woog (R)
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Ty Winter (R)
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
Democratic Party (43)
Republican Party (22)