Editing Colorado General Assembly (section)

==Composition==
The General Assembly is [[bicameral]], composed of the [[Colorado House of Representatives]] and the [[Colorado Senate]]. The House has 65 members and the Senate 35. Members of the House are elected to two-year terms, and members of the Senate are elected to four-year terms.

General legislative [[election]]s are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year.<ref name="cogov"/> The entire House is elected in each general election. Senators are elected in two classes such that, as nearly as possible, one-half of the senators are elected in each general election.

House members are [[term limit|limited]] to four consecutive terms in office, and state senators are limited to two consecutive terms. However, term-limited former members of both houses can run again after a four-year break.
[[Image:ColoradoStateCapitolHouseOfRepresentatives gobeirne.jpg|thumb|right|350px|House of Representatives]]
The vast majority of members of the General Assembly who are ultimately elected (in excess of 90% of members ultimately elected in all recent sessions) are nominated through a major political party caucus process that places candidates on a primary ballot for the position sought in their political party, which generally requires 30% support from delegates to the relevant nominating body of the political party. It is also possible for individuals who have been registered to vote and affiliated with the political party in question for at least a year to gain access to a partisan primary ballot by petition.
Minor party candidates can gain access to the general election ballot through a minor party caucus process. Unaffiliated candidates can gain access to the general election ballot by petition.

Vacancies in legislative offices are generally filled by political party vacancy committees, rather than special elections. Vacancy appointees who fill the first half of a state senators term must stand for election at the next even year November election for the remainder of the state senate term for the seat to which the state senator was appointed.

The state auditor is appointed by the General Assembly, as are many members of independent boards and commissions.

Currently, the Colorado General Assembly is controlled by the Democratic Party. Democrats also hold the governor's office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorado General Assembly |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_General_Assembly |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>

The Colorado General Assembly was the first state legislature to welcome women as elected members, with [[Clara Cressingham]], [[Carrie C. Holly]] and [[Frances S. Klock]] all being elected to the State House of Representatives in 1894 and [[Helen Ring Robinson|Helen Robinson]] being elected to the State Senate in 1912 (the second state upper house in the country to welcome women as members).