The Senate committee that is considering an ethics complaint against Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis expressed skepticism about the Longmont Democrat’s written response to the allegations during a hearing Tuesday.

Jaquez Lewis is facing a complaint about alleged behavior to former aides and interns in her office that violate chamber ethics rules, including power dynamic abuse and a lack of accountability.

The complaint was filed by the Political Workers Guild of Colorado in January. The crux is an allegation that Jaquez Lewis fired and demoted two employees without the typical or proper discussion and consent.

In her 14-page response to the complaint, Jaquez Lewis rejected the allegations and wrote that she was being scapegoated for larger, structural labor issues within the Capitol.

“It is clear that aides in general feel not appreciated and underpaid by members of the General Assembly. I agree that these issues should be raised and resolved,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, however, I am being made the artificial focus of this larger conflict. I am being dragged through the mud for political ends. With false allegations, the PWG is using me to showcase its concerns.”

Her response included five letters from former aides and interns who defended Jaquez Lewis as a boss.

Members of the Senate Ethics Committee, however, did not appear completely convinced by Jaquez Lewis’ answer. Senator Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and the committee’s chair, said she found it “striking and challenging,” especially Jaquez Lewis’s assertion that she is a champion of workers’ rights, which was immediately followed by a complete denial of all aspects of the complaint against her.

Gonzales also said she wished there was more proactive documentation of Jaquez Lewis’ changed behavior over the past few years, when allegations of a poor workplace environment in her office began. Jaquez Lewis wrote that she worked with a human resource-trained professional to meet with her current aide and that they have had two meetings with the director of the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations so far.

“The document, I don’t think contains any sort of apology,” Senator Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat, said. “I understand the senator has every right to dispute the allegations and provide justification for that, but there is no denying that a multitude of aides feel victimized for a variety of reasons.”

Jaquez Lewis wrote that she takes “full responsibility for the running of my office and management of office staff” and that she apologizes to the people she could not hire who were referenced in the complaint.

“I apologized to the staffer who I helped to get into graduate school, but could not offer a full time job while he was there. I have apologized to the staffer who was so stressed that she asked me not to run any more bills in 2023. I do appreciate my staff and always want the best for them within the constraints of my work for my constituents,” she wrote.

The committee will next meet February 18. They have until February 20 to determine if there is probable cause that Jaquez Lewis violated Senate ethics rules.

Jaquez Lewis was elected last November to her second and final four-year term in the Senate.

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