DENVER, CO, Nov. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With heavy hearts, Vote Run Lead (VRL) and Vote Run Lead Action (VRLA) mourn the tragic loss of Colorado State Senator Faith Winter. Faith—who served as treasurer of both VRL and VRLA—was a fierce advocate for justice, equity, inclusion, and empowerment. Her sudden death leaves a profound void in our organization, in her community, and in the lives of all who had the privilege of knowing her.
Faith wasn’t just a board member — she was a champion of so many causes that aligned deeply with the mission and values of VRL and VRLA. Among her many accomplishments in the Colorado legislature:
- SB25-129: Co-sponsored legislation strengthening protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care, including shielding patients and providers from out-of-state litigation.
- SB22-172: Led efforts to expand health care access in rural Colorado by establishing the Colorado Rural Health Care Workforce Initiative to encourage medical providers to serve underserved communities.
- HB16-1438: As a state representative, championed worker rights and family protections by ensuring employers provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and childbirth.
- HB15-1275 and HB15-1323: Sponsored legislation creating high school apprenticeship programs and reducing excessive testing burdens on students and teachers.
We also want to honor Faith’s extraordinary courage in helping hold powerful people accountable. During the height of the #MeToo movement, she played a central role in ensuring that a colleague who sexually harassed her was removed from the Colorado legislature — a testament to her strength, integrity, and commitment to creating safer environments for women in public life.
And while Faith served as our treasurer, she was so much more. Over the course of her career, she helped train thousands of women to run for office — not only through VRL and VRLA, but across numerous programs and organizations. This quiet, steadfast commitment to empowering women to lead is one of the deepest parts of her legacy.
At VRLA, Faith most recently played a leading role in launching an initiative to support and uplift elected women — a project born from her conviction that we must guarantee representation and power for women in public life. Her energy, her vision, and her unwavering belief in equity shaped and inspired this work.
From all of us at VRL and VRLA: we are heartbroken. We share our deepest condolences with Faith’s family, friends, colleagues, her Colorado community, and with everyone around the world who admired and valued her courage, integrity, and compassion.
We will honor Faith’s memory by carrying forward her work: continuing to fight for reproductive justice, equity, inclusion, and the full participation of women in leadership.
Her legacy lives on through all who remain committed to the values she embodied so powerfully.
Her absence will be deeply felt. She will be profoundly missed.
— Erin Vilardi, Founder & CEO, The Boards and Staff of Vote Run Lead and Vote Run Lead Action
About Vote Run Lead
Vote Run Lead is the nation’s largest and most diverse nonprofit training women to run for office and win. As a 501(c)(3), Vote Run Lead focuses on increasing women’s representation in statehouses, where the most consequential decisions are made. Vote Run Lead has 256 alumni currently sitting in state legislatures and many more serving at every level of government—from city councils to Congress. By unleashing the political power of women as voters, candidates, and leaders, Vote Run Lead is building and sustaining an equitable democracy. To learn more, visit VoteRunLead.org.
About Vote Run Lead Action
Vote Run Lead Action, the 501(c4) arm of Vote Run Lead, the country’s largest nonprofit training resource for women to run for political office and win, has a primary focus: improving gender representation in America’s statehouses. The organization seeks to unleash the political power of women as voters, candidates and leaders to create an equitable democracy. To learn more, visit VoteRunLeadAction.org.
Destanie Morman Vote Run Lead Action Destanie@VoteRunLeadction.org