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Judy Amabile

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Judy Amabile
Image of Judy Amabile

Democratic Party

Colorado State Senate District 18
Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

0

Predecessor
Prior offices
Colorado House of Representatives District 13
Successor: Julie McCluskie
Predecessor: KC Becker
Colorado House of Representatives District 49
Successor: Lesley Smith
Predecessor: Michael Lynch

Compensation

Base salary

43,977/year for legislators whose terms began in 2023. $41,449/year for legislators whose terms began in 2021.

Per diem

For legislators residing within 50 miles of the capitol: $45/day. For legislators living more than 50 miles from the capitol: $237/day.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Colorado, Boulder, 1980

Graduate

University of Colorado, Boulder, 1985

Personal
Birthplace
New Rochelle, N.Y.
Religion
Atheist
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Judy Amabile (Democratic Party) is a member of the Colorado State Senate, representing District 18. She assumed office on January 8, 2025. Her current term ends on January 10, 2029.

Amabile (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Colorado State Senate to represent District 18. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Amabile completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Judy Amabile was born in New Rochelle, New York. She earned a B.A. in mass communication/media studies and M.B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Amabile's career experience includes co-founding Product Architects Inc. and working as a senior consultant with Coopers and Lybrand.[1][2][3] She co-founded and served on the board of Good Business Colorado and has been affiliated with The League of American Bicyclists and the Outdoor Industry Association.[2][3]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Amabile was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Amabile was assigned to the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Colorado State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Colorado State Senate District 18

Judy Amabile defeated Gary Swing in the general election for Colorado State Senate District 18 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile (D) Candidate Connection
 
90.5
 
73,150
Image of Gary Swing
Gary Swing (Unity Party) Candidate Connection
 
9.5
 
7,704

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 80,854
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado State Senate District 18

Judy Amabile defeated Jovita Schiffer in the Democratic primary for Colorado State Senate District 18 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile Candidate Connection
 
76.5
 
21,775
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jovita Schiffer
 
23.5
 
6,694

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 28,469
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

2022

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 49

Incumbent Judy Amabile defeated Kathryn Lehr and Daniel Lutz in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 49 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile (D) Candidate Connection
 
64.3
 
33,326
Image of Kathryn Lehr
Kathryn Lehr (R) Candidate Connection
 
33.2
 
17,186
Image of Daniel Lutz
Daniel Lutz (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.5
 
1,306

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 51,818
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 49

Incumbent Judy Amabile advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 49 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
13,682

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 13,682
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 49

Kathryn Lehr defeated John Caldwell in the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 49 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kathryn Lehr
Kathryn Lehr Candidate Connection
 
56.8
 
5,421
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
John Caldwell
 
43.2
 
4,125

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 9,546
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Amabile's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2020

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 13

Judy Amabile defeated Kevin Sipple and James Gilman in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 13 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile (D) Candidate Connection
 
68.2
 
34,652
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Kevin Sipple (R)
 
28.4
 
14,418
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
James Gilman (L)
 
3.4
 
1,713

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 50,783
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 13

Judy Amabile advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 13 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Judy Amabile
Judy Amabile Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
18,131

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 18,131
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 13

Kevin Sipple advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 13 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Kevin Sipple
 
100.0
 
4,736

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,736
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Colorado House of Representatives District 13

James Gilman advanced from the Libertarian convention for Colorado House of Representatives District 13 on April 13, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
James Gilman (L)

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To see a list of endorsements for Judith Amabile, click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Judy Amabile completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Amabile's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am currently a Colorado State Rep. for House District 49. I have served for the past 4 years. Prior to being elected I ran a successful small business for 25 years, manufacturing sport water bottles under the brand Polar Bottle.
  • We must continue to take action on Climate, energy and environment. I passed a bill in 2023 to study issues faced by oil and gas workers as Colorado transitions to clean energy. I want to pursue legislation based on that study in 2025. I also want to continue working to create greater resiliency for inevitable climate-driven challenges like fire disasters and drought. I have passed several insurance reform bills, and a bill to provide insurance options in communities where carriers have exited.
  • Housing availability and affordability is a significant challenge for people in Colorado. This session I passed a bill allowing more ADUs, and I supported the bill to increase density on transit corridors. I also supported protections for renters. If elected I will continue to work on policies to create more affordable housing.
  • We must provide adequate treatment for people with serious mental illness. Too many people are suffering in our streets in homelessness, psychosis, and addiction. We have to create adequate infrastructure to stop this cycle before it starts. I passed a bill to consider involuntary care in the most extreme cases, similar to California’s CARE courts. That study was recently completed. I plan to build on this progress through legislation in the Senate.
Addressing the needs of people with serious mental illness is a passion for me. My family and thousands of Colorado families have been profoundly impacted by the lack of effective care for our loved ones.
Elected leaders have to act with integrity and empathy. We have to recognize the humanity in everyone even those we disagree with.
This work is about more than passing bills. It is about being a leader in the community, connecting constituents to state services, and working with other officials at all levels of government to solve problems for people.
JFK was assassinated in 1963. I was 5 years old.
I was a Courtesy Clerk at City Market for my last two years of High School. During my time there we joined a union. I also taught skiing and was a babysitter.
Having a good working relationship with the Governor's team is important. Listening to their concerns and making adjustments to policies when possible helps get bills signed into law.
Creating an economy that works for everyone. We have made significant progress this past session with the earned income tax credit increase, the family tax credit, the tuition tax credit as well as other progressive policies. There is more work to be done.
Yes. I thing that experience is valuable especially in the State Senate where you are asked to weigh in more policies and where each member's vote has more impact.
Yes. It is critical to build relationships with fellow legislators on both sides of the aisle. It is also important to have good relationships with other stakeholders in the Capitol and in the community.
No. The State Senate is as far as I plan to go in politics.
I met Janet Van der Laak when I first started running. We both had adult sons with serious mental illness. We were testifying in front of the Governor's first task force on Behavioral Health. We had similar experiences with regard to getting care for our kids. Her son Matt was homeless. Every morning she made him a lunch. She drove around looking for him and if shouldn't find him she would give the lunch to someone else on the street.She was a fierce advocate and made an impact every time she spoke. During COVID, she told me that her other son had taken his own life. She was struggling with profound grief. Months later I found out that she had taken her own life. I wondered who would advocate for Matt without her. Recently I learned that Matt died in March at the age of 31. Our system failed this family and I am determined to continue to work on this issue.
I will be introducing a bill regarding getting to net zero emissions in 2040. I will also be introducing a bill regarding changes to the mental health care system for people who are incapable of managing their illness. I will also be looking at a renter protection bill for those living with housing vouchers and other assistance.
Congressman Joe Neguse, Governor Jared Polis, Senate President Steve Fenberg, Speaker of the House Julie McCluskey and many other elected leaders in Senate District 18 and around the State. Colorado Education Association, Boulder Valley Education Association, AFL/CIO, Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Services Workers International, Stand for Children and many other organizations.
I have been a member of the following committees in the House: Business and Labor, Chair; Judiciary; Appropriations; Public and Behavioral Health, State Affairs and Legislative Council. I have also been on several interim committees including: Treatment of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System, Chair; Jail Standards Legislative Oversight Committee, Chair; Transformational Task Force on Behavioral Health; Committee on Defining Recidivism. In the Senate I hope to be a member of the Business and Labor Committee, Health, Judiciary and the interim committees listed above.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Candidate Connection

Judy Amabile completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Amabile's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Representative Judy Amabile was elected to the 2021 Colorado Assembly representing House District 13. She currently is running for re-election in the newly created House District 49. Rep. Amabile is a mother, business person, community activist, environmentalist, and legislator. She earned a BA and an MBA at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is co-founded and for 25 years operated Polar Bottle, a Boulder company that manufactures smartly designed sport water bottles. In the Colorado Assembly, Rep. Amabile has sponsored successful measures concerning access to mental health care, fire insurance reform, gun safety, and criminal justice reform, among others.
  • I am working to improve access to behavioral health care in Colorado, especially for people with serious mental illnesses and addiction disorders.
  • The impacts of climate change are driving devastating wildfires and an unprecedented water crisis in our state. These problems do not distinguish between rural/urban or political divides. We must address them together, with urgency and pragmatism.
  • Prohibitively expensive housing, income inequality, and price gouging by bad actors are just some of the complex factors driving economic hardship. We must stay focused on the core tenets of good economic policy: strengthening our middle class, supporting workers, increasing housing, and investing in education.
I am passionate about mental health access. I’m one of a legion of parents who know the despair of trying to access mental health services in a system that seems designed for failure. As we are learning, the costs and consequences of a broken mental health care system are devastating to people, families, and society at large. I lead efforts in the 2022 Colorado Assembly to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars toward improvements. We also need to disentangle mental illness from jails. Criminal justice reforms are key to unknotting the terrible problems of untreated serious mental illness.
My first job was bagging groceries at City Market in Aspen. I worked hard and all the checkers loved me for it. We joined a union while I was working there and it was exciting to be in the fight. Management was not happy, but I got a big raise.
The impacts of climate change are driving devastating wildfires and an unprecedented water crisis in our state. These problems do not distinguish between rural/urban or political divides. We must address them together, with urgency and pragmatism.
I currently serve on the committees Business Affairs & Labor; Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services;
State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs; Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal Justice System; and I am the Chair of the Jail Standards Commission Legislative Oversight Committee. In 2022, I served on Colorado's Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force.


Compromise is necessary and desirable. The vast majority of legislation I sponsored earned bipartisan support in the Colorado Assembly, proving that it’s possible to be simultaneously strongly progressive and pragmatic.

For example, when I proposed major changes to the insurance claims process for people who lose their homes in a wildfire, I was told it would be impossible to gain the support of the insurance industry, without which the bill could not succeed.

But by bringing all stakeholders to the table early and often, considering all good ideas, and negotiating with both intensity and good faith, we passed HB22-1111 with the support of the insurance industry. The bill provides major improvements for policyholders who lose everything in a wildfire, while ensuring insurance remains affordable and available in our state.

One stakeholder in the process said about my work:

“Your tenacity, commitment, hard work and speed at solving the problem is beyond impressive. When I raised the issues I was seeing on East Troublesome claims at the town hall meeting last summer, I would have never in a million years imagined that legislative change would be legislated in less than a year.”

In every effort, my goal is to lead with empathy and intelligence, while insisting on progress.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Candidate Connection

Judy Amabile completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Amabile's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Judy Amabile is a mother, businessperson, lifelong Democrat, and proven leader who will build bridges to the future we want for Colorado. Judy has strong progressive values, and an impressive track record in both business and community activism. She co-founded Polar Bottle, where she demonstrated her commitment to workplace fairness. She established the non-profit organization Good Business Colorado to further these ideals in our community. Judy is committed to addressing climate change with bold solutions, creating greater economic equity for all Coloradans, and improving access to health care, specifically mental health care, in our state. Judy has been a proud Coloradan for almost 50 years, and is passionately devoted to this amazing place and its people. Throughout her life and business career, she has helped bring real solutions to bear on significant challenges facing our communities. Sas is known for creative problem solving, open-mindedness, and pragmatism. Judy is strong on the issues she believes in, and skilled at bringing people together to build consensus. In essence, Judy gets things done.
  • I will take bold action to address climate change. I have a plan to help Colorado transition successfully to a clean energy economy.
  • I stand for workers and will fight to bring economic opportunity to ALL Coloradans. As a business owner who advocated passionately for my employees while turning a profit, I bring a high degree of credibility to the discussion.
  • The lack of access to mental health treatment parallels staggering increases in homelessness, opioid drug addiction, incarceration, and suicide. I will work to bring better mental health care to our state.
I have an adult son with serious mental illness. Like legions of parents in Colorado, I have experienced firsthand the anguish caused by inadequate access to quality mental health care. I am on the Board of Mental Health Colorado and a member of the Boulder County NAMI advocacy committee. In 2019, I provided testimony to a Colorado Senate committee considering House Bill 1117, also known as the "red flag" or "extreme risk protection order" bill. I was gratified to see that bill become law in Colorado, giving families like mine a tool to help keep our loved ones safe from preventable gun violence.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Judy Amabile campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Colorado State Senate District 18Won general$273,711 $302,505
2022Colorado House of Representatives District 49Won general$77,984 $36,185
2020Colorado House of Representatives District 13Won general$99,284 N/A**
Grand total$450,979 $338,691
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Colorado

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Colorado scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021






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External links

Candidate

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Judy Amabile for HD 13, "About," accessed December 28, 2020
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 3, 2022
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 LinkedIn, "Judy Amabile," accessed May 8, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Stephen Fenberg (D)     		Colorado State Senate District 18
    2025-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    Michael Lynch (R)     		Colorado House of Representatives District 49
    2023-2025    		 Succeeded by
    Lesley Smith (D)
    Preceded by
    KC Becker (D)     		Colorado House of Representatives District 13
    2021-2023    		 Succeeded by
    Julie McCluskie (D)


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