Recall of party-switching state senator halted by Denver judge
A Denver District Court judge on Monday temporarily halted a recall of state Sen. Kevin Priola, a boon for Democrats as they seek to retain the Colorado state Senate.
Judge Marie Moses issued a temporary injunction blocking any further action by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office on the recall of Priola, a newly-minted Democrat from Henderson, until after the General Assembly convenes in January.
The order indicated the judge believed Secretary of State Jena Griswold erred in allowing recall petitions to be circulated among voters in Senate District 13, which Priola will represent in January, instead of in Senate District 25, which he currently represents.
Moses said in her order that until Sept. 9, 2022, Priola was "subject to the will of and answerable only to his constituents in S.D. 25. The secretary’s approval of the recall petition allowed a shift in the recall right to constituents of a neighboring district whom Sen. Priola does not currently represent and will not represent until Jan. 9, 2023."
The ruling means organizers — led by Michael Fields of Advance Colorado Action and GOP allies — must wait until after the start of the next legislative session to initiate a recall, which in turn guarantees Democrats will hold the SD 13 seat to begin the session.
The recall effort points to the stakes in the 2022 election.
Republicans are looking for a way to take over the state Senate, which currently favors Democrats 21-14. Republicans and their allies have spent millions more than Democrats through the end of September to gain the four seats they need to wrest control away from Democrats.
Priola announced in August he was changing political parties, a move that had been expected for some time by state Capitol observers. He cited the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump supporters as well as the Republican Party's inaction on climate change for the switch.
Republicans announced they would seek a recall within days of Priola's announcement.
The confusion over where the recall should take place stems from the redistricting process, which drew Priola into a new district, which he is set to represent with its incumbent term-limited.
Voter registration in Priola's current district favored Democrats by nearly 8,000 over Republicans, and with more than 44,000 unaffiliated voters. Voter registration in the district he is set to represent next year is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, about 20,000 each, with unaffiliated voters numbering more than 38,000.
But Griswold in August announced petition signatures would be collected in SD 13, the district Priola will represent in January, rather than in his current SD 25. That led to the lawsuit filed by Colorado Democrats, along with a plaintiff from SD 25, who claimed only the voters in Priola's current district should be able to sign recall petitions.
Moses agreed, deciding the plaintiffs would likely prevail on their claim that the current recall procedure violates the recall and voting rights of SD 25 electors guaranteed by the Colorado and United States constitutions. Allowing the voters of SD 13 to decide Priola's fate before he actually represents the district would be "an absurd result," Moses wrote.
Fields in a Tuesday statement said his organization would appeal the court's ruling.
"Coloradans have a constitutional right to recall our elected officials," he said. "Throughout this process, we have simply followed the instructions set out by the Secretary of State...In the meantime, we will continue to collect signatures. We’ve already gathered more than 15,000 total signatures.”
Priola said in a statement issued by plaintiffs Colorado Over Party that he was "pleased the Court agreed that this special-interest-driven recall effort was built on a faulty premise. The voters of Senate District 25 deserve a say in who represents their interests at the State Capitol, and today’s ruling ensures deep-pocketed partisan interests won’t be allowed to take that right away.”
Senate President Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, added that "[r]ecalls are an important process meant to root out politicians guilty of corruption or malfeasance, not for political operatives and special interests to seek revenge against lawmakers they disagree with. Allowing Senator Priola to be recalled by voters in a district that he doesn’t yet represent would have created a cascade of ridiculous recall efforts every redistricting cycle. I am glad the Court sided with the rule of law preventing taxpayers from having to foot the bill for this politically-motivated attack.”