October 13, 2016 04:04 PM UTC

19 Colorado GOP State Lawmakers Sign Trump Support Pledge

• 8 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: As reported by Ernest Luning and the Denver Post’s John Frank, Rep. Clarice Navarro wants you to know she is still on the Trump Train:

State Rep. Clarice Navarro, a Pueblo Republican who has advised Trump on how to reach out to Latino voters, did not sign the letter. But she issued a statement that made clear she “will continue to support all of the Republican candidates on the ballot” even though she didn’t mention Trump by name.

Meanwhile, in the red-hot SD-19 race:

Most of the Republicans who signed the letter sit in safe Republican seats. But Arvada Sen. Laura Woods’ endorsement quickly became political fodder for her opponent, Democrat Rachel Zenzinger, in one of the state’s closest legislative races.

“I find it appalling that my opponent would continue to support Donald Trump after his apparent history of sexually assaulting women has come to light,” Zenzinger said in a statement. “That’s on top of insulting a gold star family and an American war hero.”

Woods — and a handful of other Republican lawmakers — did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

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As the Aurora Sentinel’s Brandon Johansson reports, for 19 Colorado Republican lawmakers there’s no turning back now:

The Donald Trump campaign said Thursday 19 Colorado state lawmakers signed onto a statement saying they “fully support” the Republican nominee this fall — but just one local Republican appears on the list.

Joann Windholz, R-Commerce City, joined 18 other state lawmakers in signing a statement that said: “As an elected official and Republican leader I fully support the Republican nominee for President Donald J Trump. Mr. Trump presents a unique opportunity for America to move in a decidedly different direction. With the Supreme Court at risk, this is the time for those in leadership to stand strong and unified.”

Windholz is one of four Republican state lawmakers who represent districts that cover part of Aurora. Windholz did not return a request for comment Thursday.

Here’s the full list, which contains a few surprises as well as surprising omissions:

Jon Becker – State Representative, District 65
J. Paul Brown – State Representative, District 59
Perry Buck – State Representative, District 49
Polly Lawrence – State Representative, District 39
Tim Leonard – State Representative, District 25
Paul Lundeen – State Representative, District 19
Patrick Neville – State Representative, District 45
Dan Nordberg – State Representative, District 14
Bob Rankin – State Representative, , District 57
Lori Saine – State Representative, District 63
Jim Wilson – State Representative, District 60
Joann Windholz – State Representative, District 30
John Cooke – State Senator, District 13
Kent Lambert – State Senator, District 9
Vicki Marble – State Senator, District 23
Tim Neville – State Senator, District 16
Ray Scott – State Senator, District 7
Jerry Sonnenberg – State Senator, District 1
Laura Woods – State Senator, District 19

For at least three targeted politicos–Rep. J. Paul Brown, Rep. JoAnn Windholz, and especially Sen. Laura Woods–signing on to this statement of support for Donald Trump could be a significant liability in their swing district races. With that said, we’re curious what happened to arguably the foremost Trump surrogate in the Colorado General Assembly however–Rep. Clarice Navarro of Pueblo? Navarro has consistently stood by Trump through all of his lowlights this election year, so for her to be backing away now would be a major story. Probably bigger than these 19 lawmakers who signed on now as Trump backers.

“All incumbent Republican state Representatives and Senators were asked to sign onto the statement of support for Mr. Trump,” said Patrick Davis, a senior advisor for Trump’s Colorado campaign.

The Sentinel identified several lawmakers who did not sign this statement, including Sen. Jack Tate and Rep. Kevin Priola–both of whom are in tight races, which might explain their failure to sign. At this point, with the Trump campaign having admitted to soliciting this support and only finding 19 GOP lawmakers willing to stick their necks out, the reasoning of every legislator who didn’t sign is a story now, too.

And for at least three who did sign, quite possibly much to regret in a few weeks.