Denver, Colorado: Governor-Elect Weiser Names Republican Simpson as Agriculture Commissioner in First Cabinet Picks

Colorado Governor-elect Phil Weiser announced his first round of cabinet appointees in Denver on Tuesday, November 10, naming Republican Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson as his nominee for agriculture commissioner. The round also names a former Fort Collins mayor to lead rural advancement, the deputy attorney general for natural resources as senior director of water policy, and a former Senate majority leader to run the state budget office.

Weiser, the Democratic attorney general, won the governor's race on November 3 and will succeed term-limited Governor Jared Polis. His transition announcement said the picks show a commitment to building an administration that includes voices from across Colorado and the political spectrum.

A Republican to lead agriculture

Simpson will be nominated to serve as agriculture commissioner and, upon confirmation, will lead the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the transition announcement said. Simpson has represented Alamosa and southwest Colorado in the state Senate since 2021 and became the Senate Republican leader in 2025, the announcement said. He has served as general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District since 2016. The Alamosa Citizen reported that Simpson will vacate his Senate seat, the minority leader post and the water district job as he becomes commissioner.

Simpson is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and Alamosa High School. He and his wife, Cathy, returned to Alamosa and the San Luis Valley in 2014 to help his father, Alan, run the family farming and ranching operations.

Simpson told the Alamosa Citizen the post was not on his dance card six months ago, and that joining the Weiser administration gives rural Colorado a wider voice in state government.

Rural advancement and water at cabinet level

Jeni Arndt will serve as director of rural advancement. Arndt was elected mayor of Fort Collins in 2021 and re-elected in 2023, and she served in the Colorado House for District 53 from 2015 to 2021, where she chaired the committee on agriculture, natural resources and water policy. She holds a master's degree in geography from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master's in special education from Purdue University.

Scott Steinbrecher will serve as senior director of water policy, coordinating water policy across state government. Steinbrecher is the deputy attorney general for natural resources and environment, where he oversees a team of 70 lawyers and staff and serves as the attorney general's lead adviser on water policy and related litigation. He has represented the state in interstate compact negotiations and disputes.

The announcement said the two posts fulfill a campaign commitment by Weiser to elevate the rural advancement director and the water adviser to cabinet-level positions.

A former majority leader for the budget

Dominick Moreno will serve as director of the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting. Moreno served on the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee, which balances the state budget each year, and chaired it twice. He was majority leader of the Colorado Senate from February 2022 until September 2023, when he left to become deputy chief of staff to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.

Moreno graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in American government.

"Communities across Colorado face a range of challenges, and I am committed to working with diverse leaders to solve our biggest problems," Weiser said in the announcement.

Weiser launched his transition website last week, where Coloradans can apply for administration jobs and submit ideas, the announcement said.