Jennifer Veiga

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Jennifer Veiga (born 10 October 1962 in Long Beach, California) is an American politician from Colorado. A Democrat, she is a member of the Colorado Senate, representing the state's 31st district.

Educated at Irvine High School, she went on to the University of Colorado at Boulder where she took a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Political Science. She then received a Juris Doctor from the National Law Center, George Washington University in Washington, D.C..

A lawyer, she was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1996 and re-elected three times. In 2003, she served as House Minority Leader, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and the Legislative Council.

In July 2003, she was named by a Vacancy Committee to the 31st District seat in the Colorado Senate. She was unopposed for election to the seat in November 2004 and will face re-election in 2008.

She serves as Chairman of the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. She is also a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

A lesbian, she came out publicly in August 2002 and is the first ever openly gay of the Colorado Legislature.