With two recall victories as trophies, Colorado gun rights activists have set their sights on another state lawmaker. This time they could win control of the state Senate.
The group called “Recall Hudak, too” wants to kick two-term Democratic State Sen. Evie Hudak out of office for supporting stricter gun control laws.
The protesters began rounding up signatures over the weekend and have until Dec. 3 to collect about 18,900 names in order to get the recall onto the ballot.
According to the Denver Post, the petition stated, “[Hudak] has infringed upon our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. She has voted to make all citizens less safe and to drive hundreds of jobs from Colorado.”
Last month, Democratic state senators Angela Giron and John Morse became the first lawmakers in Colorado history to be recalled. That shake-up left Democrats clinging to a one-seat majority, 18-17.
That could change if Hudak ultimately lost her seat, as Republicans would gain control of the Colorado state Senate.
However, the state’s top Republican isn’t embracing this recall effort. Colorado GOP Party Chairman Ryan Call said these tactics would only “undermine” other races in the upcoming 2014 elections, a distraction from the real issues.
“The job of the Republican Party is to get Republicans elected when there are regular elections,” Call told a local reporter. “This recall election would undermine our efforts in the governor’s race, the U.S. Senate race and to win a Senate majority if voters perceive that Republicans are trying to win a majority through recalls.”
David Sirota, a Colorado-based columnist, argued this persistence from conservative groups comes down to an unwillingness to accept they lost the election.
“It’s basically the right-wing of the Republican Party not willing to accept the will of voters in elections. Recall after recall after recall, until they get their way,” he told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio said these individuals are part “the same group of ideologues that currently has our government shut down.”
Home to the shooting massacres at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the Aurora movie theater in 2012, Colorado still remains a gun-friendly state.
Sarah Muller