One of Colorado’s most prominent Republican women has left the Republican Party.

Former Senate President Pro Tem Ellen Roberts of Durango recently decided to drop her membership in the Republican Party and become unaffiliated. But she’s adamant that her decision should not be taken as a statement on the way moderates are treated in the GOP.

Roberts’ name came up on a list of gubernatorial board and commission appointments Friday. Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed her to the board of trustees of Fort Lewis College and in a news release was identified as unaffiliated. A review of state voter records from October show Roberts had already by then changed her voter registration to unaffiliated.

Roberts was first elected to the Colorado House in 2006 and to the state Senate in 2010. She was re-elected to the Senate seat in 2014.

During the spring of 2016, Roberts considered a run for the U.S. Senate, but was considered too moderate to survive a primary in a field crowded with more conservative candidates. Six months later she resigned her state Senate seat, stating she wanted to spend more time with her family and on her law practice. Roberts had two years to go on her final term; state Sen. Don Coram of Montrose was appointed to finish out her time and will run for his first full four-year term next November.

Political consultant Eric Sondermann, who has observed Roberts’ political aspirations in the past, told Colorado Politics that she’s always been a moderate Republican.

“There’s decreasing room for moderates in either party,” he said. “The Republican party has shifted to the right, in some case the crazy right,” and the Democrats have also moved significantly to the left.

“Moderates are getting left behind,” but he said he didn’t believe Roberts’ decision was any indication of future political ambitions. “It’s a statement of where she falls in this dysfunctional political climate.”

Roberts told Colorado Politics she dropped her GOP affiliation last summer, in part due to the work she is doing on water and natural resources policy.

“These are not partisan issues,” she said. “It’s work-related.”