Cecelia Espenoza

Cecelia Espenoza is an American politician and retired judge. She was elected as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives in the 2024 election for the 4th district.^[1][2] She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Cecelia Espenoza
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from District 4
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2025
Preceded by	Tim Hernández
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Education	University of Utah

Early life, education, and political career

Espenoza was born to farmworkers and is of Mexican American descent.^[3] Denverite reported that Espenoza was the first Latina to graduate from the honors program at the University of Utah. In 1982, she became the second Latina to be admitted to the Utah State Bar.

In the 1990s, she became a law professor at the University of Denver. During her career, she served as an appellate immigration judge, and worked in the U.S. Department of Justice as a Senior Associate General Counsel, for the Executive Office of Immigration Review where she served as the Privacy Officer, Freedom of Information Counsel and Records Officer.^[4]

Political career

In June 2024, she won the Democratic primary for the 4th district of the Colorado House of Representatives, defeating Representative Tim Hernández in the race to succeed Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez. Espenoza had previously contested the position in a 2023 vacancy appointment to replace Gonzales-Gutierrez, who had won a seat on the Denver City Council, but had been defeated by Hernández.^[3] She serves on the House Judiciary and State, Veteran and Military Affairs Committees.^[5] Espenoza is also appointed as a Commissioner of the Uniform Laws Commission.