Second Anti-Gun Colorado Senator May Be Recalled

The Denver Post is reporting that more than 13,500 signatures have been submitted to the Colorado Secretary of State in an effort to force a recall of Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo). The number needed to trigger a recall election in her district is 11,285.

Giron joins State Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) as the second anti-gun Democrat for whom opponents have potentially gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall. The Secretary of State’s office must verify that there are enough valid signatures. After that, both Giron and Morse each have 15 days to challenge any signature. If there are still enough valid signatures remaining after the appeals, then an election date is set that is between 45 and 75 days afterwards.

Both Giron and Morse could resign in which case a “vacancy committee” would pick a successor to serve the remainder of their terms. The replacement would be a Democrat. However, both Giron and Morse have said they don’t plan to resign.

Political analyst Eric Sondermann says it’s hard for him to see Morse, or any Democrat for that matter, resigning when faced with a recall.


“If he resigns because he thinks he can’t win, then that says it’s likely in 2014 another Democrat isn’t going to win either,” Sondermann said.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports that Giron doesn’t regret her vote and doesn’t plan to resign.

A second Colorado Democrat who is facing possible recall over gun control says she wouldn’t change her votes and has no plans to resign.

Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo says she’ll fight for her seat and that most constituents support the measures she backed. Giron oversees the Senate committee that first approved a measure to require background checks on most private and online gun sales.

Giron’s district is heavily Democratic whereas Morse’s district is evenly split between Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliateds. 

UPDATE: The Colorado conservative blog, Colorado Peak Politics, is speculating that Senate President John Morse will resign rather than fight the recall battle. They point to comments made by Kjersten Forseth saying they are evaluating options. They liken Forseth as equivalent for Morse as Karl Rove was to Pres. George W. Bush. In other words, his chief political strategist and advisor. Forseth has a deep background in union and leftist politics in Colorado.