Kevin Priola, a Republican senator from the fringes of the Denver suburbs, released a statement this week that he would be leaving the party for the Democrats, creating a swing in power as Democrats seek to hold on to its slim majority in the upper chamber of the Colorado Legislature.
Priola—the seventh state senator to shift his affiliation from Republican to Democrat this year, according to Ballotpedia—all but ensures Democrats will remain in a safe position to maintain power after months of speculation that Republicans were in line to flip control of the chamber this cycle, a point Priola acknowledged in his letter.
His move also attracted the ire of conservatives like Advance Colorado Institute President Michael Fields, who announced Wednesday he would be filing a recall petition against Priola.
“Kevin Priola lied to voters and broke the trust of those who elected him,” Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Burton said in a statement Wednesday. “He does not represent the views of voters in SD-13. They deserve to choose whether or not they want to be represented by a Democrat who has a record of raising taxes on working families and supporting drug injection sites. The Colorado GOP fully stands with the citizens working to recall Kevin Priola.”
The group plans to commit “a couple hundred thousand dollars” to carry out the campaign, which will need to gather approximately 18,000 signatures over the next 60 days to enact a recall.
In a nearly two-page letter posted to his Twitter account on August 22, Priola decried the shifting sensibilities of his party and that the “horror” he felt on January 6 did not appear to be shared by his fellow Republicans.
“I felt that clearly this would be the last straw, and that my party would now finally distance itself from Donald Trump and the political environment he created,” Priola wrote.
But he also decried his party’s unwillingness to address growing threats like climate change and its apparent abandonment of the conservation policies championed by Republican presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, highlighting the state’s increasingly long wildfire seasons and the water crisis that has put continued pressure on the Colorado River Basin, which is a key lifeline for major settlements in the Mountain West.
“Even if there continue to be issues I disagree with the Democratic Party on, there is too much at stake right now for Republicans to be in charge,” Priola wrote. “Coloradoans cannot afford for their leaders to give credence to election conspiracies and climate denialism. Simply put, we need Democrats in charge because our planet and our democracy depend on it.”
Newsweek reached out to Priola for comment.
Local reporters noted that Priola—an anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment lawmaker—was often a critical swing vote in the statehouse. Earlier this year, Priola was the only member of his caucus to support a resolution urging Congress to pass a voter’s rights resolution, and has also sided with Democrats on sweeping legislation to reform the state’s opioid policies.
He also represents one of the state’s most competitive districts. In 2020, Priola defeated Democrat Paula Dickerson by less than two points to hold his seat. However, a recent round of redistricting gave Republicans a slight advantage in the district, which now encompasses portions of much-redder Weld County.
“This is a new district for him, and it’s more conservative, and he flipped parties, and his voting record is really liberal,” Fields told Newsweek. “I think that adds up to a good chance that he ends up getting recalled.”
