Denver, CO
Embattled Colorado House Republican leader resigns leadership role in fallout of drunken driving arrest
State Rep. Mike Lynch, the embattled top Colorado House Republican whose 2022 drunken driving arrest was revealed to the public and to other legislators last week, said Wednesday he was stepping down as minority leader.
Lynch made his announcement from the House floor, shortly after sending an email to the 18 other members of the Republican caucus. He is not resigning from the House overall. His decision came one week after The Denver Post first reported on his arrest.
He narrowly survived a first no-confidence vote Monday and was facing a second one Thursday, but in his speech, he said that efforts to oust him did not influence his decision.
“I wanted to be clear that I’m not stepping down because I won a close vote of no confidence. I’m not stepping down because a failed state party chair tried to influence the actions in this House,” he said from the House floor. Dave Williams, a former legislator and current chair of the Colorado GOP, was present at a Tuesday meeting at which Republican legislators criticized Lynch. “I am stepping down because it is the right thing to do because I’ve become a distraction for my caucus and that is getting in the way of the hard work.”
A three-term Wellington legislator, Lynch has served as minority leader since November 2022, taking over after the death of then-Minority Leader Hugh McKean. Lynch is also running in a crowded primary for the 4th Congressional District, a race that includes U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Considered a relative moderate in a caucus that’s long been split along ideological fault lines, Lynch’s position as the top Republican in the House has been on the brink of collapse for several days amid fallout from his 2022 arrest.
On Jan. 17, The Denver Post reported that Lynch had been arrested for drunken driving and for a weapons charge in September 2022. During that altercation, he briefly reached for a handgun in his pocket and asked the Colorado State Patrol trooper arresting him to keep the incident quiet. He later pleaded guilty and remains on probation through June.
His arrest was a secret in the Capitol, even among his Republican colleagues. He was elected minority leader just weeks after the incident.
Right-wing members of his caucus, spurred on by Colorado Republican Party chair and former legislator Williams, had moved to oust Lynch from leadership this week. Lynch narrowly survived a 9-9 no-confidence vote on Monday. That vote did not include conservative Republican Rep. Stephanie Luck, who recently had a baby and has been excused from House floor work.
During that Monday meeting, Lynch said he didn’t believe his arrest had negatively impacted his ability to serve as minority leader. But three members of his caucus openly called on him to step down, in part because they felt the arrest had been hidden and also because they felt they were losing a moral high ground to Democrats, who until recently had been plagued with reporting about their own internal turmoil. Democratic House Speaker Julie McCluskie, for instance, told reporters on Tuesday that Republicans needed to get their house in order.
After Tuesday’s vote failed, Rep. Scott Bottoms, of Colorado Springs, called for another caucus meeting Wednesday for another no-confidence vote. Lynch and several other Republican lawmakers refused to attend that meeting, which quickly devolved into right-wing members of the caucus criticizing their leadership.
Williams, who is running for a separate congressional seat, sat in the back of the room and later called out questions to Bottoms that were critical of Lynch.
With more than half the caucus absent, no vote was taken Wednesday. But amid mounting criticism from critics within the caucus, Rep. Richard Holtorf, the House minority whip, announced that the caucus would meet Thursday morning for a second no-confidence vote.
With Lynch now out of leadership, Thursday’s meeting will now be used to elect his replacement from the other 18 House Republicans. His assistant minority leader, Colorado Springs Rep. Rose Pugliese, is one likely replacement. That would open up further jockeying for who would replace her in the no. 2 slot. Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, is also said to be interested in the role.
Some Republican legislators have privately called for a complete overhaul of their leadership team, including Holtorf (who’s also running for Congress) and caucus chair Rep. Mary Bradfield, who oversaw the contentious and poorly organized first no-confidence vote on Monday.
Rep. Ron Weinberg, a Loveland Republican, said he expected the minority leader race to be contested, and he lamented the spiraling infighting among legislators.
“What’s there to say?” he said. “Just when you think things cant get any worse in this building.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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Denver Broncos football is right around the corner.
As the 2026 World Cup nears its July 19 final, sports fans will soon begin turning their attention toward NFL training camps. The Broncos are set to open training camp on July 31 — two weeks from today — with the first of 14 practices open* to fans.
*Due to construction at the team’s facility, capacity at practice will be limited to approximately 1,000 fans, so (free) tickets are required to attend. Those tickets became available on July 1 and were quickly claimed. (Tickets are sometimes returned, though, so fans should check Ticketmaster for potential available tickets.)
Broncos training camp schedule
- Friday, July 31: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 1: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 3: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 4: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 5: 10 a.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 6: 10 a.m.
- Friday, Aug. 7: 10 a.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 8: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 10: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 11: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 12: 10 a.m.
- Monday, Aug. 17: 10 a.m.
- Tuesday, Aug. 18: 10 a.m.
- Wednesday, Aug. 19: 10 a.m.
Fans should note that Denver’s practice schedule is subject to change due to weather. Be sure to check the team’s Twitter/X page for the latest updates on the practice schedule.
In addition to the open camp practices, the Broncos will play three preseason games in August, including two at home. After that, Denver will open the season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football on Sept. 14.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Pedal boats are back at City Park in Denver this week and they come in more shapes than just swans.
On Wednesday, the city of Denver opened its newest so-called Adventure Hub where visitors can rent gear to enjoy on Ferril Lake. That includes pedal boats shaped like swans, dragons, ducks and flamingos, as well as kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. If you’d rather pedal on land instead of the water, the hub also has beach cruiser bikes and surrey bikes, which hold up to six people, available for rent.
City Park’s Adventure Hub is the second to open this year, following another at Washington Park in early June. Stephanie Figueroa, spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, said rentals were supposed to start sooner at City Park, but that the electricity powering the point-of-sale system needed to be replaced after a fire at the historic bandshell there.
Water sport rentals cost range from $15 per hour for a SUP or single-person kayak to $35 per hour for swan, dragon and duck pedal boats, which fit up to four people. Bikes are similarly priced at $15 per hour for a single-person beach cruiser up to $45 per hour for a surrey “stretch limousine” for six riders. Figueroa noted that it is a flat fee and not a per-person charge.
“For families, as long as you fit, you can go,” she said, adding that gear is available for rent during the City Park Jazz series this summer.
This year marks the first time in at least two decades that Denver officials have managed gear rentals in City Park. The city ended its longtime contract with vendor Wheel Fun Rentals, which previously supplied things like swan pedal boats, in early 2026 after more than 20 years, Figueroa said.
Denver’s decision to take over operations was both more cost-effective and enabled the city to have more control over the experience, she added. Part of the impetus was a recent initiative called the Outdoor Adventure and Alternative Sports Strategic Plan, which sought to identify how Denver could offer more recreation opportunities to residents.
“That gave us the tools and knowledge to bring this in-house,” Figueroa said. “We have historically been amazing at indoor recreation and now we want to bring more of those opportunities outside.”
The Adventure Hub at City Park is open every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., while the one at Washington Park is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. They are both closed on city-observed holidays.
Another Adventure Hub, currently under construction at Ruby Hill, is expected to open late this year or early next, Figueroa said.
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Downtown Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide service is a staple. In fact, more than 2 million people hop on every year. Now, the service could be in jeopardy as RTD tries to figure out ways to fix its $200 million budget deficit.
“The demand for the FreeRide is at the highest level it’s been since the pandemic, and it’s the cheapest service that we run in terms of per passenger cost,” RTD board member Chris Nicholson said.
Nicholson was shocked when staff made budget suggestions that would end the FreeRide service, one of the highest ridership lines in the system.
Not to mention, 70% of RTD’s budget comes from sales tax, and downtown Denver is one of the biggest economic engines in the district.
“We are so caught up in the conversation about cuts across the entire region that that opportunity for conversation with the downtown community really didn’t get the chance to happen, and a lot of people were surprised to see that in there,” Nicholson added.
For him, the proposal is personal. Nicholson says he uses the service daily.
“When I need to go up to Union Station, when I need to go to meet somebody for coffee, when I need to get groceries,” Nicholson said.
CBS Colorado took a trip using FreeRide to hear from passengers.
“Gone out drinking, out eating, back and forth from the hotels,” said one passenger visiting downtown for a work conference. “So yeah, it’s been useful for that.”
While some riders use it for leisure, others say they depend on it.
“I use it for transportation to Union Station to get to and from doctor’s appointments to and from work is actually one of the reasons why I chose to live downtown,” downtown resident Jovelle Brown said.
And with millions of riders, the numbers speak for themselves.
“I’ll be at City Hall fighting against the proposal,” Brown added.
“We need to look at this from the perspective of the communities we operate in, and I think that those communities made their voices heard on this one,” Nicholson said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston’s office told CBS Colorado, “We are deeply sympathetic to RTD’s budget situation, but cutting a popular service used hundreds of thousands of times a month and millions of times a year isn’t the answer. As RTD itself noted recently, the 16th Street FreeRide is vital to supporting downtown and fills a crucial need in helping people navigate between Civic Center Station and Union Station at no cost. It’s the kind of thing we need more of if we want people to use public transportation, not less.
“We know RTD shares in our affection for this service as well as our belief that Denverites and visitors alike deserve cost-efficient and safe public transportation, and we look forward to working together as this process unfolds.”
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