Educator to Replace Groff in Senate

A charter school principal will replace Peter Groff in the state senate.

A district 33 Democratic party vacancy committee selected Mike Johnston, the principal at Thornton's Mapleton Expeditionary School for the Arts, to complete Groff's term, which ends in January 2013.

Johnston, 34, was chosen on the first ballot. Among the hopefuls he defeated was former Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver.

Groff, who was originally appointed to the Senate in 2003 and then re-elected in 2004 and 2008, accepted an appointment as a senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education. His resignation from the Senate took effect last Wednesday after the General Assembly adjourned its 2009 session.