Washington, D.C. — Today, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper celebrated U.S. Senate confirmation of Judge Gordon Gallagher to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by a bipartisan vote of 53-43. Earlier this month, Bennet spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to support Judge Gallagher’s nomination.

“Judge Gordon Gallagher has proven his character, integrity, and legal acumen over a distinguished 25-year career. And unlike anyone on the District Court in Colorado today, Judge Gallagher has spent the majority of his career on the Western Slope – developing a perspective on public lands, natural resources, and federal regulation that has prepared him to serve the United States and the people of Colorado,” said Bennet. “Judge Gallagher will draw from his experience on the federal bench and his unwavering commitment to the rule of law to achieve justice and equality for all Coloradans, and especially those along the West Slope and in Tribal communities.”

“Judge Gallagher has served Western Slope and Tribal families for years as a magistrate judge and former deputy district attorney. With today’s bipartisan confirmation, he’ll bring his respect for the voices of long-overlooked communities to the U.S. District Court of Colorado,” said Hickenlooper. 

Judge Gallagher has served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado since 2012. He was unanimously re-appointed to the position in 2016 and 2020. Earlier in his career, Judge Gallagher served as a Deputy District Attorney for the 21st Judicial District (Mesa County) from 1997-2000. In 2000, he began a criminal defense practice focusing on state court litigation in western Colorado. Judge Gallagher served as a member of the Grand Valley Task Force’s criminal justice working group where he worked to address systemic bias in the community. Judge Gallagher also works to provide rehabilitative resources for the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes. In addition, he has worked for over a decade to provide legal representation to indigent defendants as part of the Alternate Defense Counsel (ADC) and served as Chair of the Pro Se Working Group to “investigate and consider how [the District] court can best facilitate pro se access to the court and how pro se cases can be handled in the most efficient and economical fashion.”

Judge Gallagher now serves as Co-Chair of the Pro Se Prisoner Task Force which was constituted to find ways to support and manage pro se litigation by state and federal prisoners. He graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1991 and obtained his J.D. at the University of Denver College of Law in 1996. 

This is the fourth of five vacancies on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado that the senators are working to fill or have filled. Since 2021, the Senate has confirmed Judge Rodriguez, Judge Sweeney, and Judge Wang to Colorado’s U.S. District Court. after the senators recommended them to the White House. The Senate also confirmed Judge Veronica Rossman to serve on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves six states including Colorado, after Bennet and Hickenlooper recommended her.