A vacancy committee has selected Jillaire McMillan as the new Democratic candidate for the House District 19 election after the incumbent candidate, Rep. Jennifer Parenti, announced she was dropping out of the race las month. 

McMillan, a small business owner, will face former state Rep. Dan Woog in the November election.

“I’m a first-time candidate who’s been considering public office for a long time,” said McMillan. “While I believe my combination of public service, community relationships, and nonpartisan advocacy have uniquely prepared me to be the candidate and legislator HD19 needs, I don’t think anything can really prepare you for the experience of being a candidate. This condensed process packed so much work and emotion into a short time. I want to thank my kids for telling me to ‘Go for it!’ and my husband for being supportive every time I’ve come home and told him what I just volunteered to do.”

McMillan defeated former Boulder Valley School District Board member Richard Garcia with 53.3% of the vote in the second round of voting. Anil Pesaramelli, a software engineer at Kaiser Permanente, and Jim Reed, a former President of the Boulder Valley School District Board, were eliminated during the first round. 

The heavily purple House District 19 includes the towns of Erie, Firestone, Dacono, and Frederick. Parenti defeated Woog, who was the incumbent at the time, in the the 2022 election by just three percentage points.

While the district is considered a toss up between Republicans and Democrats, Parenti dropping out creates a disadvantage for Democrats vying to maintain a strong hold on the Colorado House. As a new candidate, McMillan has a shorter timeframe to raise funds and campaign against Woog who is known in the district.

Still, Woog told Colorado Politics that even with Parenti dropping out, he is not relaxing. 

“As soon as I heard that my opponent would not be seeking reelection, I made it a point to work even harder,” he told Colorado Politics earlier this month.

In dropping out of her reelection bid, Parenti, a Democrat from Erie, said she will finish out the remainder of her term, which ends in January. 

“I cannot continue to serve while maintaining my own sense of integrity, she said. “The two are simply incompatible.”

Parenti expressed hope that a more diverse legislature would have brought about a new culture, but she said that hasn’t been the case.    

“Unfortunately, personal agendas and special interests are still being rewarded at the expense of our districts, each other and the integrity of the body in which we serve,” she said. “That these challenges are not new to Colorado politics is, for me, an insufficient excuse not to prioritize addressing them. We can do better.”