Democratic State Rep. Brianna Titone of Arvada, who is term-limited at the statehouse, is running to be the next Colorado State Treasurer.
Titone currently chairs the House Joint Technology committee, is the vice chair of the Finance Committee, and sits on the Appropriations Committee. She is Colorado’s first openly transgender state lawmaker.
The former geologist was first elected to the statehouse in 2018 in a blue wave, defeating a prominent Republican in the GOP held seat in a tight race. If she succeeds in the Treasurer’s race, she hopes to make history as the country’s first openly transgender elected to a statewide executive office.
As Treasurer she said she would prioritize government efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and also work to protect public employee pensions.
“I’ve spent my career tackling complex financial and policy challenges, and I’m ready to bring that experience to the Treasurer’s office,” she said in a statement provided to CPR News.
Titone has also worked as a mining consultant and a web app developer. She has a bachelor's degree from The State University of New York as well as graduate degrees from Stony Brook University and the University of Denver in 2018.
At the capitol she has sponsored some high profile bills, including a measure to require increased training for those working in the funeral home industry after egregious cases of mismanagement, including improperly stored bodies and fake ashes being sent to loved ones. She passed the first law in the country to give people the right to repair their own wheelchairs and allow them to get access to parts, tools and even software — such as smartphone apps — from wheelchair manufacturers.
She followed that with a first in the nation law to allow people to repair their own farm equipment and a law to allow people to repair electronic equipment. Last year she was a main sponsor of a bill that seeks to set up a process aimed at preventing discrimination around the use of AI systems in decisions that impact people’s lives in areas like housing, education, healthcare and banking.
“This is essential healthcare for trans people, and we want to be sure that the healthcare companies are not ignoring this group of people who may seek to get insurance with these companies,” she said.
As Colorado’s only transgender state lawmaker, she’s been at the forefront of issues expanding rights for trans individuals and pushing back against GOP efforts to restrict those rights. She plans to introduce a bill this session to require insurance coverage for gender affirming care.
Titone filed her paperwork for the Treasurer’s office on Tuesday night. It could end up being a large Democratic primary field to replace outgoing Democratic Treasurer Dave Young, a former state lawmaker who is term-limited. Democrats Jerry Ditullio and John Mikos are already in the race.
