by Karl Kurtz
Colorado Democrats made legislative history today by electing Rep. Terrance Carroll (left) as speaker of the House and re-electing Peter Groff (right) as Senate pres
ident. It will be the first time in American history that the presiding officers of both chambers of a legislature will be African-Americans.
For a complete list of previous African-America presiding officers, see "African-American Presiding Officers."
Nov. 7 update: Today's Rocky Mountain News reports on the selection of Carroll and Groff:
The Colorado legislature has only two black members. But now they are the two most powerful members of the 100-person body....
For the first time, two black men hold the leadership in the General Assembly of Colorado, a state where the Ku Klux Klan controlled the House, Senate and governor's seat in the 1920s.
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