Sue Schafer is an educator and former legislator from the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. Elected to 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 ...
as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
in 2008, Schafer represented House District 24, which encompassed the cities of
Wheat Ridge
The City of Wheat Ridge is a List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver ...
, Edgewater, and Arvada, and was redrawn in 2011 to encompass Wheat Ridge, Edgewater and Golden.
Biography
Born in
Portland, Maine
Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
, Schafer holds a bachelor's degree in
secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
, a master's degree in counseling from the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...
and a doctorate in education from the
University of Northern Colorado
The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education.
The institution has offi ...
. She also holds a principal's license from
Colorado State University
Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...
.
She has taught social studies and French in
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 ...
public schools, worked as a counselor in
Omaha Public Schools
Omaha Public Schools (OPS) is the largest school district in the state of Nebraska, United States. This public school district serves a diverse community of about 52,000 students at over 80 elementary and secondary schools in Omaha. Its distric ...
and at Skagit Valley Community College in Mt. Vernon, Washington, and spent two decades as the curriculum director and accreditation manager for the
Colorado Department of Education
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that is responsible for education. It is headquartered in Denver.
Schafer has been a member of the Wheat Ridge Senior/Community Center Advisory Committee, the Wheat Ridge 2020 Urban Renewal Planning Committee, the
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...
, and Wheat Ridge Congregational United Church of Christ.
She served as a legislative intern in the Colorado House of Representatives in 2006 and has been both a precinct captain and the chair of the Democratic Party in the 24th district for eight years.
Schafer, a
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
, has two daughters and lives in
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...
with her partner, Barb Nash.
Legislative career
2008 election
Sue Schafer narrowly defeated Denver
Regional Transportation District
The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...
Director Dave Ruchman in the contested Democratic primary in August, winning by only 29 votes, with 50.29% of ballots cast; the race was not decided until several days after the primary election.
Schafer faced Republican Cheryl Palm in the November 2008 general election. Schafer's candidacy was endorsed by the ''
Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'', the '' Golden Transcript'', and the '' Wheat Ridge Transcript''. She easily won the general election with 62 percent of the votes cast and took office on January 7, 2009.
2009 legislative session
For the 2009 legislative session, Schafer was named to seats on the House Education Committee and the House Local Government Committee.
Schafer's first bill of the 2009 session, a measure requiring that flight schools train pilots in both takeoff and landing procedures, passed the state house unanimously.
2010 legislative session
2010 election
2011 legislative session
While discussing a bill to allow for government funding of male circumcision, Schafer wondered, "if there's a risk for more sexual activity, more male irresponsibility" for uncircumcised boys. She supported the bill to allow government funding for circumcision.