State Sen. Dylan Roberts announced he is running for a second term in the Colorado Senate in next November’s election. 

Roberts, a Democrat, currently represents Senate District 8, which spans all or part of Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, and Summit counties. He serves as the Majority Caucus Chair in the Senate, which he was first elected to in 2022. He won that election against his Republican challenger, Matt Solomon, by more than 11 percentage points. 

Before winning a seat in the Senate, Roberts served two terms in the state House. He currently lives in Frisco with his wife and two children. 

In a news release on Wednesday announcing his reelection bid, Roberts said there is “more to do to make Colorado a better, more affordable, and safer place to live.”

“In an age of immense political division and turmoil at the federal level, it is up to the states to govern responsibly, lower costs for hardworking people and families, and put results over politics,” he said. 

Roberts said he will continue to vote for his district’s interests, even if it means going against his own party. 

Calling his district “by far the most politically, economically, and geographically diverse district in the state,” Roberts said he has and will “continue to always vote my district first, work with anyone if it means improving the lives of my constituents, and relentlessly focus on results over politics.”

Democrats control both chambers of the legislature with strong majorities, and Roberts routinely sponsors bills that have at least one Republican co-sponsor, and has voted against certain measures even when most in his party agree. 

During a special session in August, for example, Roberts was one of five Democratic senators who opposed a bill that eliminated a tax benefit for small businesses. The measure was part of lawmakers’ efforts to close a nearly $800 billion budget deficit caused by congressional Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending cut law. 

Roberts was also opposed to a proposal by Democrats this year to outright ban most semi-automatic guns, including AK- and AR-style rifles and pistols. He supported a scaled-back version that instead requires permits and safety training for people to purchase those guns. The measure, Senate Bill 3, which was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis, was one of the most closely watched and contested bills this session. 

Roberts highlighted work during his first term as state senator to lower the cost of living in mountain communities, such as through bills that he says have brought affordable housing to over a dozen rural resort communities. 

Some of the bills Roberts has sponsored and passed include measures that direct millions of dollars in low-interest state bonds toward for-sale affordable home construction, reform construction defect laws to make it easier for developers to build condominiums, and allow local governments to provide property tax rebates to homeowners who serve community needs, such as providing long-term rentals to local residents. 

Other priorities for Roberts have been bills that bolster water protections, support ranchers and the agriculture community, and improve safety on Interstate 70 and other mountain roads. 

Roberts has also been a frequent critic of the state’s wolf reintroduction program. He has pressed Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff with questions on transparency and preparedness during Senate committee meetings, and has sponsored several bills aimed at giving more support for livestock producers, such as a measure passed this year that shields ranchers’ names and other personal information from public view when they file compensation claims for wolf attacks. 

He pushed a measure during the August special session that would’ve effectively halted the next round of wolf drops planned for this coming winter, citing state budget challenges, but that provision was later killed through an amendment.