Brittany Pettersen recall, Colorado State Senate (2019)
| Colorado State Senate recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2019 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws State legislative recalls Recall reports |
Two efforts to recall Brittany Pettersen, a member of the Democratic Party, from her elected position representing District 22 in the Colorado State Senate were launched in July 2019. The first recall petition was approved for circulation on July 12, 2019, and was withdrawn by petitioners three-days later.[1][2] The second recall petition was approved for circulation on July 18. Supporters had until September 16, 2019, to collect 18,376 signatures to force a recall election.[3]
On September 10, 2019, supporters of the recall told the Colorado Secretary of State’s office that they were ending the recall effort.[4]
Recall supporters criticized Pettersen because she supported legislation related to firearms, oil and gas, the national popular vote, and sex education during the 2019 legislative session. All four bills were signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis (D) in 2019. After the first recall was announced, Sen. Pettersen issued a statement in response.
To read more on the recall efforts against the Colorado governor and other state legislative members in 2019, click here.
Pettersen was elected to the state Senate in 2018 with 58.2% of the vote. Prior to the 2018 election, Andrew Kerr (D) represented District 22 from 2013 to 2019.
Recall supporters
First recall effort (approved for circulation; ended)
The recall petitioners started the first effort in response to Pettersen's support of five bills. The petition listed the following legislation as the reasons for recall:
| “ |
Senator Brittany Pettersen, representing Senate District 22, should be recalled because she advocates for taxpayer-funded heroin injection sites, and because she voted for the passage of:
|
” |
| —Sen. Pettersen Recall Statement of Grounds[6] | ||
Second recall effort (approved for circulation; ended)
The recall petitioners began the second effort in response to Pettersen's support of four bills. Nancy Pallozzi was listed as the main proponent of the recall effort. She ran against Pettersen in the 2016 election for District 28 in the state House of Representatives and lost by 20 points. Pallozzi reintroduced the recall effort after the first one was withdrawn due to an error in the recall statement.[7]
According to The Gazette, the recall was supported by the same group backing the recalls against Gov. Polis and state Sen. Pete Lee (D).[8] The petition listed the following legislation as the reasons for recall:
| “ |
Senator Brittany Pettersen, representing Senate District 22, should be recalled because she advocates for taxpayer-funded heroin injection sites and she voted for the passage of:
|
” |
| —Sen. Pettersen Recall Statement of Grounds[9] | ||
Recall opponents
After the first recall was announced against Sen. Pettersen, she said: "...extremists are trying to overturn the will of the voters by launching a misguided and unjustified recall against me. I ran and won the last election campaigning on the issues I championed [in the] last legislative session. I am proud of my record working on behalf of our community, and I firmly believe that voters will see through this cynical ploy."[8]
After the recall effort ended, Pettersen made the following statement: "I knew my constituents wouldn’t fall for this scam, and I’ll continue to fight for them every day."[4]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
First, a recall petition must be filed with the office in which nomination petitions are filed for the office that is being recalled. Generally, this office is the Colorado Secretary of State. The petition must include a statement of no less than 200 words explaining the ground on which the official is to be recalled. This regulation is for the benefit of citizens who will sign the petition.
After the petition is approved by the Secretary of State, circulation of the petition may begin. Petitioners have 60 days to gather the proper number of signatures. The number of valid signatures required to force a special recall election is 25% of the votes cast in the last election for the official being recalled. After the proper number of signatures have been gathered the petition is submitted to the office in which it was filed to be deemed sufficient. This entails verifying the signatures. Once the petition has been deemed sufficient, the office in which it was filed will deliver the petition along with a certificate of its sufficiency to the governor who will then set a date for the recall election.
The recall petition targeting Pettersen was approved for circulation by the secretary of state on July 18, 2019. Supporters of the recall needed to collect 18,376 signatures by September 16, 2019, to force a recall election. Supporters announced on September 10 that they would not be submitting any signatures to the secretary of state's office for the recall.[4]
Election history
2018
- See also: Colorado State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Colorado State Senate District 22
Brittany Pettersen defeated Tony Sanchez in the general election for Colorado State Senate District 22 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brittany Pettersen (D) | 58.2 | 42,747 |
 | Tony Sanchez (R) | 41.8 | 30,754 | |
| Total votes: 73,501 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Colorado State Senate District 22
Brittany Pettersen advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado State Senate District 22 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brittany Pettersen | 100.0 | 16,066 |
| Total votes: 16,066 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Colorado State Senate District 22
Tony Sanchez advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado State Senate District 22 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tony Sanchez | 100.0 | 11,440 |
| Total votes: 11,440 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Colorado state legislative and state executive recalls in 2019
The table below highlighted each recall effort in Colorado targeting state executive and state legislative members in 2019.
| 2019 Colorado state legislative and state executive recalls | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Office | Party | Status | Signature deadline | Reached the ballot | Recalled |
| Jared Polis | Governor | Democratic | Official; ended | September 6, 2019 |  |
- |
| Pete Lee | Senate District 11 | Democratic | Official; ended | September 10, 2019 | |
- |
| Brittany Pettersen | Senate District 22 | Democratic | Official; ended | September 16, 2019 | |
- |
| Leroy Garcia | Senate District 3 | Democratic | Official; ended | October 18, 2019 | |
- |
| Rochelle Galindo | House District 50 | Democratic | Official; ended | June 3, 2019 | |
- |
| Tom Sullivan | House District 37 | Democratic | Official; ended | July 12, 2019 | |
- |
| Bri Buentello | House District 47 | Democratic | Unofficial; ended | - | |
- |
| Jeff Bridges | Senate District 26 | Democratic | Unofficial; ended | - | |
- |
| Meg Froelich | House District 3 | Democratic | Unofficial; ended | - | |
- |
Historical state legislative recalls
Ballotpedia tracked 124 recall efforts against 120 state lawmakers from 1913 to 2018. During that time, 39 recalls made the ballot and 22 state legislators were successfully recalled.[10]
Michigan led the way with 35 state legislative recall efforts from 1913 to 2018. Of those 35 recall efforts, three were successful. Wisconsin followed with 30 state legislative recall efforts. Six of those recalls were successful.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Recall Petitions," accessed July 15, 2019
- ↑ Colorado Pols, "Pettersen Recall Gets Recalled After 3 Days," accessed July 15, 2019
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Recall Petitions," accessed July 18, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Colorado Sun, "Attempted recall of Democratic state senators fail after proponents decide not to turn in signatures," September 10, 2019
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Sen. Brittany Pettersen Recall," accessed July 15, 2019
- ↑ Montrose Press, "Recently approved recall petition against Colorado Sen. Pettersen withdrawn," July 17, 2019
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Gazette, "Republican targets Democratic Colorado Springs state Sen. Pete Lee for recall," July 12, 2019
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Sen. Brittany Pettersen Recall," accessed July 18, 2019
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of State Officials," accessed August 13, 2021
