Senate majority leader will join mayor’s office

Sen. Dominick Moreno, the Colorado Senate’s majority leader, is set to leave the legislature and join Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration as deputy chief of staff for strategy, the mayor’s office said.

Moreno served more than a decade in the Capitol, first as a House member and then as a senator, eventually rising to the second- most - power ful position in the chamber. Before joining the legislature, he represented Commerce City as a councilman. He joins Johnston’s growing administrative staff, which last month added veteran Democratic campaign organizer Jenn Ridder as chief of staff.

“The opportunity to serve in this capacity for Mayor Johnston was too valuable to pass up,” Moreno said in a statement sent from the mayor’s office. “The mayor is committed to delivering on our Dream of Denver, and I’m looking forward to joining his team, bringing my expertise and passion for public service and improving outcomes, to make that dream a reality.”

A Georgetown University graduate, Moreno served on and led the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, an influential group of lawmakers tasked with setting the state’s budget each year. In the session this year, Moreno was selected to lead a near-supermajority of Democratic senators.

Moreno, who deferred comment to city, had one year remaining on his second term in the Senate. In a statement to the Post, Senate President Steve Fenberg praised Moreno’s leadership, “thoughtfulness” and “relentless hard work.”

Johnston’s office also announced Alex Renteria-aguilar as the mayor’s new communications director.