One Colorado legislative recall ends and another begins
Last month I brought you the story about efforts to recall a state legislator in Colorado. Due to her leaving office, that process ended but another recall effort against a different legislator is underway.
Colorado state Rep. Rochelle Galindo (D) resigned on May 12, saying in a statement to The Denver Post that it was due to false allegations against her. Her statement said, in part, “I will not put my constituents through what will surely be a recall campaign based on political smear tactics and false allegations.”
The Colorado Secretary of State’s office had approved a recall effort against Galindo on April 4. According to the website supporting the recall, Galindo was targeted because of her support of SB-181, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis (D) in April 2019. The bill is designed to give local governments more control over regulating the oil and gas industry and also mandates that the state emphasize safety over promoting oil and gas production. It passed the House by a 36-28 margin with all votes in favor from Democrats and all 24 Republicans joining with 4 Democrats in opposition.
Since 2011, 79 recall petitions have been filed against state lawmakers. Nine recalls were successful, nine were defeated at the ballot, 55 did not go to a vote, and six are still ongoing. Two Colorado state senators—Angela Giron (D) and John Morse (D)—were successfully recalled in 2013. The most recent recall of a state legislator was in 2018 when California state Sen. Josh Newman (D) was recalled. State legislators can be recalled in 18 states.
An effort to recall another Colorado legislator, state Rep. Tom Sullivan (D), was approved for circulation by the secretary of state’s office on May 13. Supporters have until July 12 to collect 10,035 signatures to force a recall election. According to recall supporters, the effort against Sullivan is due to his support or sponsorship of four specific bills, including legislation designed to temporarily remove guns from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others. That bill, which created Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) in Colorado, passed the House by a 38-25 margin with all votes in favor from Democrats and 23 Republicans joining with 2 Democrats in opposition. It was signed into law by Gov. Polis in April.
Sullivan was one of the primary sponsors of the ERPO legislation. His son was killed in the 2012 shootings at an Aurora movie theater. Sullivan was elected to the state House in 2018, defeating then-incumbent Cole Wist (R) in the general election with 54% of the vote. Wist, who held the seat for three years, co-sponsored an ERPO bill in 2018 and stated on Twitter that he did not support the effort to recall Sullivan.
Four other Democratic state lawmakers are being targeted for recall for their support of the legislation designed to give local governments more control over regulating the oil and gas industry. As of today, none of those recalls have been approved for circulation.
Colorado became a Democratic trifecta in 2019 after Democrats flipped the state Senate in the 2018 elections. Democrats control the state House by a 40-24 margin and the state Senate by a 19-16 margin. Gov. Polis succeeded John Hickenlooper (D) as governor in 2019.
|
