Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, the chamber’s top Republican, resigned Monday after clashes with Democrats during a special session and controversy over a secretly taken photograph of another lawmaker.
In a letter to supporters, Pugliese said she was stepping down to focus on her children.
“I have spent the months reflecting on my life choices, especially in relation to my children. As a single mom, I raise my two children on my own. I am all that they have. There is nothing more important in my life than them. They have made so many sacrifices for me to be able to represent you. But they also need their mom right now, and I need to keep them safe,” she wrote.
Pugliese was elected Colorado House Minority Leader in 2024 after her predecessor, Mike Lynch, resigned for failing to disclose an arrest on charges of drunk driving and possessing a firearm while intoxicated.
Her departure follows heated clashes with Democrats during a special session and came in the wake of Republican Rep. Ryan Armagost’s abrupt resignation. Armagost, the former minority whip, admitted to secretly photographing a Democratic lawmaker during floor proceedings, the Washington Examiner reported.
Armagost sent the photo of Democratic Rep. Yara Zokaie to fellow Republicans, some of whom compared her outfit to that of a stripper or prostitute. The image later fueled a social media harassment campaign against Zokaie.
Pugliese was included in the group chat where the photo was shared and discussed but did not take part in the remarks. She removed Armagost from his committee assignments three months after learning of the incident, the outlet said.
“I take this matter very seriously and do not condone this behavior,” Pugliese told CPR News last month regarding the posting of the photo to social media.
Colorado Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, the chamber’s top Republican, also resigned earlier this year to take a position with a conservative organization.
At the time he took and shared the photo, Armagost was not only part of GOP leadership but also chaired the House Workplace Harassment Committee, which oversees investigations and disciplinary recommendations in cases of misconduct at the Capitol. He remained in that role until last week, when Minority Leader Rose Pugliese removed him from the committee after he announced plans to move to Arizona.
Armagost declined to tell CPR News why he photographed Rep. Yara Zokaie or shared the image with Republican colleagues. “I don’t have anything to comment on her or the accusation,” he said.
The initial social media post on X was just captioned, “Thoughts?” It was followed by a second post, with a poll, asking “Smash or Pass Yara Zokaie.” The results were later announced in a post that asked: “Who tf are the 11% that would smash?”
“The messages very quickly escalated from name calling and vulgar remarks about my appearance and what people wanted to do to me, to threats against my family, my children, death threats, rape threats,” Zokaie told CPR News. “Things got to a point where my staff needed to rotate who would check our messages because it was traumatizing to hear some of the things that people were saying.”
Zokaie, Colorado’s first Iranian American lawmaker, said that as a progressive woman of color she is frequently targeted, and remarks about her appearance are something she has learned to endure, CPR News noted.
She initially intended to ignore the photo incident, but said the situation changed when social media comments began threatening her three young children, all under the age of eight. “That is always going to cause things to escalate in my mind,” she said.