with 42 percent of the vote. He served as legislative assistant to representatives Dave Schultheis and Keith King and helped found the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, serving as its executive director until 2005. In 2006, Lambert ran to succeed Rep. David Schultheis, who was elected to the Colorado Senate that same year. Lambert faced Colin Mullaney in the Republican primary, in which he garnered the endorsements of the Minutemen PAC, the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, and a homeschoolers PAC. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Karen Teja with over 68 percent of the popular vote. Colorado House of Representatives 2007 legislative session During the 2007 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Lambert sat on the House Finance Committee and the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. In his first year in the legislature, Lambert was noted for his conservative stances on legislation. He was the primary house sponsor of a senate bill that would have criminalized abortion in Colorado —the bill died in the Colorado State Senate — and he spoke out against a measure that would have allowed adoption by homosexual couples. All five bills introduced by Lambert were defeated in House committees, including measures to make Colorado a right-to-work state and to prohibit labor unions from deducting fees from government employees' paychecks. During the legislative session, Lambert filed a formal ethics complaint against the Colorado Education Association, arguing that emails sent by the CEA lobbying in favor of a property tax freeze to bring in additional revenue for public schools included deceptive statements. The complaint was called "frivolous" by the CEA and was dismissed by the Colorado Legislative Council's executive committee on a vote that was boycotted by Republican leaders. For the session, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers gave Lambert its "Taxpayer Champion" award. Lambert, along with Rep. Douglas Bruce, was also noted for rarely supporting nonbinding resolutions in the legislature. 2008 legislative session In the 2008 session of the Colorado General Assembly, Lambert sat on the House Finance Committee, and the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. One piece of legislation he introduced created a specialty license plate commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. In April 2008, Lambert filed a campaign finance complaint against Gov. Bill Ritter, alleging that Ritter's 2006 campaign manager, Greg Kolomitz, improperly used inaugural committee funds to pay himself and pay off campaign debts. In