Crisanta Duran (born August 23, 1980) is a former American politician who served as the 38th Speaker of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the Colorado State Representative for the 5th district from 2011 to 2019, which encompasses part of northwest

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. She served as Majority Leader from 2015 to 2017. Duran is the first and only Latina elected Speaker of the House in state history. Duran briefly ran for

Colorado's 1st congressional district Colorado's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado, based primarily in the Denver, City and County of Denver in the central part of the state. The district includes almost all of the City and County ...

in the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

election before dropping out. She is currently a candidate for

Colorado Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the United States, U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Government of Colorado, Colorado state g ...

in the 2026 election.

Early life

Duran was born in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, and is one of three children. Duran's father worked at a tire shop before eventually becoming the president of the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a trade union, labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufa ...

Local 7 union.

Education

Duran graduated from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

in 2002, double-majoring in Spanish and public policy. Duran earned a Juris Doctor degree from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Career

Duran started her legal career as an attorney with the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Colorado House of Representatives

In 2010, Duran won election to the Colorado House of Representatives for a seat based in western Denver. Duran was elected as the Colorado House majority leader in November 2014. In 2014, the ''Washington Post'' named Duran to its "40 under 40" list of rising political stars. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State

Jason Kander Jason David Kander (born May 4, 1981) is an American attorney, author, veteran, and politician. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he served as the 39th Missouri Secretary of State, secretary of state of Missouri, from 2013 to 2017. H ...

that aims to end

voter suppression Voter suppression is the discouragement or prevention of specific groups of people from voting or registering to vote. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the o ...

Congressional run

On February 24, 2019, Duran announced her campaign to represent

after the

2020 United States House of Representatives elections The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect representatives from all 435 List of United States congressional districts, congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states to the 117th ...

. However, she ended her campaign on October 11, 2019 after failing to attract sufficient support or campaign contributions. Duran had previously considered a run for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Colorado Attorney General

On February 27, 2025, Duran announced her campaign for

in the Democratic Primary of the 2026 Colorado Attorney General election.

Awards

* 2016 Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award. Presented by

EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...

. April 12, 2016.

References

External links

Legislative web page

Campaign web site
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Duran, Crisanta 1980 births 21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians American women lawyers Colorado lawyers Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Colorado Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Politicians from Denver Speakers of the Colorado House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives Trade unionists from Colorado United Food and Commercial Workers people University of Colorado Law School alumni University of Denver alumni Women legislative speakers Women state legislators in Colorado Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections