Judd Choate

State Elections Director, Colorado

Dr. Judd Choate has been the state elections director for Colorado since 2009. He was President of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) in 2016-17 and has served as a member of the Governmental Coordinator Council (GCC) since its inception in 2017. Prior to joining the Colorado Department of State, Judd practiced election law at the Denver firm of Kelly Garnsey Hubbell & Lass. He was a law clerk for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Alex J. Martinez and as a summer clerk for Judge Timothy Tymkovich of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Dr. Choate has a J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School and both a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Purdue University. For several years prior to law school, Judd was a professor of political science at the University of Nebraska, where he taught courses on campaigns and elections. Dr. Choate is the author of a book and several peer-reviewed articles on elections and political behavior.

In a previous life, he was a scout for the Kansas City Royals.