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History of the First District
Colorado was admitted as a state into the Union on August 1, 1876. Its first Congressional delegation (two Senators and one Representative) arrived in Washington late in 1876, at the end of the 44th Congress. Colorado remained a one-district state until the 53rd Congress (1893-1895), when it was split into two districts.
The 1st District has always included either major portions of Denver or the city in its totality. Reappointment created two additional districts at the start of the 64th Congress (1915- 1917). A fifth district was added at the start of the 93rd Congress (1973-1975). The 1980 Census returns led to the creation of a sixth district at the start of the 98th Congress (1983-1985). Following the 2000 Census, a seventh district was added during the 106th Congress.
Colorado 1st District Member History
Congress granted the territory of Colorado one at-large delegate seat on February 28, 1861. Late in 1861 Colorado's first delegate, Hiram P. Bennett, took his seat in the House.
Colorado's First District Delegates:
Name | Took Office | Left Office | Congress |
| Hiram P. Bennett | Dec 2, 1861 | Mar 3, 1865 | 37th - 38th |
| Allen A. Bradford | Mar 4, 1865 | Mar 3, 1867 | 39th |
| George M. Chilcott | Mar 20, 1867 | Mar 3, 1869 | 40th |
| Allen A. Bradford | Mar 4, 1869 | Mar 3, 1871 | 41st |
| Jerome B. Chaffee | Mar 4, 1871 | Mar 3, 1875 | 42nd- 43rd |
| Thomas B. Patterson | Mar 4, 1875 | Aug 1, 1876 | 44th |
| James B. Belford (R)1 | Oct 3, 1876 | Dec 13, 1877 | 44th - 45th |
| Thomas M. Patterson (D)2 | Dec 13, 1877 | Mar 3, 1879 | 45th |
| James B. Belford (R) | Mar 4, 1879 | Mar 3, 1885 | 46th - 48th |
| George G. Symes (R) | Mar 4, 1885 | Mar 3, 1889 | 49th - 50th |
| Hosea Townsend (R) | Mar 4, 1889 | Mar 3, 1893 | 51st - 52nd |
| Lafayette Pence (Populist) | Mar 4, 1893 | Mar 3, 1895 | 53rd |
| John F. Shafroth (R, SR, D)3 | Mar 4, 1895 | Feb 15, 1904 | 54th - 58th |
| Robert W. Bonyage (R)4 | Feb 16, 1904 | Mar 3, 1909 | 58th - 60th |
| Atterson W. Rucker (D) | Mar 4, 1909 | Mar 3, 1913 | 61st - 62nd |
| George J. Kindel (D) | Mar 4, 1913 | Mar 3, 1915 | 63rd |
| Benjamin C. Hilliard (D) | Mar 4, 1915 | Mar 3, 1919 | 64th - 65th |
| William N. Vaile (R)5 | Mar 4, 1919 | July 2, 1927 | 66th - 70th |
| Sebastian H. White (D)6 | Nov 15, 1927 | May 3, 1929 | 70th |
| William R. Eaton (R) | Mar 4, 1929 | Mar 3, 1933 | 71st - 72nd |
| Lawrence Lewis (D)7 | Mar 4, 1933 | Dec 9, 1943 | 73rd - 78th |
| Dean M. Gillespie (R)8 | Mar 7, 1944 | Jan 3, 1947 | 78th - 79th |
| John A. Carroll (D) | Jan 3, 1947 | Jan 3, 1951 | 80th-81st |
| Byron G. Rogers (D) | Jan 3, 1951 | Jan 3, 1973 | 82nd - 91st |
| James D. McKevitt (R) | Jan 3, 1971 | Jan 3, 1973 | 92nd |
| Patricia Schroeder (D) | Jan 3, 1973 | Jan 3, 1997 | 93rd - 104th |
Diana L. DeGette (D) | Jan 3, 1997 | Present | 105th - present |
1Belford was succeeded as a member of the 45th Congress after the results of his 1876 election were contested by Thomas M. Patterson and overturned.
2Patterson successfully contested the results of his 1876 race against James B. Belford and took his seat on December 13, 1877
3Shafroth won the election to the 54th Congress as a Republican. From the 55th to 57th Congresses, he was elected as a Silver Republican. In 1902, he was elected to the 58th Congress as a Democrat. He was succeeded on Feb. 16, 1904, after he declared in a speech on the House floor his conviction that his opponent, Robert W. Bonynge, had been duly elected.
4Bonyage successfully contested the results of his election against John F. Shafroth in the 1902 election. He took his seat on Feb. 16, 1904
5Vaile died in office on July 2, 1927
6White won a special election to fill the seat of deceased William N. Vaile on Nov. 15, 1927
7Lewis died in office on Dec. 9, 1943
8Gillespie won a special election to fill the seat vacated by the death of Lawrence Lewis on Mar. 7, 1944