With two victories now under their belt, gun rights activists in Colorado are refocusing their efforts to recall state Sen. Evie Hudak—despite a failed attempt less than six months ago.
“She has infringed upon our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. She has voted to make all citizens less safe and to drive hundreds of jobs from Colorado,” reads an excerpt of the petition emailed by Mike McAlpine, a spokesman for Recall Hudak, too.
The anti-gun senator also drew the ire of Second Amendment advocates after she lectured rape survivor Amanda Collins during a hearing on gun control in March. Collins had a concealed weapons permit but was not carrying due to her college’s gun-free zone policy. Katie reported on the exchange at the time:
After her testimony, Collins was met with a factually deficient lecture from Democratic State Senator Evi Hudak, who told Collins "statistics aren't on your side" and pointed out that Collins wasn't able to overpower her attacker despite being an expert in martial arts. This is where the "Hudak can't be serious moment" comes in.
"I just want to say statistics are not on your side, even if you had had a gun. You said that you were a martial arts student, I mean person, experience in taekwondo, and yet because this individual was so large and was able to overcome you even with your skills, and chances are that if you had had a gun, then he would have been able to get than from you and possibly use it against you," Hudak said.
Collins responded by saying, "Respectfully Senator, you weren't there...I was there, I know without a doubt in my mind at some point I would have been able to stop my attack by using my firearm. He already had a weapon of his own, he didn't need mine."
The group’s petition to have a recall placed on the ballot was approved Oct. 4, meaning they have already begun gathering signatures from Senate District 19 to meet the 18,300 threshold—although their goal is to collect at least 25,000 during the 60-day time frame.
The effort puts in motion what many in Colorado political circles have feared: a continuous and never ending election cycle.
Hudak’s Democratic colleagues, Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron were ousted from office in September by voters in their southern Colorado districts for backing controversial gun-control laws.
Hudak’s metro-area district mirrors Morse’s in that it’s divided into thirds among Democrats, Republicans and unaffilated voters. Hudak won the seat in 2012 by about 580 votes with a third-party candidate on the ballot.
Second time's a charm?
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