Twenty people have applied for the open Colorado Secretary of State position. The deadline for applicants was Monday.

The applicants range from A-listers like House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) and state Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) to party insiders like Republican attorney Scott Gessler and Colorado Democratic Party Executive Director Sherry Jackson.

An energy executive and a U.S. Geological Survey research scientist are also on the applicant list.

Other familiar names include 2004 5th Congressional District Democratic nominee Jay Fawcett and TV show host and 1990 Democratic Secretary of State nominee Aaron Harber.

A seven-member panel will now review the applications and present a list of finalists to Gov. Bill Ritter in early December.

The position opened up when current Secretary of State Mike Coffman was elected to Congress earlier this month.

• State Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction)
• Attorney John Clough from Littleton
• 2004 5th Congressional District Democratic nominee Jay Fawcett from Colorado Springs
• Attorney Scott Gessler from Denver
• Colorado Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon (D-Denver)
• 2008 state House District 6 Democratic candidate Josh Hanfling from Denver
• 1990 Democratic Secretary of State nominee and TV show host Aaron Harber from Lafayette
• Colorado Democratic Party Executive Director Sherry Jackson from Denver
• Public Integrity Project Executive Director Claudia Kuhns from Denver
• Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder Jessica Lovingier from Black Hawk
• 2000 and 2002 Democratic Secretary of State nominee Anthony Martinez from Conejos
• Art Institute of Colorado adjunct professor Cary McMinn from Fort Morgan 
• Information Services, Inc. vice president of operations Joseph Poche from Cherry Hills Village
• Colorado Secretary of State policy analyst Scott Primeau from Denver
• Federal Election Assistance Commission Chairwoman Rosemary Rodriguez from Denver
• Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver)
• Financial analyst Theresa Smith from Littleton
• U.S. Geological Survey research scientist James Tindall from Denver
• Denver Democratic Party Secretary Dan Willis from Denver
• Rancher Energy Corp. President/CEO John Works, Jr. from Denver

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated "U.S. Geological Survey" as "U.S. Geographical Survey" in the third paragraph of the story.