Pueblo Republican resigns from Colorado State Board of Education 3 months before his term expires

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Stephen Varela resigned from the State Board of Education on Tuesday, about three months before his term representing Colorado’s Third Congressional District is set to expire.

The Pueblo Republican resigned to take a job working with students with disabilities in the Pueblo 60 school district, according to a press release from the Colorado Department of Education. State law bars school district employees from serving on the State Board of Education.

Varela was appointed to the State Board in 2023 after Joyce Rankin, a Republic from Carbondale, resigned. His 20-month tenure has been relatively uneventful, but other aspects of his work and political life have been marked by controversy.

Earlier this year, the Denver Post reported that Varela was under federal investigation after whistleblower claims that he’d misused funds from a labor union he led from 2016 to 2020. The allegations include that he spent $100,000 in union funds for unauthorized purposes, including frequent travel and a beer-making kit.

Varela also has an unusual political history. He changed party affiliation 18 times since 2011, switching between Democrat, Republican, and unaffiliated, according to the Denver Post. He’s been registered as a Republican since 2021.

Varela lost a bid for Pueblo City Council in 2019 and for Colorado State Senate in 2022. In June, he lost a Republican primary for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who is switching districts. He also sought to be chair of the Colorado Republican Party earlier this year, but dropped out in February.

Varela’s sudden resignation from the State Board of Education will trigger the creation of a vacancy committee appointed by GOP officials. The committee’s pick will serve until January, when the candidate elected in November will take over. Republican Sherri Wright , of Cortez, and Democrat Ellen Angeles , of Montrose, are vying for the Third District seat on the board.

Varela’s seat is one of four up for grabs in the November election, although a Democrat is running unopposed for the seat representing the Second Congressional District.

The nine-member State Board of Education includes one at-large member and eight members representing Colorado’s congressional districts. Currently, the board has a six-member Democratic majority.

Besides hiring Colorado’s education commissioner, the board oversees the school accountability and teacher evaluation systems, considers charter school appeals of district decisions, and sets state standards for what schools should teach.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org .