by Following the successful recall efforts against Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo), a renewed effort has started to recall Sen. Evie Hudak (D-Arvada). An earlier effort started soon after she voted for gun control fizzled out for lack of signatures.
The new effort is called Recall Evie, Too. Backers have 60 days to gather 18,900 valid signatures. Recall Evie, Too was certified by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Friday which started the clock.
Hudak, you may remember, achieved notoriety for her dismissive comments to rape survivor Amanda Collins who was testifying in favor of concealed carry on campus. Hudak told her that statistics were not on her side and that if Ms. Collins had a firearm it probably would have been used against her. You can see Hudak giving her lecture starting at about the 2:30 point in the video below.
With the Democrats holding a one vote majority in the Colorado State Senate, Hudak’s recall would shift the balance of power to the Republicans. Despite this, GOP State Chairman Ryan Call is against this recall effort saying it undermines their efforts for 2014. It should be remembered that neither the GOP nor major gun groups initially supported the successful recall efforts against Morse and Giron. They were grassroots efforts from the get-go.
Despite the much higher signature requirement for this district, if backers do get enough signatures they stand an even better chance of ousting Hudak according to the Washington Post.
But if recall organizers can collect enough signatures in Hudak’s district, they will have a strong chance of showing her the door. Despite outspending recall proponents by wide margins, and despite influxes of campaign cash from gun control advocates such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Morse and Giron both lost their bids to keep their seats.
And Hudak’s district is more conservative than either Morse’s or Giron’s. Hudak’s suburban Denver district gave President Obama 52 percent of the vote in 2012, according to a breakdown compiled by the liberal Daily Kos blog. Obama scored nearly 60 percent of the vote in the other two seats. Hudak won reelection over Republican Lang Sias by fewer than 600 votes of 80,000 cast in 2012, while a Libertarian Party candidate took more than 5,000 votes.
I will be keeping an eye on their efforts over the next two months. If you want to volunteer to help recall Hudak, you can get more information here as well as directions to the group’s office in Arvada.