October 23, 2015 02:59 PM UTC

EXCLUSIVE: Is David Balmer Done with the Legislature?

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: The Colorado Statesman’s Vic Vela confirms, but as usual you heard it here first:

Republican state Sen. David Balmer will soon resign from office to spend more time with ailing family members and to start a new career opportunity, the Centennial lawmaker told The Colorado Statesman on Friday.

Balmer, who is well regarded for his animal welfare legislation at the Capitol, will work as the political director of state campaigns for the Humane Society Legislative Fund. The fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit wing of the Humane Society.

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Republican state Senator David Balmer is up for re-election in 2016, but the rumor mill is churning with news that the longtime legislator may be about to walk away from the State Senate altogether.

As you can see from his latest campaign finance report with the Colorado Secretary of State (below), Balmer Terminated his current campaign committee on Oct. 7, 2015. We haven’t heard whether or not Balmer might resign from the Senate (SD-27, Centennial-ish) or just decline to run for re-election, but rumor has it that he has grown tired of the GOP infighting and would like to focus his energy on his new job with the Humane Society (the connection seems to fit, because Balmer has spent a good amount of time in recent years sponsoring legislation around dog ownership and adoption programs).

Whatever Balmer decides, we hear that freshman Rep. Jack Tate (R-HD37) is poised to make the jump to State Senate as Balmer’s replacement, which would then make HD-37 an open seat in 2016.