Two Democratic State Senators Lose Seats in Colorado Gun Control Recall
The movement to enact gun regulations that began in the wake of the tragic mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut suffered a symbolic setback Tuesday. Colorado State Senate President John Morse (D-CO) and State Senator Angela Giron (D-CO) were defeated in a special recall election that was spurred by that state’s enactment of a raft of gun regulations, including a 15-round limit on magazines and universal background checks. Morse’s defeat was very narrow, Giron’s less so:
Unofficial final results updated by the El Paso County Clerk at 10:02 p.m. showed 50.96 percent of voters in District 11 wanted Morse to be recalled.
“The highest rank in a democracy is citizen, not senate president,” he said at the conclusion of his concession speech, in which he promised to continue his work.
Giron, who was winning in the first preliminary data, has also lost. Unofficial results show 56 percent of voters in District 3 in favor of recalling her. As of 10:30 p.m., 34,556 votes had been counted.
Just under 18,000 people voted in Morse’s district, out of the 69,481 total voters registered in the district, which gun control advocates will argue makes this effort more an expression of an intense minority than a true bellwether of public opinion. Despite the low turnout and questions about the petition process, however, those two overturned seats will loom large to other legislators mulling tough votes on gun regulations.
Since Newtown, polls have consistently shown that voters are prepared to punish legislators who oppose measures like background checks, but with the push for federal regulations stalled since April, the Colorado recall will be held up as the electoral test case for risk-averse politicians to judge. The recall will also be seen as a loss for Mayors Against Illegal Guns and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who made a late donation of $350,000 to oppose the recall effort. The National Rifle Association contributed more than $360,000 to the recall effort.
Here is video of ABC-7’s call of the recall election, from Tuesday night:
[photo via screengrab]
