Janet Buckner is an American politician and a former
Democratic member of the
Colorado Senate
The Colorado State Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of abou ...
representing
District 29
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
, which includes a part of
Aurora
An aurora ( aurorae or auroras),
also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
in
Arapahoe County. During the 2020 reapportionment process, Buckner's residence moved from senate district 28 to senate district 29. Earlier, she represented
District 28 from January 2021 to January 2023. Before her state senate tenure, she was a member 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 ...
. She represented District 40, which covered a portion of
Arapahoe County, from July 15, 2015, to January 13, 2021.
Career
Buckner was appointed to her house seat in 2015 to replace her husband
John Buckner after his death in office; she kept the seat in the 2016 elections. She was a professional speech and language therapist until her retirement in 2007.
In the state house, Buckner served as the vice chair of the House Education Committee and also served on the House Health, Insurance, & Environment Committee.
After her appointment to her House seat in 2015, Buckner was elected to keep her seat in 2016, winning with 57.69% of the vote against
Republican opponent Todd Brophy. During the 2018-2020 session, Buckner served as the Speaker pro Tempore of the House of Representatives
On November 21, 2024, less than three weeks after being re-elected, Buckner announced that she would resign from the state senate on January 9, 2025, one day after she is sworn in for the 2025 session. On January 6, 2025, a vacancy committee selected State Representative
Iman Jodeh to succeed Buckner beginning January 9, 2025.
References
External links
Official campaign website
21st-century members of the Colorado General Assembly
21st-century African-American women politicians
21st-century African-American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
African-American state legislators in Colorado
Ball State University alumni
Democratic Party Colorado state senators
Democratic Party members of the Colorado House of Representatives
Living people
Politicians from Aurora, Colorado
Spouses of Colorado politicians
Women state legislators in Colorado
Year of birth missing (living people)
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