State Sen. Ellen Roberts (R-Durango), who currently serves as the Senate president pro tempore, has announced she will resign her Senate District 6 seat at the end of this year, after a decade in the Colorado House and Senate.

The announcement came as a surprise to many of her constituents and those in the state Capitol community.

In a statement posted on the Pagosa Springs Sun website Sunday, Oct. 16, along with other news outlets in her district, Roberts said after six years in the state Senate and four years in the House, she was “looking forward to new work possibilities that will build on my past legal practice and my legislative experience and that will allow me to spend more time at home, with my family and friends, in the best area of the great state of Colorado that a person could live in.”

Roberts, who lives in Durango, called her time in office a “very positive and productive experience as your public servant.” She considered challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett this year, according to the Durango Herald, but decided against running for the statewide office.

She was elected to the Colorado Senate in 2010 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2014. She also served two terms as a state representative in House District 59. Her Southwestern Colorado Senate district includes Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel counties. Roberts graduated from the University of Colorado’s School of Law and practiced law for over 20 years.

Roberts’ replacement will be appointed by the Senate District 6 Republican vacancy committee – possibly Jan. 3, according to the Herald – to fill the rest of her term until a regular election takes place in 2018. Roberts has also served as Senate President Pro Tem for the past two years. Long-term, her resignation could also affect if the Republican-controlled Senate – with a current one-seat majority – will stay in GOP hands, though general election results will play a larger, more immediate role.

“I’ve been contemplating this change for over a year and have talked it over with my family, friends and colleagues during that time, so it’s not a result of the rather tumultuous election year we find ourselves in,” Roberts wrote in the column.

According to October voter registration data compiled by the Colorado secretary of state’s office, Senate District 6 remains a strong Republican district with 25,531 registered Democrats, 35,921 registered Republicans and 29,046 registered unaffiliated voters.

Still, southwest state legislative districts have proven to be more about candidate popularity than political party registration throughout the state’s political history, but the vacancy appointee will be given a 2 year head start to prove their legislative worth to voters and build name ID.

State Rep. Don Coram (R-Montrose) has already expressed interest in approaching the vacancy committee to replace Roberts. Coram is term-limited in his House seat in 2018.

Coram told the Durango Herald “I probably would be the person with the most experience. We ran a lot of bills together. … She’s (Roberts) done a great job.”

Coram’s exit would set off a scramble to replace him in House District 58 and would also vacate his leadership position as chair of the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee.

According to the Durango Herald, a several candidates have already been named who would want to fill Coram’s legislative seat, including John Reams, a Naturita contractor and Zandon Bray, the son of Robert Bray, who is the owner of Bray Ranches in Redvale and serves as a member of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission board.

While some sources believe Coram could have the way paved for him to run for the Senate seat, some other Capitol sources speaking on the condition of anonymity say House District 59 Rep. J. Paul Brown (R-Ignacio) could also run for the vacancy opening. While this has not been confirmed, theoretically the move would offer Brown a stronger seat with less opportunity for election year swing. His House District 59 seat was held by a Democrat, Rep. Mike McLachlan (D-Durango), during the 69th General Assembly from 2013-2015. McLachlan’s wife, Barbara McLachlan, also a Democrat, is currently running to unseat Brown in the general election. House District 59 is a much more narrowly divided district in terms of partisan voter registration. As of October data, there were 16,273 registered Democrats, 17,802 registered Republicans and 17,094 registered unaffiliated voters.