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October 23, 2013 10:29 AM UTC

Kennedy Enterprises On The Ground In Hudak Recall

  • 31 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Readers remind us of Twila Sue Peach, a two-years deceased voter who "signed" a Kennedy Enterprises petition, and other related allegations made during the recall of John Morse this past summer:

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petitions

The Denver Post's Kurtis Lee buries the lede yet again–paragraph fifteen of today's story on the "grassroots" recall attempt underway against Sen. Evie Hudak of Arvada, which if successful would flip the Colorado Senate to Republicans:

[Recall organizer Mike] McAlpine said through small donations they are now paying only "two young" volunteers and hopes to gather 25,000 signatures.

But sources close to the recalls confirmed Tuesday that McAlpine is using Colorado Springs-based Kennedy Enterprises, [Pols emphasis] the firm that paid volunteers to gather signatures in the Morse recall. Kennedy has in the past received flak for not requiring background checks of employees.

Petition-gathering company Kennedy Enterprises is generally known for two things: a reputed 100% success rate in getting questions on the ballot via paid-per-signature petition drives, and controversy over the hiring of unscreened paid petition gatherers who potentially pose a risk to signers who give them their personal information. This isn't just a scare tactic from recall opponents: in 2008, Kennedy Enterprises conducted the petition drive for Amendment 47, that year's "right-to-work" anti-union ballot initiative. During that petition campaign, 9NEWS "found signature gatherers convicted of sexual assault on a child, theft, harassment, trespassing and drug possession" working for Kennedy Enterprises.

Kennedy Enterprises' lucrative pay scale for signatures, despite a nasty expose on KOAA-TV about the company's record, was instrumental in getting the recall of John Morse on the ballot in Senate District 11. Given the considerably higher number of signatures needed to initiate a recall election in Senate District 19, what we're talking about here could be the professional edge this "grassroots" recall effort needs to avoid embarrassment in early December. The fact is, given the constitutional loophole that prevents the delivery of mail ballots only in recall elections, and all the other attendant advantages of picking off swing legislators one by one in oddly-timed special elections, there's no reason to believe that this is going to stop. With a bankrolled effort to recall Sen. Hudak, we are now fully engulfed in an endless recall-driven free-for-all.

That is until, despite all the circumstantial leverage, they lose.

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31 thoughts on “Kennedy Enterprises On The Ground In Hudak Recall”

  1. One important thing you failed to note is how very many fallible signatures Kennedy Enterprises submits.  On the Colorado Springs petitions were signatures of people that in now way resembled their personal signatures, signature of a person who moved from the state 2 years ago, and the signature of a woman who died several years ago.  Clearly, someone was taking a phone book or voter list and entering ficticious data.  Why has no one has been prosecuted for this fraud ?

  2. These fascist bastards have got to be STOPPED. This is pure evil, as are those who aid and abet this corrupt hijacking of democracy.

    Just imagine the rabid howls of indignation from the Baggers if CO Dems were attempting such a naked power grab.

  3. The way for them to be stopped is by doing additional work to get these signatures thrown out.  The protesting is good.  But, there needs to be more.  Build your case against the signatures.  Get pictures of people signing.  Who is watching the signature?  Is it a man or a woman.  Who signs the petition as the circulator when it goes to the SOS?    Focus not only on those who sign, but those who circulate.   And the notaries?   is the campaign prepared to check all these people out?  It's a whole lot easier to throw out a whole petition than it is to do individual signers.  You need to be prepared to challenge this stuff.

  4. I thought liberals were generally for greater inclusion of people who had already paid their debt to society.  Guess that is true so long as the same are not helping out the GOP or conservative causes.  Good to know. 

    1. I see now why everyone around here is so dismissive of and exasperated by your inane, drivel-laden, totally-missed-the-point-or-rather-chose-not-to-see-it posts. Add me to the list.

      1. So you agree with the idea that we should further marginalize people who have paid their debt to society?  We aren't talking abotu working in an elementary school here; we are talking of gather petition signature in public and generally in crowded places during daylight hours.

        2. We're talking about serious allegations of a large volume of illegitimate signatures influencing a recall effort. Please note, before issuing any of your criticisms about holding Dems and Rs to different standards or looking for excuses or not facing the reality of real public outrage, that I said "allegations". Those would be something to be explored further prior to reaching any definitive conclusion, OK?

          Obviously that isn't something you care to address. Surprise, surprise. If that issue ever comes up with a Dem initiated recall effort I'm betting your attitude will be quite different and you will be all too happy to address it. You're so-o-o-o predictable.

          1. If the concern had just been a purportedly "large" volume of illegitimate signatures, the OP should have stuck to just that instead of seeking to marginalize the signature gatherers by other means – means that included advocating for the further exclusion of people who have paid their debt to society.  

            Given that the OP purposefully went into such active and intentional marginalization, calling it out is fair game. 

            1. And if Dems were using signature collectors who were known sexual assaulters of children and one of your rightie sites included that info you would be making the same arguments and would be just as keen on defending the Dem hired child rapist who had paid his or her debt to society.  Yes I can just picture that. So predictable.

              1. I think I commented on this site that I thought the GOP attacks demanding Jessica's Law be implemented were stupid.  It was a way back, so I might be mixing things up. 

    2. Liberals do not extend the generosity they expect for themselves to others, especially those who don't agree with them. If you run afoul of liberals, you are not entitled to due process, the benefit of the doubt, or even the presumption of innocence. I've never understood it either.

      1. Convicted felons have already enjoyed presumed innocence and were found guilty.  Presumed innocence is not the issue after guilt has been established via due process. There is no violation of rights involved here as no one has the right to demand any particular job. Again, not an issue. 

        The primary concern here is invalid signatures and an outfit that has a lousy rep in terms of accuracy, So WTF are talking about?  We should be nicer to child rapists, a class of criminal that rarely can be trusted not to re-offend? Yeah, put that on your next candidate's bumper sicker, why don't you?

  5. I love how "allegations" matter to Progressives only when leveled against those they disagree with.

    Allegations are most often (admitedly not always) dismissed by them when leveled against them.

     

      1. The deal is that, as in the Morse and Giron recalls, the organizers of this recall are denying that they are receiving massive in kind donations to pay signature gatherers. At the same time, they never let up on accusing those protesting the recall of being paid "union thugs". 

         

          2. It is not illegal to pay petition gatherers, unless they are paid to register voters at the same time.

            My objection is to the blatant hypocrisy- the promoted meme, even by NB3 on this board, that paid "union thugs" are influencing elections, and that the brave upstanding "defenders of the second amendment" are somehow being victimized by these "thugs".

            Here's where the hypocrisy comes in:

            While the "paid union thugs" meme is being vigorously promoted on right-wing blogs and radio and TV programs,  and by posters such as our NB3 on this site,  Laura Carno or Free Colorado, or the Senate Majority Fund, or any number of other front groups for the Republican party,  are paying thousands of dollars in in-kind donations to Kennedy Enterprises or their ilk to gather signatures for recalls, canvass neighborhoods, all with an end goal of political expansion for the GOP.

            If you look at the recallhudaktoo site, or you check out the callers on Boyle's show, you'll see many, many examples of this thinking. Commenters on the Hudak FB page are advocating shooting the Hudak supporter who stood next to a car. 

            They are calling Senator Hudak every ugly slur possible. Why? Political disagreement, nothing more.

            I know that you know exactly what Im talking about. They post on your FB too.  The paid propagandists and the money bundlers work hand in hand, and they do a damn good job of deceiving people into worrying that their guns are going to be taken away.

  8. Looks like Kennedy has taken over signature collection @104th and Wadsworth – today's signature gatherers have more professional signs, and they also have "Sign Here" generic chartreuse vests, good for multiple signature-gathering campaigns.

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