Senator Rachel Zenzinger Contact information

Rachel Zenzinger is an American politician from the state of Colorado. A Democrat, Zenzinger has represented the 19th district of the Colorado Senate since 2017, following her defeat of Laura J. Woods; she previously represented the same seat from her appointment in 2013 until 2015. Before that, Zenzinger served on the Arvada City Council.

Zenzinger earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Regis University. She was elected to the Arvada City Council in 2008 and became Mayor Pro Tem in 2011. Zenzinger was appointed to the state senate following the resignation of Evie Hudak. Zenzinger was the campaign manager of Hudak’s 2012 campaign.

In 2023, she played an important role in removing upzoning provisions from a major land use reform bill that Colorado Democrats were writing to address the housing crisis in Colorado. Zensinger wrote an editorial with Republican Colorado legislator Barbara Kirkmeyer that argued that the reform bill “should be amended to eliminate state control of local land-use planning.” The bill subsequently was left to languish in the Senate, preventing its passage in the 2023 legislative session.

Rachel Zenzinger is the Colorado Senator from Arvada, representing Senate District 19 in Jefferson County. Rachel grew up on the Western Slope and came to the Front Range to attend college at Regis University. She received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree in Education, as well as her teaching license.

She has a deep background in education and a strong passion for public schools. She has worked as a Project Manager for Colorado Educator Voice Fellowship, a branch of Washington, D.C.-based America Achieves. She previously served as advisor to the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative program in the Colorado Department of Higher Education; and she worked for Regis University in the Master of Arts in Education department where she specialized in Teacher Leadership.

Since moving to Arvada in 2002, she has served the community in a variety of capacities, including as twice-elected member of the Arvada City Council, where she also filled the role as Mayor Pro Tem. She left the City Council to accept an appointment to the State Senate, where she served in the 2014 session.