Boulder City Council Member Junie Joseph Wins Democratic Nomination For House District 10

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

August 15, 2022

Boulder City Council member Junie Joseph will replace state Rep. Edie Hooton as the Democratic Party’s nominee for Colorado House District 10 in this year’s general election, a vacancy committee comprising Boulder County Democratic Party members decided Monday evening.

In the second round of exhaustive voting at the end of a four-hour meeting, Joseph received 54.8% of the vote and Boulder Valley School District science teacher Tina Mueh received 45.2% of the vote.

“I am deeply honored and grateful for this nomination. It means a lot to me. I really appreciate all the community members I met along the way who have been kind to me,” Joseph said after she won the nomination. “But tonight, is not just about me. It’s about you. It is about all of you who voted tonight. This is an opportunity for all the children who are growing up in Boulder to see that there are people in the community trying to make changes.”

A vacancy committee made of about 60 members who attended the party’s county assembly voted.

Meuh, Joseph and Boulder Mayor Aaron Brockett made it through the first round of approval voting out of a pool of six candidates. Joseph and Meuh then made it past the first round of exhaustive voting.

Joseph was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was 14 years old. She has experience working for civil and human rights in various parts of Africa and most recently worked as a human rights officer within the United Nations Mission to the Central African Republic, according to her Boulder City Council biography. She was elected to City Council in 2019.

If elected to the state Legislature, Joseph said she will prioritize rights for LGBTQ people, public education funding, workforce housing development and criminal justice reform.

Hooton announced on July 30 that she would not seek a fourth and final term in the state Legislature, citing a desire to pursue personal interests.

She plans to complete her current term, which ends early next year.

Joseph will run against Republican Bill DeOreo for the seat in the fall. House District 10 holds about a 74-percentage point advantage for Democrats based on the results of eight recent statewide elections.

If Joseph wins the seat, she will need to resign from Boulder City Council, as her term ends in 2023.

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