A vacancy committee from the Adams County Republican Party will meet March 23 to select a replacement for expelled Colorado state Rep. Steve Lebsock, according to state GOP spokesman Daniel Cole.

The most likely replacement may be the person who’s already filed to run for the seat, Republican Casey Cole of Thornton, a real estate agent.

The seat became available when former Democratic state Rep. Steve Lebsock of Thornton, barely an hour before being expelled from the state House, changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

On March 2, the House voted 52-9 to kick Lebsock out over allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against his accusers.

After Lebsock was expelled, both parties released statements about what they would do with the vacancy. Democrats, led by former state Sen. Morgan Carroll, said they would weigh their options, including one in which they might sue since Lebsock was elected as a Democrat.

Republicans initially seemed hesitant to deal with the vacancy.

“Our HD 34 Vacancy Committee has the right to fill the vacancy,” according to a Republican Party statement. “Whether it chooses to do so is another question. If it declines to act within 30 days, the governor gets to fill the vacancy. Because Lebsock was a Democrat when he committed his misdeeds, the vacancy committee could decline to fill his seat.”

However, a week later, the party announced it would move forward with filling the vacancy.

Filling the vacancy with a Republican won’t change the balance of power in the House, where Democrats hold 36 seats and Republicans hold 28. With a GOP replacement, Democrats will still hold a seven-seat advantage.

Casey Cole told Colorado Politics he intends to seek the vacancy appointment. He hasn’t spoken much to voters about the Lebsock situation, he said.

“Some say it’s a sham, others that it’s an opportunity for Republicans,” he said.

But he also said he viewed the whole process and expulsion as a “waste of time. My take is that House should concentrate on more important things.”

It’s not that sexual harassment isn’t important, he explained.

“But when our roads and bridges are falling apart, if you look at major issues facing the state, I’m not sure that sexual harassment is one of them.”

Adams County GOP Chair Anil Mathai said he believed the handling of the Lebsock matter wasn’t done properly. He would have preferred an investigation by law enforcement and upset with the Democrats for taking away the voice of voters in House District 34. “We will step up and pick someone” who voters will trust and who will work for them,” Mathai told Colorado Politics. “The political gamesmanship has to to stop and they have to get back to governing.”

There are also two other candidates – both Democrats – who have filed to run for the Adams County seat. Lebsock elected not to run for re-election for a fourth and final term in the House, instead choosing a bid for state treasurer. But in changing his party affiliation, Lebsock knocked himself out of the Democratic race for treasurer, and the state GOP says he can’t run as a Republican, either.

Kyle Mullica is one of the two Democrats who is seeking the House District 34 seat. He’s also a precinct committee person, which makes him an automatic member of the HD34 vacancy committee. Lebsock also was on that committee, until he quit the party.

Mullica said he isn’t focused on what the state party might do about the vacancy, preferring to put his time into his campaign and ensuring the seat goes back to a Democrat.

The district has been reliably Democrat for at least the last two decades. Lebsock won each one of his elections by solid margins, by a little over 6 points in 2016,  almost 10 points in 2014 and more than 20 points in 2012.

Mullica said he worked with Lebsock on a bill last year, when Mullica was on the Northglenn City Council, but has had no contact with the former lawmaker since the first allegations came out last November.

His take on the mood of voters in the district is that they’re disappointed: disappointed in Lebsock’s actions and his decision to switch parties at the last minute.

“People want representation,” Mullica told Colorado Politics, and the district wants someone who will fight for them and be a voice at the Capitol.

“With the choice Rep. Lebsock made, it did a disservice to those who voted him in and made that choice. Come November, we will make sure the values of House District 34 are represented.”

Lori Goldstein is chair of the Adams County Democratic Party. She indicated that a GOP replacement will galvanize Democratic voters in the district.

“The people of 34 voted for Democrats, up and down the ticket,” she told Colorado Politics. This replacement “is being forced on them because of someone’s retribution.”

Goldstein said voters in the district have gone through the situation like a grieving process. Some people were mad, others were in denial and others accepted it. From there, however, it’s what to do about it, she said.

“I’m sure they’re ready to organize, to make sure we get the seat back in November. That’s the number one priority.”

But the other Democrat, Jacque Phillips, told Colorado Politics that people just want to move on.

“Over and over, I hear, can we just get to work?”