Rep. Hugh McKean, the leader of the Republican caucus in the Colorado House, died Sunday at his Loveland home, according to the state party. He was 55.
McKean, who first was elected in 2016 and was chosen to lead the caucus in 2020, was found at his home in Loveland on Sunday morning, officials said. Deputy Larimer County Coroner Matthew Canaga said in a statement Sunday afternoon that McKean died of an acute myocardial infarction — a heart attack.
Roger Hudson, McKean’s deputy chief of staff, told The Denver Post that McKean had been complaining of pain on the left side of his body, but that he had chalked it up to an injury related to work on the new home McKean was building. The pain had worsened overnight into Sunday morning, Hudson and Rep. Colin Larson said, and McKean had called his longtime partner. When she arrived at his home, an ambulance was already there, Larson said.
“He was a dear friend, and I’m going to miss him,” an emotional Larson said Sunday morning. “I can’t believe he’s gone. And my heart just breaks for Amy (Parks, his longtime partner) and his son and daughter and Amy’s kids. He was just such a loving dad, and he talked about his kids all the time. I hope that they know that.”
McKean had been at a campaign rally for Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Joe O’Dea on Saturday. O’Dea said Sunday that McKean’s “boundless optimism, kindness and empathy were on full display” at that rally, and he offered his prayers to McKean’s family.
In addition to his partner, McKean is survived by his two adult children.
“Hugh was fiercely passionate about two things in his extraordinary life: serving the great state of Colorado and spending time with his family, whom he adored,” the state GOP said in its statement.
In a separate statement, Kristi Burton Brown, the chairwoman of the Colorado Republican Party, mourned McKean’s passing and remembered the time he took to meet and interact with her children.
“Whenever I saw him or spoke to him, he had an encouraging word and was ready to lift others up,” Burton Brown said. “Whenever I think of Hugh McKean, I’ll think of his smile and his positive outlook on life.”
Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement early Sunday afternoon that he was “devastated” by McKean’s passing, calling him a “family man and a true public servant.”
“Minority Leader McKean cared deeply for his constituents, always had time for a conversation or a laugh,” Polis said, “and truly worked every day to build a better future for every Coloradan.”
McKean was first elected to the Loveland City Council in 2009, seven years before voters sent him to the House to represent House District 51. Larson, a Ken Caryl Republican, said McKean was the “consummate happy warrior” who “deeply loved the institution of the House of Representatives.” He would routinely remind lawmakers, Larson said, that the House was larger and more important than any one of them and that it would outlast their tenure within it.
He was tasked in 2020 with leading an at times fractious Republican caucus against a strong House majority that Democrats had built. It was often not an easy task: Not only were Democrats firmly in control of the House and Senate, but Republican infighting further strained the party’s position. A third of the caucus, Larson said, “wouldn’t play ball.”
But McKean had hoped the party was turning a corner: He and Larson had spent “hundreds of hours” recruiting and helping to elect new members, Larson said, and McKean told The Post in September that he was looking forward to a unified and energized caucus come the next legislative session in January.
“It’s just sad he won’t get to see that,” Larson said. “He put so much work into this.”
His death comes amid broader shifts in the caucus’s leadership: Rep. Tim Geitner, the Republican’s assistant minority leader, resigned his seat in early October; Republican efforts to replace Geitner this weekend were stymied by internal upheaval, leaving the future of that seat uncertain and opening the door for Polis to select Geitner’s replacement.
Hudson, the deputy chief of staff, told The Post that Rep. Rod Pelton, a Cheyenne Wells Republican and the House’s minority whip, will lead the caucus for the time being. But Pelton is running for a state senate seat and is also departing the caucus. Larson said McKean’s replacement to serve as leader will be selected on Nov. 10, during the caucus’s regularly scheduled elections.
McKean, who was running unopposed for his fourth term, won a contentious primary in June against a former legislative staffer to Rep. Patrick Neville, McKean’s predecessor as minority leader and one of the members of the Republican House caucus who, to use Larson’s phrase, “wouldn’t play ball” with McKean. Because he had no challenger, McKean will be considered a member-elect to the House, and a vacancy committee established by the Larimer County Republican Party will be called to select his replacement, the Secretary of State’s Office said Sunday.
McKean’s Democratic counterparts also mourned his passing Sunday in statements and on social media. House Speaker Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat, said he was “shocked and heartbroken” by McKean’s death. He praised his integrity and deep respect.
“We will miss his kindness, the joy that he brought to the Capitol every day, and the care that he showed every person he ever met,’ Garnett wrote in a statement. “Hugh was the very definition of a statesman — a genuinely nice guy who always wanted the best for our state and his constituents.”
