DENVER – Lucia Guzman, the Democratic senator from northwest Denver, was elected Minority Leader by her caucus Wednesday to fill the position left empty by Sen. Morgan Carroll who stepped down from the leadership role this month to run for Congress.

The 17 Democrats in the Senate unanimously elected the two-term Senator to lead the caucus during a meeting at the state Capitol.

Carroll, a Democrat from Aurora who was Senate President in 2014 before Republicans won control of the chamber in 2015, is running for the 6th Congressional District against incumbent Mike Coffman. Guzman was president pro-tem before Democrats lost the majority.

She will take over the leadership role for the 2016 session, which begins in January.

A minister who grew up in Texas, Guzman is one of nine children of Mexican immigrants. She’s lived in Denver for 28 years.

She said her background in theology and her childhood have made her an advocate for the working class and the poor. She dreams of better wages, equity in pay, affordable healthcare and housing and good schools for all.

Those will be a few of the priorities for her caucus in the upcoming session, she said, adding that just because Democrats are in the minority doesn’t mean they are diminished.

“A lot of times we don’t start planing our caucus work until the late, late fall, and so we are going to start earlier,” Guzman said. She wanted to get more lawmakers involved in the process of setting an agenda earlier.

Guzman said she looks forward to working with the Republicans, including Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs.

“He and I are good working companions. We’ve known each other a long time. We both have a great working respect for each other,” Guzman said. “This coming year is an election year, so I’m sure we will each be holding tight to our own political boundaries.”

Cadman congratulated Guzman in a statement released Wednesday.

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The window visible in this photo of the house at 1420 Jet Wing Circle is the one that a man with his hands bound behind his back was reported by a witness to have jumped through. Photo by Kassondra Cloos, The Gazette.