September 06, 2013 11:00 AM UTC

Greg Brophy Nimbly Dances Around Obvious Secession Questions

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Grand Junction Sentinel's Charles Ashby reports:

[I]f some people in several of the counties in his expansive northeast Colorado Senate district have their way, the Wray Republican who’s seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper soon could live in another state.

The state of North Colorado.

Brophy, who’s in town to attend this weekend’s Club 20 fall meeting, said that while he encouraged commissioners in numerous counties in his district to place a 51st state initiative on their November ballots, he isn’t necessarily in favor of the idea…

“I encouraged my county commissioners to move forward with this to catch the governor’s attention and the state Legislature’s attention,” Brophy said. “I think that most of the counties will vote to secede, but it won’t pass through the state Legislature.”

If such a vote passed, though, Brophy said he would be obligated to introduce a measure into the Legislature if his constituents demanded it of him, even though he’s not sure how he would vote on it.

​Sen. Greg Brophy's (albeit wholly realistic) lack of confidence in the ultimate success of the movement to split a number of rural Colorado counties, including Brophy's own Yuma County, into the separate state of North Colorado, could upset secession's proponents. If somebody "encouraged" you to do something, but then told a newspaper on the other side of the state that you're not "necessarily in favor" of it, wouldn't you find that a little two-faced?

With that said, it makes an obvious kind of sense that Brophy would keep his options open on how to vote on legislation to allow these counties to secede even if he was its sponsor–after all, he needs to preserve his status as a serious contender for governor of, you know, the rest of Colorado. We've been wondering how Brophy intended to juggle these competing interests.

And the answer is, as delicately as he can.