Colorado’s House Democrats will move to censure the chamber’s third-ranking Republican after he shared a photo of a Democratic legislator in a private group chat, where she was mocked for her attire.
Speaker Julie McCluskie announced the decision in a Democratic caucus meeting Thursday morning, shortly after lawmakers returned to the Capitol for a special legislative session to deal with a budget shortfall. The censure will target Rep. Ryan Armagost, the House Republican whip.
Earlier this year, Armagost took a photo of Rep. Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins Democrat, while on the House floor, according to a story this month by Colorado Public Radio.
He then posted the photo in a private House Republican group chat, where GOP lawmakers mocked Zokaie’s clothing and boots. One Republican member compared her to a stripper. The photo was soon posted on social media.
Zokaie told her colleagues that the photo “resulted in never-ending harassment.” She said the comments made by Republicans in the group chat were “vile.” She said she received a message that included her children’s school address and that the messenger said they knew when students were released.
“Minority leadership did not take any action. I went to Rose (Pugliese) and told her about the message and about how relentless this has all been, and she told me she’d find out who did it and who took the picture,” Zokaie said, referring to the House’s top Republican. “At the time she said that, she knew who it was.”
McCluskie said Zokaie endured sexual harassment. When she announced that the caucus would seek a censure, Democratic lawmakers applauded.
Armagost was absent from the Capitol on Thursday morning. He declined to comment in a text message to The Denver Post.
He announced in late June, before the CPR report was published or aired, that he intended to resign from the legislature and move to Arizona. His resignation is effective Sept. 1.
A spokeswoman for Pugliese did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.
A censure vote is a rare and collective reprimand from the House. It requires a simple majority to pass, which means Democrats likely have more than enough votes to adopt it. Democratic leaders plan to introduce the resolution Thursday afternoon and consider it Friday.
After the photo was shared in the group chat, it quickly made its way onto X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter. There, anonymous conservative accounts continued mocking Zokaie, a freshman lawmaker, including in explicitly sexual terms.
In addition to his leadership role, Armagost also served as the chair of the House’s workplace harassment committee, which is charged with overseeing investigations into complaints of legislative misconduct. He has been removed from that role, though he still serves on two other legislative committees.
McCluskie and Rep. Monica Duran, the Democratic majority leader, both said they’d never experienced anything like the Armagost incident during their time in the Capitol.
“We want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone ever again,” Duran said.
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