Top Colorado Republican Lawmaker Dies Suddenly: Officials

House Minority Leader Hugh McKean in an undated file photo (Colorado House of Representatives)

One of Colorado’s top lawmakers died suddenly on Oct. 30, it was announced by the state’s Republican Party.

Colorado House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, a Republican, died at his home, Colorado Republicans confirmed in a statement. House Republicans described the 55-year-old’s death as “tragic and sudden.”

Funeral services are being planned for McKean, who was running for his fourth term in office, according to the statement.

“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—Aiden McKean, 21, Hanna McKean, 23, and his dearest partner and friend Amy Parks,” the statement reads.

His cause of death wasn’t disclosed by press time. The House Republican statement said that an autopsy is currently underway.

Roger Hudson, McKean’s deputy chief of staff, told the Denver Post that McKean recently said he had pain in the left side of his body, saying that it was likely an injury related to a house he was building. Hudson said the pain reportedly got worse overnight.

McKean was recently at a rally for Republican Senate candidate Joe O'Dea on Oct. 29, according to Hudson.

An autopsy was scheduled for Oct. 30, he confirmed to the paper.

McKean was elected to the Loveland City Council in 2009 before he was elected to the Colorado House in 2016, according to local Colorado media outlets. He was elected leader of the Republican caucus in the state House in 2020.

The Colorado secretary of state’s website states that he was running unopposed in the forthcoming midterm elections.

“Hugh spoke about Coloradans not in the abstract but as real living people with jobs, loves, and real-life successes and problems. Families facing hardships were not faceless pie graphs on a page to Hugh,” Republicans said in their statement. “He saw the faces of his own children, of his parents, long-time neighbors, and of Coloradans that he would always call friends.

“Public service wasn’t a 9-to-5 job for Hugh; he lived life believing good enough would never be enough for those who would live with the consequences of bad government.”

Colorado Democratic Speaker of the House Alec Garnett told local media: “Emily and I are shocked and heartbroken by the passing of Minority Leader Hugh McKean. 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.”

Other details about his death weren’t provided by press time.