While investigators work to figure out what happened the night Colorado state Sen. Faith Winter was killed in a car accident on Interstate 25, her colleagues and friends are sharing her memory and legacy with the people of Colorado.
Maybe the most impactful, the long list of women she helped become policymakers and legislators.
“Senator Faith Winter was a mom. She was a fiancé, a friend, a sister, a colleague, and a mentor to so many people,” said state Rep. Jenny Willford.
She says her friend Winter is the reason she is who she is today.
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“She trained me to run for office. And then I worked for her, training women to run for office. And then we served together as colleagues at the legislature. But honestly, like, our relationship was more than just in the legislature,” Willford said.
She says they were friends, and if the people of Colorado could have known Winter the way she did, they would have loved her just as much as she did.
“She was somebody who led with her heart and fought as hard as she possibly could for the things that she believed,” said Willford.
It’s the same story for state Sen. Lisa Cutter.
“She always was there for other people. And I certainly saw that personally. She really tried to lift me up all the time,” Cutter said.
She was also mentored and helped by Winter, and they worked together as colleagues at the State Capitol for years on issues they had in common.
“Our policy goals were really aligned. And, you know, we just became really close friends. I loved her spirit,” said Cutter.
Both she and Willford say Winter was passionate about transportation, the environment, and helping working Coloradans with her work at the Capitol, but when it came to life outside the golden dome, the center of her world was her kids.
“She used to have ‘Hike it Sundays’ where she and her kids would go out with the dogs and hike every Sunday and explore somewhere new within Colorado. And that was one of the reasons that she worked so hard at the legislature,” Willford said.
They say their lives and jobs will never be the same.
“She was a light. And the Capitol will be a much darker place without her. Many, many of us will miss her dearly,” said Cutter.
David Zalubowski / AP
It wasn’t just lawmakers Winter inspired and helped. Sara Loflin, executive director of ProgessNow Colorado, called Winter, “a trailblazer, a leader, and a friend like no other.”
“She did more to meaningfully improve the lives of Coloradans than almost anyone in our state’s history,” she said in a statement. “Senator Winter championed an immense list of historic legislation, from equal pay to climate justice to finding billions of dollars for transportation. Her legacy to Colorado will outlast all of us. Nobody has worked harder to uplift other women and emerging leaders as they rose themselves. The gut-wrenching loss of this titan, who loved sunflowers and called so many of us ‘friend,’ is an inestimable loss for our state and for the progressive movement.”
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