State Representative Karen Middleton represents House District 42 in West Central Aurora.  She was appointed to fill this seat on February 13, 2008 and subsequently won the House District election in November 2008.

Karen serves on the House Education Committee and the Business Affairs and Labor Committee. She serves in a leadership position as the Majority Caucus Chair. 

Karen teaches college and runs a small non-profit management firm, Karen Middleton & Associates. 

Karen was appointed to a vacancy on the State Board of Education in November 2004 and won her election in 2006 to complete the original unexpired term (2007-2008).  She resigned this position in order to serve in the legislature.

She has extensive professional experience in K-12 and higher education, and has previously worked for an education publishing company, ScholarCentric, that offers a dropout prevention curriculum.  She teaches political science at the Metropolitan State College of Denver and the Community College of Aurora. 

In 2004, she served as Policy Director for the Democratic Caucus in the state House of Representatives.  Previously she held positions at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), the Center for Internet Technology in Education at eCollege, and as Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver.  While at WICHE, she was instrumental in establishing the North American Council for On-Line Learning, an international association of online K-12 schools.

Karen’s Family

Karen is married to Larry Beer and they make their home in Aurora’s Park East neighborhood. Karen’s stepdaughters Molly (15) and Katie (12) attend Denver Public Schools.  Their daughter, Zoe Grace Middleton, is just under 2 years old.  Last, but not least, the family dog is Stella who is a Chow/Border Collie.