By The Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Photo: xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Colorado’s next agriculture commissioner is likely to be a Republican farmer from the San Luis Valley. Gov.-elect Phil Weiser, a Democrat, said Tuesday he will nominate state Sen. Cleave Simpson, the Senate’s Republican minority leader, to run the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
It was the headline pick in Weiser’s first round of cabinet announcements, which came a week after he won the governor’s race. Simpson would replace Kate Greenberg, who has led the department since Gov. Jared Polis appointed her in 2019. The state Senate must confirm him.
Who Simpson is
Simpson is a fourth-generation farmer and rancher and the general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, which manages water issues in the Rio Grande basin. He has served in the state Senate since 2021 and became minority leader in June 2025, Colorado Newsline reported. He graduated from Alamosa High School and the Colorado School of Mines.
“On our family farm in the San Luis Valley, the water we have each spring shapes what we can grow that year,” Simpson said in a statement reported by Denver7. He said that if confirmed, he would work with producers “to keep land in agriculture for the next generation.”
If confirmed, Simpson would be the first Republican to lead the department under a Democratic governor since 2015, when Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Yuma’s Don Brown, the Denver Gazette noted.
Farm groups react
The Colorado Farm Bureau, which says it has more than 19,000 members, praised the choice the same day. President Carlyle Currier, a Western Slope rancher, said producers are dealing with “historic droughts, volatile markets, and a complex regulatory environment” and called the pick a sign Weiser meant to “restore trust with rural Colorado.” Vice President James Henderson called Simpson “an incredible bipartisan leader and bridge-builder.”
Sen. Lisa Frizell, the assistant minority leader, told Denver7 the appointment was “Governor-Elect Weiser’s olive branch to rural Colorado.”
Water and rural posts, too
Weiser also created two new cabinet-level jobs aimed at rural Colorado and water. Former Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt, who chaired the House agriculture and water committee as a state representative, will be director of rural advancement. Scott Steinbrecher, the deputy attorney general for natural resources and environment, will be senior director of water policy.
He named former Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno to head the Office of State Planning and Budgeting. Moreno is now a deputy to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.
Weiser said in a release that the picks show his commitment to an administration “inclusive of voices from across Colorado and the political spectrum.”
What happens to Simpson’s Senate seat
If Simpson is confirmed and leaves the Legislature, a Republican vacancy committee will choose his replacement, Denver7 reported. Senate Republicans also need a new minority leader. They are scheduled to pick one Saturday, and Frizell has said she will run.
Democrats will hold supermajorities in both chambers when the Legislature convenes in January.
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