More vacancy committees

Two Democratic state senators from the Denver area, Jennifer Veiga and senate president Peter Groff, are apparently vacating their seats. Groff is taking a job with the Obama administration, and Veiga's moving to Australia.

Someone told me years ago that the real power in Colorado politics was sitting on a vacancy committee. Those folks literally get to hand pick members of the statehouse. I thought it sounded potentially powerful, but how often would one get to flex that muscle? Pretty often, it seems.