By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Colorado State Sen. Evie Hudak (D-Westminster) abruptly resigned her seat one day before Thanksgiving rather than face a recall election that, if successful, would have made her the third Democrat in the state senate to lose her seat this year over her support for gun control legislation.
The Denver Post reported that Hudak did not even attend a press conference scheduled at the Arvada Library, though about two dozen supporters were there, along with several of her critics. The newspaper ran a link to her resignation letter.
She essentially fell on her political sword, rather than allow the recall potential of being replaced by a Republican, thus tilting control of the State Senate to the GOP.
Hudak’s departure comes as momentum continues to build for her ouster, and recall supporters were preparing to turn in enough valid signatures to guarantee the recall. According to the Denver Post, she didn’t even show up for a news conference this morning to make her resignation public.
That suggests Hudak realized that her gun control votes earlier this year, which she is defending in her resignation letter, did not sit well with District 19 residents. Yet she departs with a defiant attitude, proclaiming, “I am proud of what has been accomplished over the last year, and I believe these bills will make life better for all the people of my district and for all Coloradans.
“By resigning,” she said, “I am protecting these important new laws for the good of Colorado and ensuring that we can continue looking forward.”
Her departure protects, at least for the time being, the Democrat majority in the Senate. They hold a razor-thin one-vote margin. Two of Hudak’s colleagues, Sens. John Morse of Colorado Springs and Angela Giron of Pueblo were recalled in September and replaced by Republicans. Morse was the Senate President.
It was the first time in state history that a state senator had been recalled from office, and that had been a bitterly-fought campaign with a small fortune of outside money spent by both sides.
The Morse-Giron recall was not only a defeat for gun control but also for anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent a reported $350,000 of his own money in an attempt to sway that election in favor of retaining Morse and Giron. Instead, gun owners and civil rights supporters in their respective districts sent a political bow shot across the landscape, signaling to anti-gun politicians that they are not immune from voter wrath.
Late in the game, the National Rifle Association came in with its own money, just about matching Bloomberg’s outlay.
Hudak created a nasty backlash earlier this year when she criticized a rape victim testifying before a Senate committee that she might have been able to defend herself against the attack if she had been allowed to carry her gun on a college campus. Hudak’s condescending reply streaked across the landscape.
“I just want to say that, actually statistics are not on your side even if you had a gun,” Hudak asserted. “And, chances are that if you would have had a gun, then he would have been able to get that from you and possibly use it against you.”
A video of that testimony was posted on YouTube and it went viral almost immediately, resulting in outrage that was not limited to Colorado.
Centennial State gun owners are hoping the legislature will change parties in 2014 and the laws will be repealed.
