UPDATE #4:Jefferson County Democrats are fortunate to have a very deep bench of qualified successors to Sen. Evie Hudak, and after the holiday weekend, the selection process for the next Democratic Senator representing Senate District 19 will be off and running. The three names coming up in discussion today, though there may certainly be others, are former Rep. Sara Gagliardi, Arvada City Councilwoman and former Hudak campaign manager Rachel Zenzinger, as well as incumbent Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharpe, who presently holds the partly overlapping House District 29 seat. The Colorado Statesman'sPeter Marcus is already following up those possibilities:
The names that pop up are former Rep. Sara Gagliardi, who was defeated in 2010 by Republican Libby Szabo of Arvada; Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp of Arvada; and Arvada City Councilwoman Rachel Zenzinger, Hudak’s former campaign manager and a close friend.
All three women have confirmed to The Statesman that they are at least considering pursuing the opportunity.
“I’m considering; I’m thinking about it; I’m weighing my options,” said Kraft-Tharp. “I’m looking at what’s best for the district…
Gagliardi was less forthcoming, saying only that she is considering the possibility.
“I’m just now adjusting to the idea that Evie had to step down because all of us in Senate District 19 in Arvada and in Westminster were working hard to keep her in office,” said Gagliardi. “We feel that she is the best one to represent us… I’m talking to my family about my decision.”
Zenzinger, who had already been considering running for the seat when Hudak would have been term limited in 2016, said she now must consider an earlier approach.
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Image via Twitter
UPDATE #3: From Kerrie Dallman, President of the Colorado Education Association:
While the events leading up to her resignation were not related to public education, our members and families across Colorado know her years of support for schools and students are her crowning achievements and her lasting legacy…
CEA warmly thanks Evie for her years of steadfast support for public education and public education employees. We will miss her passion and her commitment toward making Colorado a national leader in public education and giving every child the opportunity to grow and thrive. Colorado is a better place because of Evie’s selfless service.
And from LGBT advocacy group One Colorado:
From day one, Senator Evie Hudak has been a tireless advocate for all Coloradans – including thousands of loving, committed couples across our state who now have the protections they need to take care of each other and their families. From her steadfast support of civil unions to her leadership in making our schools safer for LGBT youth, Senator Hudak has always stood up for our community as a proud champion for equality. While her incredible dedication will be missed in the Senate, today’s courageous decision ensures that her constituents won’t have to see hundreds of thousands of tax dollars wasted on an unnecessary recall election. With appreciation and enormous gratitude, we look forward to Senator Hudak’s continued work to advance fairness and equality for Colorado families in every corner of our state.
AnnMarie Jensen, a lobbyist for organizations representing domestic violence victims:
I've worked to represent domestic violence survivors and families, among the most vulnerable in our society, for years, and Evie has always been their champion. Domestic abuse victims needed someone to given them a voice and Evie was always there. This is a courageous decision by Evie, a woman who supported the DV community when they needed it most, even in the face of personal threats. Her strength will be missed and and her values will always be needed for Coloradans.
Colorado AFL-CIO President Cindy Kirby:
Senator Hudak never stopped fighting for Colorado working families and the more than 12,000 AFL-CIO household voters in her district. As my state senator, I thank her deeply for her service to our members and her constituents. Her resignation saves her constituents from the ordeal of an unnecessary, nasty recall campaign. Additionally, Evie's selfless act saves her constituents hundreds of thousands of tax dollars that would have been wasted on this recall election. This resignation is just one of many examples of Evie putting her constituent'sinterests before her own. We look forward to continuing to work with Evie in our community to improve the lives of working people. I’m deeply saddened at how these recalls have broken the democratic process.
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UPDATE #2: From Karen Middleton, former legislator and executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado:
This is an incredibly courageous decision by a legislator who has always stood for mainstream Colorado values and voters when it comes to reproductive rights. Evie Hudak has been a champion for what we as Coloradans believe and fighting for Colorado women and families. Her values represent the people of her district and the people of Colorado and we need more like her, not extremists, moving Colorado forward and protecting the values we share.
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UPDATE: We've just received Senator Evie Hudak's resignation letter; read it here.
By resigning, I am protecting these important new laws for the good of Colorado and ensure we can continue looking forward.
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FOX 31's Eli Stokolsbreaks huge news on the day before Thanksgiving:
State Sen. Evie Hudak has decided to resign rather than risk facing a recall election that, should she lose, would flip control of the senate to Republicans, FOX31 Denver is first to report Wednesday.
Hudak is expected to make the official announcement with a press release sometime Wednesday morning.
Hudak, D-Westminster, could have been the third Democratic lawmaker to face a recall over a package of gun control bills they helped pass earlier this year…
By resigning before the signatures are turned in, she assures that a Democratic vacancy committee will appoint her replacement, keeping the seat — and the senate — in the party’s hands, at least through November, when her successor will be forced to win reelection.
We'll update with statements, reactions, and analysis of this move shortly. The possibility that Senator Evie Hudak might resign, and thwart a recall election against her was always there, and this move gives Democrats the best strategic position to hold the seat–and the Democratic Senate majority–in 2014. For Sen. Hudak personally, we can only imagine the difficulty of this decision, but it's a selfless act to save her caucus majority. Sen. Hudak's long and faithful service to causes like education and women's rights make it quite likely she will find a new home on Colorado's political scene without difficulty.
Perhaps the best defense of Hudak's decision to resign is the way the recall process has broken down into a political free-for-all, with the odds tilted against incumbents due to the odd dates and (more importantly) the suppression of mail ballots via court action. Democrats and many Republicans (here's looking at you, Ryan Call) agree that lurching from recall to recall is no way to run a functioning democracy. The constitutional provisions that make mail ballots effectively impossible date back to 1912, and only affect recalls. Everything we've heard indicates that Democrats are fully prepared to begin retaliating against vulnerable Republicans with recall campaigns of their own. Unless both sides want to trade in the way we've always elected our representatives for a war of mutually assured electoral destruction, it's time to either make recalls fair, or restrict their application in Colorado to situations that truly merit one.
Completely agree. Nothing could have let the air out of the perpetual recall machine more effectively than this maneuver and I'm all for it. It won't be as easy for the right to win regular elections as it has proven to be to force and win off off year recall elections.
That too. On car radio caught end of someone from the recall effort complaining that Hudak should have stood up and faced the recall election. Boohoo. Guess they didn't think through what might happen if they kept pulling this stunt. Apparently they were confident Dems were above the kind of tactics they employ. Even they took it for granted Dems would be purer than themselves. They may still take over a chamber in 2014 but it will have to be the hard way. They will get zero more seats switched by recall. Their new favorite toy is broken beyond repair. Call the Waambulance.
bye bye petey and his "gang"…will Mikey be going back to Boulder?
I turned off boyles before the press release came out and they were discussing the above….Darn! I missed his reaction to this Wednesday's press release….although there is smoke coming out of the radio….
That's delusional. But if they want to keep spending their money paying Kennedy, I'm not going to stop them.
The Democratic Party has a deep bench in Colorado; if Republicans keep trying this tactic, Democrats should continue to do as Hudak did – hold out for as long as they feel they can, letting the GOP spend cash, then pull the rug out by resigning and letting some other strong replacement move in. We'll lose a lot of strong and valuable representatives that way, but we have as many as we need to make Republicans look like fools…
“In the interest of preserving the progress made over the last year, I am resigning as State Senator for District 19, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Hudak wrote. {Emphasis added}.
So, the rumors were indeed true. Thank you for doing the right thing Evie. I know it's hard, but you put your party before yourself and that takes guts and courage. This isn't over yet. Keeping the majority out of the hand of the wing nuts is more important than any one senator. The gun nuts and their recall will all be for nothing as the democrats will stil control the senate and that is all that matters. We all know the wing nuts did this recall for control of the senate and that looks like it's certainly not going to be the case. 😉
They will now need to completely drop the pretense that this was anything other than a move to get the Senate in R control. This hasn't been about gun legislation for a long time…if it ever really was.
And it sure as hell wasn't about the senator herself.
And the Republicans have blown their wad, creds, etc.
And more defeats to the Republicans representatives and Senators forthcoming in the followng November, just a bit over 330 days away.
All legally.
What's more – the recall provision for the mail ballots WILL be fixed and further recall efforts will be nullified with a simple change of the recall law to be used for its true purposes: Not for issues.
So, yes, Hudak did the right thing by preserving the Democratic majority, and making Republicans burn their dollars is just the topping of it. Now the voters who wanted the recall now have to sulk around and decide that the gun laws arent so bad after all and the Democrats are trying to do their jobs, not because of one fucking issue.
Gun nuts can go bite me, and then go fucking move to Wyoming – no gun control laws there.
NO. We need to change the laws….constitutional amendments for the ballots next year……making sure that mail-in ballots can be used for recall elections.
I don't know if the recall provisions can be changed by law, and not constitutional action. Either way, legislation must be passed to begin to change the circumstances that allows recalls.
It's all embedded in the constitution. But it is definitely worth the effort. The legislature should be the one to initiate the mail ballot change, but changes to the recall requirements need to come from outside in order to avoid the 'entrenched politician' look.
A constitutional amendment permitting mail-in ballots probably wouldn't hurt; however, what is crucial is restricting the grounds for a recall: the opposing side shouldn't be able to recall someone because they disagree with their votes.
I agree that restricting grounds for a recall to be actual criminality would put an end to much of this nonsense – but that has to be a constitutional amendment as well, I believe.
It could probably be done by statute, but the Dem legislators would have to pull a page out of the old GOP playbook and slap a "safety clause" on it or the crybabies would surely drag it to a referendum vote.
There's already discussion of a recall underway – Sen. Marble (R-Wingnut) is subject of the new recall efforts, identifying her as the worst Senator ever to breathe air in the Legislature.
I agree because what happens if the pro-recall people didn't have the number of signatures? Hudak would have done this all for nothing. She could have resign immediately after they found out the pro-recall people had enough signatures
Agree, OrangeFree. Puzzling from her personal perspective to resign now rather than only if sufficient signatures were certified. It doesn't make sense to me.
And based on their efforts, I doubt they will even reach the 70% of the needed threshold after all the fake and repeating signatures are thrown out.
But knowing Ethically Challenged Gessler, he'll approve anything that Republicans slap on front of his desk and reject anything Dems slap on his desk (and forced to accept it after a court hearing or two)
Any idea whether turning the signatures in for verification would signal the start of the election? I’m sure there would be a lawsuit if enough signatures were verified contesting that the voters’ will is to have an fresh election whether the incumbent is available or not.
Hudak’s resignation now sure heads off a great deal of legal uncertainty.
I read someplace and can't remember where, that if the necessary signatures were verified/certified, theoretically, Hudak would have had six days to resign. But, there was some concern that if she were still in office when the signatures were certified, that a legal challenge might be successful and she would be considered recalled and could not resign within the six day window.
Dwyer, C.R.S. 1-12-Part 1. It reads real clear. She would have had not only 5 days after the protest period over the signatures (which would trigger setting the election) but even after the election was set she would have up to the end of the period for gathering signatures for the replacement candidates to resign, which would cancel the election. The law is quite clear.
That doesn't mean, however, that the recall nuts wouldn't file lawsuits–I would bet they would and try to get lucky. I just don't see how they could win. But it is probably wise to not go there at all–have it done with now so there is no lawsuit to overcome.
According to this article she would have had 10 days to stop a recall election by resigning. But no matter the number of days, you can be pretty sure that it must have been obvious to her camp and the party that the recall proponents would manage to get enough signatures accepted. By resigning now, she is not resigning as a direct result of a sufficient number of signatures. It's a subtle difference but a difference. It's not exactly I quit because the recall effort was successful in gathering enough acceptable signatures and I probably would have lost. It can be more like I quit to avoid putting our legislative gains for the people of Colorado at risk.
I don't think Hudak deserved to be recalled and am willing to believe all the wonderful things her supporters say about her but, by the way, her treatment of that rape victim was both insensitive and stupid. Especially since the legislation does not take away the right to use a gun in self defense in the first place.
She really did give the gun nuts something to make hay out of for no good reason. She could just as easily have assured the victim that she sympathized with her deeply for what she had been through and that there was nothing in the legislation that would prevent having and using a gun for self defense. Reading the exchange it's pretty hard not to ask yourself what the hell Hudak was thinking at the time.
The whole thing is very unfortunate but it has ended without Dems giving up the majority and apparently insiders could see that was the best that could be done at this point. It also demonstrates that the Dems have a quick and easy method for preventing recall to be used to take over the state senate.
Step back … take a big picture gander at what has just happened.
The gun radicals have huffed-and-puffed and stewed and steamed — to what end?
Democrats still control the Colorado state senate; there will be no change to any of the new gun safety laws (there wouldn't have been anyway); thevoters have seen just how radical these gun radicals are and just how far they will bully and scheme to get what they want; and term-limited Hudak is now a heroicpolitical martyr to Democrats, liberals, progressives and moderates (i.e., the majority of voters in this state).
Frankly, the recall radicals look pretty silly today.
Alas in the end it all boils down to this (apologies to the bard): "It was a recall run by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Because they are exceptionally slow of wit.I suppose it will take a while for the Rupublicans to realize that whoever is appointed to Evie's seat, (assumng they can hold it next November) can run for a full two terms.They blew their chance to take the seat in a regular election. Smoth move, dimwits.
I want Evie Hudak to start thinking about 2016 and the opportunity to primary Senator "Useless" Bennet. I think she will be a fine Senator to represent the state of Colorado.
Running for election takes a huge amount of fortitude. Serving in office takes even more and your skin thickens with time. But the recall surely took it's toll. And the thought of risking everything that she had worked for for so long and so hard finally tipped it.
Sincere thanks to Evie and everyone else in the legislature (and the public) who supported this round of sensible gun control, election reform, etc ….
This is not a defeat but an incentive for keeping Colorado blue.
Sorry, I think this was a terrible idea. I believe that it just emboldens the nuts. Until we beat them at the ballot box, they will keep coming back. It's time to prove we can push back. I want to thank Sen. Hudak for having the nerve to challenge these guys during the petition gathering process. It's a first step. Unless anyone here can tell me that there was reputable polling that showed her going down to a huge defeat, I just don't agree at all with this decision.
With that said, the bench is deep. Tracey Kraft-Tharp would be my choice. But, I guess we'll see soon.
I don't know all the reasons she made this decision, so I won't go so far as to say I think it was a terrible idea. But I do think it emboldens the crazies. If they have enough signatures, they get a recall. If they don't but get close, they now figure they just have to push a rep to resign.
But … if they were close to getting enough signatures, waiting until they had enough signatures might not have worked to ensure her replacement would be a Dem. The recall proponents might have been successful in arguing that an election would still be necessary. Haven't researched it, but there seems a qualitative difference based on the timing.
Any further recalls of state senate Democrats is futile and this resignation proves it. Recall efforts after the next general assembly session ends are pointless.
Upon further reflection it becomes more apparent to me that the recall advocates were not very smart and simply did not do their research.
First, did they really think that the Democratic Party would let their senate majority be taken away?
Second, as someone who has known Evie Hudak and lived in this district for 20 years, there was no way she was ever going to let any harm come to the Democratic Party; indeed, my biggest complaint about her is that she is loyal to a fault to the Party.
So, especially in this particular case, this outcome isn't that big of a surprise and ultimately it will be understood by the gun radicals that this tactic was destined from the beginning to fail.
Given the current political layout, I think it not unlikely that the recall folks could have gotten a ruling saying that once they submitted the signatures, the recall couldn't be stopped by a resignation/replacement process.
And it's hard to challenge petition signatures. If the signature gatherers were close – and it sounds like they've been going all out in the past couple of weeks to make the quota – there's a decent chance they could have made it past the initial vetting process. Once past the initial review, the burden is on the recall target to prove that additional signatures are invalid – and usually that's done on a per-signature challenge, which is hard.
Sorry, I disagree. Petition signatures are easy to challenge and it can be done effectively. You just have to know how. The Hudak campaign showed the beginnings of a very sophisticated anti-petition campaign and given the anecdotal information coming out, seems like a challenge would have been simpler. Especially since they are keeping track of what the gatherers are doing.
And, we won't really know how many valid signatures they obtained, particularly given the reporting about fraudulent signatures garnered by paid solicitors. Now, we'll get a press release stating they got some crazy number of signatures without any validation.
By resigning before the 1st, Evie assured Democratic control of the Senate, no questions asked. I'm with you, I don't for a minute believe there are more than 7500-8000 valid sig's, but……………….the recall professionals kept the numbers close to the vest. Maybe, maybe not, but by resigning, Evie gives SD19 Committee people the steering wheel. One of 3 very competent people will be voted into the vacancy, which will be filled untill the November '14 election.
It's heartbreaking to see a great Senator go out this way, victim of scurrilous self serving thugs, opportunists, and hayseeds that don't even know what they're setting thier hair on fire for, but politics is a brutal, unforgiving "sport".The best way to kneecap this bullshit teabag fueled gun goon temper tantrum was to show these assholes that all thier canvassing, thier long days making dipshits out of thier sorry selves on the streets, thier hate filled diatribes, thier nonsensical anti-American face book posts on "recallhudaktoo", thier filthy, trash mouthed heckling even at Evie's resignation this morning, and thier "monetary donations" to the very people…..kennedy enterprises……that were laughing at them while getting healthy off them, went for absolutely nothing.
Democratic control of the Colorado Senate through next November at least…………that's what you idiots reaped.
Fucking morons. The gun goon demographic at it's pathetic finest.
Completely disagree. This renders recall moot. Why put all the time and money and trouble into mounting a recall effort when Dems can pull the plug at will. Besides. With our term limiting nobody gets to stay all that long anyway. I doubt they'll want to keep mounting recalls if all they'll get is one replacement Dem after another.
I'll bet you dinner at your favorite restaurant that you are wrong. They'll start working on newer legislators who won't want to resign so easily. And they'll continue to work in the many balanced districts which were created after the 2010 census. It's easy for them and doesn't cost much money, even if they have to pay $3 per signature. $50,000 for a recall is pocket change for these folks.
They can only work on legislators they have a good chance of recalling. They've already had the experience of failing to get enough sigs and yes I know Hudak was one of those, so they are already deep into the ones they considered doable. I mean why not go after four or five this last time? Because Hudak was the remaining one they thought they could knock off. Time will tell which of us is right and which of us is wrong. Happy Thanksgiving.
Isn't this one of those becareful what you wish for scenarios Craig. Hudak is gone but a possibly more progressive politician takes her place kind of like getting rid of Ritter and getting Hickenlooper. This was a go for broke gamble by Republicans to take immediate control of the Senate and it will be for naught. Hudak flipped them the bird and is going to do something else with her life like Morse while turning over the keys to an ally. Democrats get another full session being in control of all state branches of government so they still have control of the agenda. This is huge for getting things done for another year. Maybe they will repeal the death penalty and bail out Hickenlooper. Lot's of positive government can come out of this decision by Hudak.
We've already seen that the recall elections produce low voter turnout, which greatly amplifies the power of those who are super agitated to put them on.
Additionally, I think Evie had to factor in the fact that she barely won re-election and that there was an independent also in the race (so she garnered less than a majority of the votes in that district). There would be no indpendent on the YES/NO question of the recall.
I'd call it a super-double negative that made going forward with the recall election quite risky, both for Evie and for the Democratic Senate.
I applaud her courage in putting the community that she has always served above her own desires.. This is a very sad day for me, and an exceptionally bad day for Colorado.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I will be expressing thanks for leaders such as Evie Hudak. She, John Morse, and Angela Giron lost their elected offices in order to make all of us safer. And I will pray for sanity to return to Colorado. After being out there on the streets of Arvada for weeks and hearing the uglieness and the untruthfulness of the recall supporters…sanity can't come soon enough.
Several fine comments – no need to rehash or "like" – you know who you are.
Senator Hudak – I don't know you, I don't live in or near you district and I don't know what your thinking was. If it was what we would all like to think – take one for the team, end this and get back to the work of the state and so on, Thank you and good on ya'.
If it was just an overall feeling of exasperation and "sick of it-ness" – please accept my apology on behalf of all Coloradans who understand how democratic elections work. Either way- look forward to seeing you around the Colorado concerned, informed citizen scene.
Meanwhile- what does it take to recall whomever is the replacement?
Or, more seriously and worse- why can't the recall team just move on to the next target?
Hell, if they recall Hick, can we elect Anold Scharzenegger?
I've noted this in several comments on several threads, but I will try again. For all other offices, a recall can not begin before six months in office. But the general assembly is different. From Colorado Revised Statutes (emphasis mine):
1-12-102. Limitations
(1) No recall petition shall be circulated or filed against any elected officer until the officer has actually held office for at least six months following the last election; except that a recall petition may be filed against any member of the general assembly at any time after the fifth day following the convening and organizing of the general assembly after the election.
That's a good question, gaf. The general assembly starts about the first week in January, so if that is the case, they could start another recall before mid-January.
I am assuming the statute means the general election prior to the first session in which the legislator in question serves…
Or, more seriously and worse- why can't the recall team just move on to the next target?
Maybe they can, I don't know. But I think there is a six month waiting period. Recalls, by definition, have to be for something you did while in the office..
Her replacement needs to have time to transgress.
I don't pretend to know the rules, though. I could easily be corrected.
I know Evie personally even down here in CO Springs as she also is a friend of my brother in law in Westminster. I told Palacio that from now on any Dem legislator who faces recall must resign and allow the succession process go forward. Evie is correct the work is far more important than the person. The same thing I said to Merrifield who is going to run in SD 11. If/when he wins he must be inclined to resign if they raise enough signatures again.
It sucks, it warps democracy's will and the republic's process, and yes in return we will have to do the same to the GOP and force them to come to the table to change the constitution
That said those who are really behind this are anarchists clothed in authoritarian wraps, if they don't get their way they will screw up the entire society. They abedded by professional gun slingers who hold no ethical character and aided by proto fascists who are funding this.
does anyone know why evie didn't wait to resign until after she found out if the pro-recall nuts have enough signatures to recall her? That is what I don't understand.
My understanding is that by resigning before the 1st of December, she thwarted any kind of recall decision by gessler.
Apparently, once the petitions have been turned in, the option of having her seat automatically turned over to the winner of the election by the Committee persons in SD19 is no longer on the table.
Great strategy, and one we need to keep in our pocket for further hate filled teabag tantrum recalls.
Just think……….they showed thier collective backsides and got absolutely nothing for it.
I suspect it was concern that though the law would be on her side in that event as it is written and interpreted now, there may have been opportunity for judicial mischief for Gessler
Though I a sure her district includes qualified males I am glad to see that, so far, all the interested parties are female
November 27, 2013 08:26 AM UTC
82 Comments
Kudos to the senator for "taking one for the team".
smart move.
Completely agree. Nothing could have let the air out of the perpetual recall machine more effectively than this maneuver and I'm all for it. It won't be as easy for the right to win regular elections as it has proven to be to force and win off off year recall elections.
and, she saved the taxpayers a ton of $
That too. On car radio caught end of someone from the recall effort complaining that Hudak should have stood up and faced the recall election. Boohoo. Guess they didn't think through what might happen if they kept pulling this stunt. Apparently they were confident Dems were above the kind of tactics they employ. Even they took it for granted Dems would be purer than themselves. They may still take over a chamber in 2014 but it will have to be the hard way. They will get zero more seats switched by recall. Their new favorite toy is broken beyond repair. Call the Waambulance.
Made me LOL, B.C.
boyles had this report earlier. He had the recall leaders on and this is where they are:
1) They will continue collecting signatures.
2) They think that the "will resign" is a ploy.
3) They argue that the Wednesday morning announcement does not mean today, but rather next week, the day after the petitions are due.
bye bye petey and his "gang"…will Mikey be going back to Boulder?
I turned off boyles before the press release came out and they were discussing the above….Darn! I missed his reaction to this Wednesday's press release….although there is smoke coming out of the radio….
On a serious note, thank you Evie Hudak.
That's delusional. But if they want to keep spending their money paying Kennedy, I'm not going to stop them.
The Democratic Party has a deep bench in Colorado; if Republicans keep trying this tactic, Democrats should continue to do as Hudak did – hold out for as long as they feel they can, letting the GOP spend cash, then pull the rug out by resigning and letting some other strong replacement move in. We'll lose a lot of strong and valuable representatives that way, but we have as many as we need to make Republicans look like fools…
Just to clarify:
“In the interest of preserving the progress made over the last year, I am resigning as State Senator for District 19, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Hudak wrote. {Emphasis added}.
So, the rumors were indeed true. Thank you for doing the right thing Evie. I know it's hard, but you put your party before yourself and that takes guts and courage. This isn't over yet. Keeping the majority out of the hand of the wing nuts is more important than any one senator. The gun nuts and their recall will all be for nothing as the democrats will stil control the senate and that is all that matters. We all know the wing nuts did this recall for control of the senate and that looks like it's certainly not going to be the case. 😉
They will now need to completely drop the pretense that this was anything other than a move to get the Senate in R control. This hasn't been about gun legislation for a long time…if it ever really was.
And it sure as hell wasn't about the senator herself.
This was about getting the majority in the senate.
And the Republicans have blown their wad, creds, etc.
And more defeats to the Republicans representatives and Senators forthcoming in the followng November, just a bit over 330 days away.
All legally.
What's more – the recall provision for the mail ballots WILL be fixed and further recall efforts will be nullified with a simple change of the recall law to be used for its true purposes: Not for issues.
So, yes, Hudak did the right thing by preserving the Democratic majority, and making Republicans burn their dollars is just the topping of it. Now the voters who wanted the recall now have to sulk around and decide that the gun laws arent so bad after all and the Democrats are trying to do their jobs, not because of one fucking issue.
Gun nuts can go bite me, and then go fucking move to Wyoming – no gun control laws there.
Madam Senator, we thank you. But this whole thing really, really sucks.
Roger that, Mama. This is what it's like when the kids take over the kindergarten.
Third that.
Fourth that.
It is way past time to give the republicans a waste of their own medicine. We need to recall republicans ASAP. Go for the most vulnerable ones.
NO. We need to change the laws….constitutional amendments for the ballots next year……making sure that mail-in ballots can be used for recall elections.
I don't know if the recall provisions can be changed by law, and not constitutional action. Either way, legislation must be passed to begin to change the circumstances that allows recalls.
It's all embedded in the constitution. But it is definitely worth the effort. The legislature should be the one to initiate the mail ballot change, but changes to the recall requirements need to come from outside in order to avoid the 'entrenched politician' look.
A constitutional amendment permitting mail-in ballots probably wouldn't hurt; however, what is crucial is restricting the grounds for a recall: the opposing side shouldn't be able to recall someone because they disagree with their votes.
I agree that restricting grounds for a recall to be actual criminality would put an end to much of this nonsense – but that has to be a constitutional amendment as well, I believe.
It could probably be done by statute, but the Dem legislators would have to pull a page out of the old GOP playbook and slap a "safety clause" on it or the crybabies would surely drag it to a referendum vote.
Colo. Const. Art. XXI, Section 1
To put limits on recalls, it would take a change in the Constitution.
There's already discussion of a recall underway – Sen. Marble (R-Wingnut) is subject of the new recall efforts, identifying her as the worst Senator ever to breathe air in the Legislature.
Ah, Hawk. The competition is incredibly stiff.
Just when I started the resignation clock too! 😉
She should have waited until the number of signatures were verified. You only take one for the team after you know if you have to or not.
I agree because what happens if the pro-recall people didn't have the number of signatures? Hudak would have done this all for nothing. She could have resign immediately after they found out the pro-recall people had enough signatures
Agree, OrangeFree. Puzzling from her personal perspective to resign now rather than only if sufficient signatures were certified. It doesn't make sense to me.
And based on their efforts, I doubt they will even reach the 70% of the needed threshold after all the fake and repeating signatures are thrown out.
But knowing Ethically Challenged Gessler, he'll approve anything that Republicans slap on front of his desk and reject anything Dems slap on his desk (and forced to accept it after a court hearing or two)
Like it or not, gessler has to be accounted for.
This takes any play he'd run out of the mix. You're right Hawk, he's dirty enough to take seriously.
I agree. Didn't it make more sense to see if the petition collection was successful? Perhaps her resignation can be revoked?
I think it better to be done with it. No "what ifs" involved…just, fuck you, gun nutz… Take that.
Any idea whether turning the signatures in for verification would signal the start of the election? I’m sure there would be a lawsuit if enough signatures were verified contesting that the voters’ will is to have an fresh election whether the incumbent is available or not.
Hudak’s resignation now sure heads off a great deal of legal uncertainty.
Can't recall someone who is not in office.
@Tom,
I read someplace and can't remember where, that if the necessary signatures were verified/certified, theoretically, Hudak would have had six days to resign. But, there was some concern that if she were still in office when the signatures were certified, that a legal challenge might be successful and she would be considered recalled and could not resign within the six day window.
This is a better way.
Dwyer, you are exactly correct.
This ends it.
Dwyer, C.R.S. 1-12-Part 1. It reads real clear. She would have had not only 5 days after the protest period over the signatures (which would trigger setting the election) but even after the election was set she would have up to the end of the period for gathering signatures for the replacement candidates to resign, which would cancel the election. The law is quite clear.
That doesn't mean, however, that the recall nuts wouldn't file lawsuits–I would bet they would and try to get lucky. I just don't see how they could win. But it is probably wise to not go there at all–have it done with now so there is no lawsuit to overcome.
According to this article she would have had 10 days to stop a recall election by resigning. But no matter the number of days, you can be pretty sure that it must have been obvious to her camp and the party that the recall proponents would manage to get enough signatures accepted. By resigning now, she is not resigning as a direct result of a sufficient number of signatures. It's a subtle difference but a difference. It's not exactly I quit because the recall effort was successful in gathering enough acceptable signatures and I probably would have lost. It can be more like I quit to avoid putting our legislative gains for the people of Colorado at risk.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24611818/colorado-state-sen-evie-hudak-resign
I don't think Hudak deserved to be recalled and am willing to believe all the wonderful things her supporters say about her but, by the way, her treatment of that rape victim was both insensitive and stupid. Especially since the legislation does not take away the right to use a gun in self defense in the first place.
She really did give the gun nuts something to make hay out of for no good reason. She could just as easily have assured the victim that she sympathized with her deeply for what she had been through and that there was nothing in the legislation that would prevent having and using a gun for self defense. Reading the exchange it's pretty hard not to ask yourself what the hell Hudak was thinking at the time.
The whole thing is very unfortunate but it has ended without Dems giving up the majority and apparently insiders could see that was the best that could be done at this point. It also demonstrates that the Dems have a quick and easy method for preventing recall to be used to take over the state senate.
Thanks Dwyer. Nice summation. I learned something from you post so thanks again.
Step back … take a big picture gander at what has just happened.
The gun radicals have huffed-and-puffed and stewed and steamed — to what end?
Democrats still control the Colorado state senate; there will be no change to any of the new gun safety laws (there wouldn't have been anyway); the voters have seen just how radical these gun radicals are and just how far they will bully and scheme to get what they want; and term-limited Hudak is now a heroic political martyr to Democrats, liberals, progressives and moderates (i.e., the majority of voters in this state).
Frankly, the recall radicals look pretty silly today.
Alas in the end it all boils down to this (apologies to the bard): "It was a recall run by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
/me stands up and applauds.. Thread win right there.
Because they are exceptionally slow of wit.I suppose it will take a while for the Rupublicans to realize that whoever is appointed to Evie's seat, (assumng they can hold it next November) can run for a full two terms.They blew their chance to take the seat in a regular election. Smoth move, dimwits.
I want Evie Hudak to start thinking about 2016 and the opportunity to primary Senator "Useless" Bennet. I think she will be a fine Senator to represent the state of Colorado.
Earth to Hawkeye. Please return from orbit.
Hawkeye to Earth, there is no more sanity left on Earth…. you're on your own…
If you say so. Hope you enjoyed a sane Thanksgiving.
Running for election takes a huge amount of fortitude. Serving in office takes even more and your skin thickens with time. But the recall surely took it's toll. And the thought of risking everything that she had worked for for so long and so hard finally tipped it.
Sincere thanks to Evie and everyone else in the legislature (and the public) who supported this round of sensible gun control, election reform, etc ….
This is not a defeat but an incentive for keeping Colorado blue.
Sorry, I think this was a terrible idea. I believe that it just emboldens the nuts. Until we beat them at the ballot box, they will keep coming back. It's time to prove we can push back. I want to thank Sen. Hudak for having the nerve to challenge these guys during the petition gathering process. It's a first step. Unless anyone here can tell me that there was reputable polling that showed her going down to a huge defeat, I just don't agree at all with this decision.
With that said, the bench is deep. Tracey Kraft-Tharp would be my choice. But, I guess we'll see soon.
I agree.
It only leads to a massive destruction of the Republican Party, guaranteed by '14 elections.
I cry for them, Hawk., but my tears are tears of laughter.
I don't know all the reasons she made this decision, so I won't go so far as to say I think it was a terrible idea. But I do think it emboldens the crazies. If they have enough signatures, they get a recall. If they don't but get close, they now figure they just have to push a rep to resign.
But … if they were close to getting enough signatures, waiting until they had enough signatures might not have worked to ensure her replacement would be a Dem. The recall proponents might have been successful in arguing that an election would still be necessary. Haven't researched it, but there seems a qualitative difference based on the timing.
Think about this.
Any further recalls of state senate Democrats is futile and this resignation proves it. Recall efforts after the next general assembly session ends are pointless.
Upon further reflection it becomes more apparent to me that the recall advocates were not very smart and simply did not do their research.
First, did they really think that the Democratic Party would let their senate majority be taken away?
Second, as someone who has known Evie Hudak and lived in this district for 20 years, there was no way she was ever going to let any harm come to the Democratic Party; indeed, my biggest complaint about her is that she is loyal to a fault to the Party.
So, especially in this particular case, this outcome isn't that big of a surprise and ultimately it will be understood by the gun radicals that this tactic was destined from the beginning to fail.
Given the current political layout, I think it not unlikely that the recall folks could have gotten a ruling saying that once they submitted the signatures, the recall couldn't be stopped by a resignation/replacement process.
And it's hard to challenge petition signatures. If the signature gatherers were close – and it sounds like they've been going all out in the past couple of weeks to make the quota – there's a decent chance they could have made it past the initial vetting process. Once past the initial review, the burden is on the recall target to prove that additional signatures are invalid – and usually that's done on a per-signature challenge, which is hard.
Sorry, I disagree. Petition signatures are easy to challenge and it can be done effectively. You just have to know how. The Hudak campaign showed the beginnings of a very sophisticated anti-petition campaign and given the anecdotal information coming out, seems like a challenge would have been simpler. Especially since they are keeping track of what the gatherers are doing.
The law is real clear. [C.R.S. Title 1, Article 12. Part 1. Recall from Office.] The resignation stops the recall process.
Not that someone wouldn't try, but the courts would slap that down, as they have done repeatedly with Gessler.
And, we won't really know how many valid signatures they obtained, particularly given the reporting about fraudulent signatures garnered by paid solicitors. Now, we'll get a press release stating they got some crazy number of signatures without any validation.
I agree.I would like to understand what really happened here.
By resigning before the 1st, Evie assured Democratic control of the Senate, no questions asked. I'm with you, I don't for a minute believe there are more than 7500-8000 valid sig's, but……………….the recall professionals kept the numbers close to the vest. Maybe, maybe not, but by resigning, Evie gives SD19 Committee people the steering wheel. One of 3 very competent people will be voted into the vacancy, which will be filled untill the November '14 election.
It's heartbreaking to see a great Senator go out this way, victim of scurrilous self serving thugs, opportunists, and hayseeds that don't even know what they're setting thier hair on fire for, but politics is a brutal, unforgiving "sport".The best way to kneecap this bullshit teabag fueled gun goon temper tantrum was to show these assholes that all thier canvassing, thier long days making dipshits out of thier sorry selves on the streets, thier hate filled diatribes, thier nonsensical anti-American face book posts on "recallhudaktoo", thier filthy, trash mouthed heckling even at Evie's resignation this morning, and thier "monetary donations" to the very people…..kennedy enterprises……that were laughing at them while getting healthy off them, went for absolutely nothing.
Democratic control of the Colorado Senate through next November at least…………that's what you idiots reaped.
Fucking morons. The gun goon demographic at it's pathetic finest.
As I said earlier on this thread, Roccoprahn, the GOP is exceptionally slow of wit.
Completely disagree. This renders recall moot. Why put all the time and money and trouble into mounting a recall effort when Dems can pull the plug at will. Besides. With our term limiting nobody gets to stay all that long anyway. I doubt they'll want to keep mounting recalls if all they'll get is one replacement Dem after another.
I'll bet you dinner at your favorite restaurant that you are wrong. They'll start working on newer legislators who won't want to resign so easily. And they'll continue to work in the many balanced districts which were created after the 2010 census. It's easy for them and doesn't cost much money, even if they have to pay $3 per signature. $50,000 for a recall is pocket change for these folks.
They can only work on legislators they have a good chance of recalling. They've already had the experience of failing to get enough sigs and yes I know Hudak was one of those, so they are already deep into the ones they considered doable. I mean why not go after four or five this last time? Because Hudak was the remaining one they thought they could knock off. Time will tell which of us is right and which of us is wrong. Happy Thanksgiving.
Isn't this one of those becareful what you wish for scenarios Craig. Hudak is gone but a possibly more progressive politician takes her place kind of like getting rid of Ritter and getting Hickenlooper. This was a go for broke gamble by Republicans to take immediate control of the Senate and it will be for naught. Hudak flipped them the bird and is going to do something else with her life like Morse while turning over the keys to an ally. Democrats get another full session being in control of all state branches of government so they still have control of the agenda. This is huge for getting things done for another year. Maybe they will repeal the death penalty and bail out Hickenlooper. Lot's of positive government can come out of this decision by Hudak.
Craig,
We've already seen that the recall elections produce low voter turnout, which greatly amplifies the power of those who are super agitated to put them on.
Additionally, I think Evie had to factor in the fact that she barely won re-election and that there was an independent also in the race (so she garnered less than a majority of the votes in that district). There would be no indpendent on the YES/NO question of the recall.
I'd call it a super-double negative that made going forward with the recall election quite risky, both for Evie and for the Democratic Senate.
I applaud her courage in putting the community that she has always served above her own desires.. This is a very sad day for me, and an exceptionally bad day for Colorado.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I will be expressing thanks for leaders such as Evie Hudak. She, John Morse, and Angela Giron lost their elected offices in order to make all of us safer. And I will pray for sanity to return to Colorado. After being out there on the streets of Arvada for weeks and hearing the uglieness and the untruthfulness of the recall supporters…sanity can't come soon enough.
The lying, cheating, dissmebling, power-mad, miserable RWNJ gun-fetishist bastards have been thwarted — again.
Blessings upon you, Evie. You'll go farther than you ever dreamed.
And to the contemible, despicable, moronic gun sexualizers, I offer the folllowing:
"He who liveth by the sword, shall be stucketh." — Fred G. Sanford (and the G stands for gonzo gunnutz)
Several fine comments – no need to rehash or "like" – you know who you are.
Senator Hudak – I don't know you, I don't live in or near you district and I don't know what your thinking was. If it was what we would all like to think – take one for the team, end this and get back to the work of the state and so on, Thank you and good on ya'.
If it was just an overall feeling of exasperation and "sick of it-ness" – please accept my apology on behalf of all Coloradans who understand how democratic elections work. Either way- look forward to seeing you around the Colorado concerned, informed citizen scene.
Meanwhile- what does it take to recall whomever is the replacement?
Or, more seriously and worse- why can't the recall team just move on to the next target?
Hell, if they recall Hick, can we elect Anold Scharzenegger?
It takes six months in office before an officeholder is eligible for recall, so thankfully serial recalls aren't going to happen.
Missed your comment Tom…sorry for the repitition.
I've noted this in several comments on several threads, but I will try again. For all other offices, a recall can not begin before six months in office. But the general assembly is different. From Colorado Revised Statutes (emphasis mine):
But I don't know how this would be interpreted for an officer appointed to a vacancy because the time reference is to an election. Another lawsuit?
interesting distinction
That's a good question, gaf. The general assembly starts about the first week in January, so if that is the case, they could start another recall before mid-January.
I am assuming the statute means the general election prior to the first session in which the legislator in question serves…
or not…
Maybe they can, I don't know. But I think there is a six month waiting period. Recalls, by definition, have to be for something you did while in the office..
Her replacement needs to have time to transgress.
I don't pretend to know the rules, though. I could easily be corrected.
Although, I managed to copy the wrong question… so that must be really confusing…
sorry…
I know Evie personally even down here in CO Springs as she also is a friend of my brother in law in Westminster. I told Palacio that from now on any Dem legislator who faces recall must resign and allow the succession process go forward. Evie is correct the work is far more important than the person. The same thing I said to Merrifield who is going to run in SD 11. If/when he wins he must be inclined to resign if they raise enough signatures again.
It sucks, it warps democracy's will and the republic's process, and yes in return we will have to do the same to the GOP and force them to come to the table to change the constitution
That said those who are really behind this are anarchists clothed in authoritarian wraps, if they don't get their way they will screw up the entire society. They abedded by professional gun slingers who hold no ethical character and aided by proto fascists who are funding this.
Correctamundo on all points.
does anyone know why evie didn't wait to resign until after she found out if the pro-recall nuts have enough signatures to recall her? That is what I don't understand.
My understanding is that by resigning before the 1st of December, she thwarted any kind of recall decision by gessler.
Apparently, once the petitions have been turned in, the option of having her seat automatically turned over to the winner of the election by the Committee persons in SD19 is no longer on the table.
Great strategy, and one we need to keep in our pocket for further hate filled teabag tantrum recalls.
Just think……….they showed thier collective backsides and got absolutely nothing for it.
I suspect it was concern that though the law would be on her side in that event as it is written and interpreted now, there may have been opportunity for judicial mischief for Gessler
Though I a sure her district includes qualified males I am glad to see that, so far, all the interested parties are female