Colorado State Senator Faith Winter Remembered As Fierce Advocate for Women

Fists clenched in their pockets protecting from the cold – in the Capitol’s driveway before the building’s western steps and below an American flag flying half-staff – some standing with their feet shuffling as others squeezed between chairs and strangers, hundreds gathered. Greetings were exchanged, many had shared this space before. For protest or proclamation, for demonstration and celebration. Today, it was in grief and recognition. 

State lawmakers were remembering a colleague. For organizers, a coworker. Community members, an advocate. For many, most simply, a friend. 

Colorado State Senator Faith Winter died in a car accident on Interstate 25 in Arapahoe County on November 29. The Broomfield senator represented District 25 in the Colorado State Senate and was entering her twelfth and final year in the legislature, due to term limits. While the investigation remains ongoing in the series of multivehicle accidents which resulted in Winters’ death, it is immediately apparent how she will be remembered for the impact she had during life.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis speaks before hundreds of community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

The Chair of the Transportation and Energy Committee, and serving on Business, Labor, and Technology and the Legislative Council, she is remembered by friends and family as a fierce warrior for women, the disabled, and the underprivileged. Colorado Public Radio credits her for making culture change in the Capitol after the expulsion of Democratic Rep. Steve Lebsock after she publicly accused him of sexual harassment.

She was also a vocal proponent for more color, for being authentic in every space, and for making the space for people to safely be themselves. An example her friends recall she set to be followed. Her refusal to wear jeans, and commitment to hiking in flip-flops, were a regular anecdote through the carousel of speakers. 

One which drew a knowing, mournful, chuckle at each mention. 

“I hope you remember her for the life she lived, not just the roles she held, for the hikes, the kayaks, for the orange dresses, for the flowers she adored, for the animals at her foot,” Winter’s close friend Hazel Gibson told the crowd through choked-back tears. “She lived in full color and she loved in full color.”

The following day, her life would be celebrated in full color at the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. As friends, neighbors, and fellow legislators gathered to honor the work Faith devoted her career to, a quiet truth threaded through every conversation: Faith Winters was, simply, a genuinely good person.

“Faith’s passion and dedication for building a brighter Colorado future and brighter future for the country, really shone,” Governor Jared Polis told the crowd at the Capitol. “Faith always made time to connect with people. To find ways to brighten every day.”

Through her legislation raising fees on fuel and certain car gig economy providers she was able to amass billions of dollars for state transportation projects. In the 2025 Session she sponsored a bill, now law, which will add a voting and a nonvoting youth member, between 14 and 21 years of age, to the DPHE Environmental Advisory Board and creates a grant program to finance environmental mitigation projects.

Sienne Snook remembers her mother, speaking before hundreds of community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Her political career started, apparently, in high school when she ensured through organizing that her friends would be elected to each and every dance court. She herself was voted prom princess.

“She wanted me to tell that story at an event, I just didn’t think it would be this one,” lifelong friend Jessica Walker admitted through tears. “The belief that she could make a difference and impact change has always been a part of who she was.” 

Her start in public office was from 2007 to 2014, when Winter served as a member in the Westminster city council. She was elected on a policy vision of racial and economic justice, helping to build progressive think tanks and organizations in community with her efforts from office. 

In spring 2024, she checked into a rehabilitation facility citing alcohol abuse after she appeared to be drunk while attending a Northglenn city council meeting in her role as Senator. Months earlier, in fall 2023, she had been hospitalized after a crash while riding her bike to the state Capitol.

“People say grief is love with nowhere to go and I believe this resonates deeply with who my mom was,” Senator Winter’s daughter Sienna Snook, told the audience. “My mom put so much love into the world which is why we feel her absence so strongly.”

In the cold chill, a warmth was palpable as many could reflect on their own moment that memory manifested. With a breath, and a respectful quiet, the final speaker took the microphone. Another friend who had been in the trenches of electoral politics with Senator Winter, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen greeted the crowd.

Once a mentee of the late Senator, Congresswoman Pettersen told a story about being convinced to follow her friend up the ladder and to fight for a new kind of representation from our elected representatives. The first woman to represent Colorado’s 7th District, who got national notoriety for casting votes with her infant, remembered it was Winter who first told her how important it was to be someone who didn’t look like who usually runs for office.   

“She believed in the mantra: we lift as we rise. And it is something that she lived every day,” Congresswoman Pettersen reflected.

Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen speaks before community members gathered on the west side of the Colorado Capitol on Friday, December 5 to celebrate the life of state Senator Faith Winter, who died at 45 in a car crash on the eve of Thanksgiving 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Vincent Chandler

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, Digital Content Strategist for the National Cannabis Industry Association and Colorado Rising, and Chief Content Officer of ƒ/4.20 Films. Vince’s political experience includes working for local and regional campaigns and lobbying on Capitol Hill. Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post, the publication that brought them to Denver in 2014 to serve as founding Multimedia Editor for Denver Post TV and weekly cannabis industry news show The Cannabist. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival. Vince holds degrees from Pennsylvania State University in Journalism and History, and they have lectured on journalism at Arkansas State and Penn State.

___

The ones who dared to fight City Hall.

 When Boulder denied public access to police body-cam footage, we took it to court. Our fight for transparency is now before the Colorado Supreme Court — because accountability doesn’t stop at the city line.

Through December 31, every gift to Yellow Scene will be matched — dollar for dollar — through the Colorado Media Project’s Matching Grant.Give & Get Democracy this Holiday Season. Your $8 recurring monthly support not only gets you YS delivered to your house, but it’s matched for the entire year, bringing that $8/month to $192.

Because Independent journalism isn’t just about telling stories. It’s about protecting your right to know, holding power accountable, and keeping democracy in the light. This is #newsCOneeds Becoming a sustaining supporter today for $8 a month!