{"id":38453,"date":"2022-09-12T18:28:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T00:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-democrats-file-lawsuit-to-stop-recall-of-state-sen-kevin-priola\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:44:29","slug":"colorado-democrats-file-lawsuit-to-stop-recall-of-state-sen-kevin-priola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-democrats-file-lawsuit-to-stop-recall-of-state-sen-kevin-priola\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Democrats file lawsuit to stop recall of state Sen. Kevin Priola"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, and Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, listen as the Senate Health and Human Service Committee hears debate on a bill that would change Colorado&#x2019;s vaccine exemption rules on Feb. 19.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to stop the recall of state Sen. Kevin Priola by challenging a ruling by state elections officials about where the recall should take place.<\/p>\n

Priola, who switched his party affiliation to Democrat from Republican last month in a move that angered the GOP, currently represents Senate District 25, a toss-up district in the northeast Denver suburbs. But starting in January, because of last year\u2019s redistricting process, he will represent Senate District 13, a far more conservative district that stretches along U.S. Highway 85 into Greeley.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Secretary of State\u2019s Office ruled that Priola\u2019s recall should take place in Senate District 13, a decision that dramatically increased the chances of the recall\u2019s success and threatens Democrats\u2019 chances of maintaining their majority in the Senate.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Democratic Party argues in its lawsuit that Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, erred in her decision to let the recall proceed in Senate District 13 because Priola doesn\u2019t currently represent that district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no constitutional or enabling legislation that would permit the electors of one senate district to participate in the recall procedure of a senator elected by and who represents the electors of another district,\u201d the lawsuit said. \u201cIf there are any electors who could participate in the recall process \u2026 they are either Senate District 25 electors alone, as the entire recall process may be completed before Sen. Priola becomes the Senate District 13 senator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Priola doesn\u2019t technically become the senator for Senate District 13 until Jan. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the General Assembly reconvenes on Jan. 9, 2023, the only electors eligible to elect a successor to Sen. Priola are the electors of S.D. 25,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cThey are also the only electors who may sign a recall petition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the recall. At the very least, the lawsuit argues, the recall should happen in Senate District 25, where Republicans are much less likely to be successful in trying to oust Priola.<\/p>\n

The legal action was filed by Colorado Over Party, the Democratic group fighting the attempted recall of Priola, as well as Fredrick Sandoval, a voter in Senate District 25.<\/p>\n

State elections officials Friday gave the recall\u2019s organizers the OK to start trying to collect about 18,000 signatures from voters in Senate District 13 to force a special recall election. They have 60 days \u2013 or until Nov. 8, which is the date of the 2022 general election \u2013 to collect the signatures.<\/p>\n

Priola, who lives in Henderson, said he switched his party affiliation because of the GOP\u2019s embrace of 2020 election conspiracies and because of the party\u2019s inaction on climate change.<\/p>\n

The recall effort is being funded by Advance Colorado Institute, a conservative nonprofit that doesn\u2019t have to disclose its donors \u2013 the kind of organization The Colorado Sun calls a dark-money group.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit\u2019s predecessor, Unite for Colorado Action, spent about $1 million to get Priola re-elected in 2020.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Secretary of State\u2019s Office didn\u2019t immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The recall\u2019s organizers blasted the legal action.<\/p>\n

\u201cPriola and the Democrats know this recall effort is only gaining momentum, so they are getting desperate,\u201d said Michael Fields, a senior adviser at Advance Colorado Institute. \u201cThe voters of Senate District 13 should get to decide who represents them for the next two years. The Secretary of State is right that the recall should take place in the district he will be representing when the recall election occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Priola\u2019s term, his second in the Senate, doesn\u2019t end until January 2025.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

is expected to happen in new conservative district, something Dems disagree with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[394,15,266,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-colorado-state-senate","tag-election","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84026,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453\/revisions\/84026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38453"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}