More politicians are joining San Diego’s former mayor, Bob Filner, for early retirements.
Colorado citizens held historic recall elections Tuesday and removed two state senators:
Two Democratic lawmakers in Colorado, including the president of the state Senate, were recalled Tuesday in elections brought about by their support for tougher gun control laws.According to unofficial results, voters in Colorado Springs favored recalling state Sen. John Morse, the body’s president, by 51 percent to 49 percent. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, state Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo was defeated in her recall election, 56 percent to 44 percent.
These two Colorado Democrats provided crucial support for a package of restrictive new state gun law proposals offered after mass shootings at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater and a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school. Interestingly, Giron tried desperately to save her seat by appealing to Colorado college students. Colorado State University student and former Giron constituent Katie England filed this report on a campus rally:
State Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo), when asked about her backing of proposed legislation that would have banned concealed weapons on college campuses, said she supported it in committee before she did not support it as it moved further through the legislative process.“I was not a sponsor of that bill,” Giron said at Colorado State University – Pueblo on Aug. 29. “After doing a little research, I felt comfortable (supporting it). I supported it in committee, but then some things came up that I didn’t expect. I spoke to (Associated Student Government) representatives of the CSU system, and they didn’t like it.
The flip-flopping was to no avail.
Morse has another set of potential problems related to his term in the state senate, not very different from fiscal issues that plagued Filner.
After Senate President John Morse conceded defeat in the historic recall last night, we reached out to an old nemesis of his: Stephanie Cegielski.In 2011, Cegielski filed an ethics complaint against Morse for abusing tax-free per diem payments — taking per diem for 331 of 365 days in 2009 alone. Morse’s boss, then-Senate President Brandon Shaffer, convened an ethics panel to investigate the claims.Morse was livid. Furious. Seething with rage that anyone dare question him.When asked about the complaint, Morse made a veiled threat against Cegielski, telling the Colorado Springs Gazette: “If I were a private citizen, I would own these peoples’ homes.”
It looks like Morse will now have the opportunity to explore the possibilities.
This election offers a sneak peak of what the 2014 elections are going to be like for purple politicians who turned blue after the 2012 elections. That the Democratic Party is in a panic about Tuesday night’s results is shown by the response of Democratic National Committee head Debbie Wasserman Schultz: This was voter suppression, pure and simple.
Meanwhile, Filner headed off to San Francisco with his ex-fiance after resigning in disgrace.
The signs are all pointing to the fact that citizens are completely involved, engaged, and enraged with politics at all levels — federal, state and local. 2014 should be a very interesting year.
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