Susan "Su" Ryden is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2008, Ryden represented House District 36, which encompasses eastern Aurora, Colorado. Term limited, she did not run for re-election to the State House in the 2016 election. However, she ran for State Senate in District 29 but lost in the Democratic primary to Rhonda Fields. Her term in the State House ended in January, 2017. She currently serves as Public Trustee of Arapahoe County, Colorado, having been appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2017 and re-appointed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2019. Biography A native of Hastings, Nebraska, Ryden graduated from the University of Denver in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. She worked for marketing firms in Denver, San Diego, Pensacola, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia while her husband, Jerome, served in the U.S. Navy. The couple worked as freelance photojournalists, traveling throughout the U.S. and Latin America before returning to Colorado in 1974. They founded Ryden & Associates, a marketing firm, in 1975. Ryden has served on the boards of the Denver Rotary Club Foundation, the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission, Leadership Aurora and the Aurora Fox Arts Center. She has also been active in the Colorado Kids 1st license plate campaign and the soberRide campaign against drunk driving. In 2004, Ryden received the Randolph P. McDonough Award for service to alumni of the University of Denver. In 2005, she received the Aurora Chamber's Women in Business "Unsung Hero" Award and the Elizabeth Johnson Award for her work in the field of historic preservation. In 2016, she received the Aurora Chamber's Outstanding Woman award, as well as the United Veterans Committee Legislator of the Year award. Legislative career 2008 election Ryden announced her candidacy for the state legislature in February 2008, after incumbent Morgan Carroll announced her candidacy for the state senate amidst a scandal that prompted the withdrawal of the previous candidate, Michael Garcia. Ryden was endorsed by Carroll, was nominated by unanimous acclamation at the Democratic house district assembly, and saw no opposition in the August Democratic primary. Ryden faced Republican Kathy Green in the November 2008 general election. Ryden's candidacy was endorsed by the Aurora Sentinel and the Denver Post, and she won with 60 percent of the popular vote. 2009-10 legislative session For the 2009-10 legislative session, Ryden was named