Rep. Hugh McKean, the chief of the Republican caucus within the Colorado Home, died Sunday at his Loveland dwelling, based on the state get together. He was 55.
McKean, who first was elected in 2016 and was chosen to guide the caucus in 2020, was discovered at his dwelling in Loveland on Sunday morning, officers stated. In a press release, the Colorado Home Republicans described his loss of life as sudden.
Roger Hudson, McKean’s deputy chief of workers, instructed JHB that McKean had been complaining of ache on the left facet of his physique, however that he had chalked it as much as an harm associated to work on the brand new dwelling McKean was constructing. The ache had worsened in a single day into Sunday morning, Hudson and Rep. Colin Larson stated, and McKean had known as his longtime associate. When she arrived at his dwelling, an ambulance already was there, Larson stated.
“He was a pricey good friend, and I’m going to overlook him,” an emotional Larson stated Sunday morning. “I can’t consider he’s gone. And my coronary heart simply breaks for Amy (Parks, his longtime associate) and his son and daughter and Amy’s children. He was simply such a loving dad, and he talked about his children on a regular basis. I hope that they know that.”
Hudson stated an post-mortem was being performed late Sunday morning. McKean had been at a marketing campaign rally for Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Joe O’Dea on Saturday. O’Dea stated Sunday that McKean’s “boundless optimism, kindness and empathy have been on full show” at that rally, and he supplied his prayers to McKean’s household.
Along with his associate, McKean is survived by his two grownup kids.
“Hugh was fiercely keen about two issues in his extraordinary life: serving the nice state of Colorado and spending time along with his household, whom he adored,” the state GOP stated in its assertion.
In a separate assertion, Kristi Burton Brown, the chairwoman of the Colorado Republican Get together, mourned McKean’s passing and remembered the time he took to fulfill and work together together with her kids.
“At any time when I noticed him or spoke to him, he had an encouraging phrase and was able to raise others up,” Burton Brown stated. “At any time when I consider Hugh McKean, I’ll consider his smile and his constructive outlook on life.”
Gov. Jared Polis stated in a press release early Sunday afternoon that he was “devastated” by McKean’s passing, calling him a “household man and a real public servant.”
“Minority Chief McKean cared deeply for his constituents, at all times had time for a dialog or amusing,” Polis stated, “and actually labored on daily basis to construct a greater future for each Coloradan.”
McKean was first elected to the Loveland Metropolis Council in 2009, seven years earlier than voters despatched him to the Home to characterize Home District 51. Larson, a Ken Caryl Republican, stated McKean was the “consummate pleased warrior” who “deeply liked the establishment of the Home of Representatives.” He would normally remind lawmakers, Larson stated, that the Home was bigger and extra necessary than any considered one of them and that it might outlast their tenure inside it.
He was tasked in 2020 with main an at occasions fractious Republican caucus towards a robust Home majority that Democrats had constructed. It was typically not a straightforward process: Not solely have been Democrats firmly in charge of the Home and Senate, however Republican infighting additional strained the get together’s place. A 3rd of the caucus, Larson stated, “wouldn’t play ball.”
However McKean had hoped the get together was turning a nook: He and Larson had spent “a whole bunch of hours” recruiting and serving to to elect new members, Larson stated, and McKean instructed The Put up in September that he was wanting ahead to a unified and energized caucus come the following legislative session in January.
“It’s simply unhappy he gained’t get to see that,” Larson stated. “He put a lot work into this.”
His loss of life comes amid broader shifts within the caucus’s management: Rep. Tim Geitner, the Republican’s assistant minority chief, resigned his seat in early October; Republican efforts to exchange Geitner this weekend have been stymied by inner upheaval, leaving the way forward for that seat unsure and opening the door for Polis to pick out Geitner’s substitute.
Hudson, the deputy chief of workers, instructed The Put up that Rep. Rod Pelton, a Cheyenne Wells Republican and the Home’s minority whip, will lead the caucus in the meanwhile. However Pelton is working for a state senate seat and can also be departing the caucus. Larson stated McKean’s substitute to function chief might be chosen on Nov. 10, throughout the caucus’s often scheduled elections.
McKean, who was working unopposed for his fourth time period, gained a contentious major in June towards a former legislative staffer to Rep. Patrick Neville, McKean’s predecessor as minority chief and one of many members of the Republican Home caucus who, to make use of Larson’s phrase, “wouldn’t play ball” with McKean. As a result of he had no challenger, McKean might be thought of a member-elect to the Home, and a emptiness committee established by the Larimer County Republican Get together might be known as to pick out his substitute, the Secretary of State’s Workplace stated Sunday.
McKean’s Democratic counterparts additionally mourned his passing Sunday in statements and on social media. Home Speaker Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat, stated he was “shocked and heartbroken” by McKean’s loss of life. He praised his integrity and deep respect.
“We are going to miss his kindness, the enjoyment that he dropped at the Capitol on daily basis, and the care that he confirmed each particular person he ever met,’ Garnett wrote in a press release. “Hugh was the very definition of a statesman — a genuinely good man who at all times wished the most effective for our state and his constituents.”