Josh Penry

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Josh Penry

Member of the Colorado State Senate from the 7th district
In office 2007 –

Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jamie Penry

Josh Penry is a Republican member of the Colorado Senate, representing the 7th District since 2007. Previously he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 to 2006.

Penry served in the Colorado House of Representatives for one term, and then jumped into a hotly contested^{[citation needed]} race for the Colorado Senate against a popular former State Representative. Penry ran away with the once-competitive Senate primary in a landslide^{[citation needed]}, and was eventually elected by a wide margin in the General Election. Penry is the youngest member of the Colorado Senate.

Penry is a leading advocate for education reform in Colorado. Along with State Representative Rob Witwer, he has pushed for legislation to raise graduation standards for Colorado high school students [1], especially in the areas of math and science [2].

Penry has been identified as a rising political star by an array of publications, including the National Journal. The Rocky Mountain News called Penry and State Representatives Rob Witwer, Cory Gardner and Matt Knoedler the "Rock Stars" of the Colorado Republican Party. He is talked about as a possible opponent to John Salazar for Colorado's 3rd congressional district.

Penry is a former standout quarterback at Mesa State College. He was named the National Scholar Athlete of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association and the Burger King Company. The award, won the prior year by Peyton Manning, came with a $135,000 endowment award to Mesa State.

Before his election to the Legislature, Penry served as a top aide to Congressman Scott McInnis.

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

Colorado State Senator Joshua Penry official government website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Joshua A. 'Josh' Penry (CO) profile
Follow the Money - Josh Penry
- 2006 Senate campaign contributions
- 2004 House campaign contributions

Current members of the Colorado State Senate
1^st: Greg Brophy (R) 2^nd: Kenneth Kester (R) 3^rd: Abel Tapia (D) 4^th: Tom Wiens (R) 5^th: Gail Schwartz (D) 6^th: James Isgar (D) 7^th: Josh Penry (R) 8^th: Jack Taylor (R) 9^th: David Schultheis (R)	10^th: Bill Cadman (R) 11^th: John Morse (D) 12^th: Andy McElhany (R) 13^th: Scott Renfroe (R) 14^th: Bob Bacon (D) 15^th: Steve Johnson (R) 16^th: Dan Gibbs (D) 17^th: Brandon Shaffer (D) 18^th: Ron Tupa (D)	19^th: Sue Windels (D) 20^th: Maryanne Keller (D) 21^st: Betty Boyd (D) 22^nd: Mike Kopp (R) 23^rd: Shawn Mitchell (R) 24^th: Lois Tochtrop (D) 25^th: Stephanie Takis (D) 26^th: Steve Ward (R) 27^th: Nancy Spence (R)	28^th: Suzanne Williams (D) 29^th: Bob Hagedorn (D) 30^th: Ted Harvey (R) 31^st: Jennifer Veiga (D) 32^nd: Chris Romer (D) 33^rd: Peter Groff (D) 34^th: Paula Sandoval (D) 35^th: Ken Gordon (D)
Democrat (20 seats) \| Republican (15 seats)