UPDATE: A Denver District Court judge ruled that recall petitions can no longer circulate until Senator Priola is sworn into his new district on January 9th — he cannot be recalled by people he doesn't currently represent. 

https://www.cpr.org/2022/10/10/court-halts-recall-effort-against-state-sen-kevin-priola/

https://www.denverpost.com/2022/10/11/colorado-kevin-priola-recall-order/

 

 

Decline to Sign

 

You may have recently been approached to provide your personal information and sign the petition to “recall” Senator Kevin Priola from office. Please do not sign this dangerous petition.

 

The hyper-partisan, dark money interests behind this “recall” campaign are lying to you and spreading half-truths to trick you into providing your personal information. 

 

The truth is that Kevin Priola is a moderate voice that has spent years as a public servant for his community. He switched from a Republican to a Democrat because he no longer felt comfortable being part of a political party that embraced election “big lie” conspiracy theories. 

 

Senator Priola will continue to be an independent voice focused on solving problems and helping people. He will continue to be a staunchly pro-life legislator, a supporter of school choice, an advocate for oil and gas workers, and a strong defender of the 2nd Amendment.

 

If you have signed the petition and would like to have your name removed, please click the button above or email coloradooverparty@gmail.com.

 

The truth about the “reasons” they say Priola needs to be recalled

<span style=">Safe Injection Sites

This was a draft bill from 2017 that was discussed by a bipartisan interim committee (focused on studying opioid abuse) that Senator Priola was a member of. The entire committee—made up of both Republicans and Democrats—voted unanimously to have the bill considered by the legislature. The prime sponsors of the bill were Republican Kent Lambert from Colorado Springs (a conservative) and Independent Cheri Jahn from Jefferson County (a moderate). Senator Priola was a cosponsor simply because he was a member of the committee. However, the bill never passed a single committee.

Additionally, it’s important to note that Senator Priola’s (relatively minor) involvement in this bill was years before his reelection in 2020. In other words, the people behind his recall spent millions of dollars to reelect him after this. So, you have to ask yourself, why all of a sudden are they highlighting this bill?

Fentanyl

This bill sought to ensure low-level users can access the help they need—it did not decriminalize possession of large amounts of drugs. In fact, this bill didn’t even mention the word fentanyl because it was passed before the fentanyl crisis as we know it came to be. This was a bipartisan bill that was prime sponsored by former Weld and Larimer County Republican, Vicki Marble. What the recall proponents aren’t telling you is that this was a widely supported bill by both Republicans and Democrats. Again, the recall backers spent millions to reelect Kevin Priola AFTER this vote. 

Gas Tax

This bill did not increase the gas tax. Instead, it was a comprehensive 500-page bill to direct billions of dollars towards transportation projects across Colorado. The bill included various user fees to ensure the different types of users are paying their fair share, which included a .02 cent fee. What the recallers aren’t telling you is that this bill was strongly supported by nearly all of the Colorado business community—including major organizations and their members like the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Concern, Lyft, Amazon, Chevron, Google, Centura Health, and Xcel Energy.

Property Tax

Senator Priola did not vote to raise your property taxes. In fact, the constitution doesn’t even allow the legislature to legally do that. The bill they are referencing was about how mill levies are administered. This bill was supported by many Republican legislators because of the importance of ensuring adequate education funding for rural communities.

In fact, Senator Priola voted multiple times to reduce property taxes (which the constitution does allow). This resulted in over $1 billion in property tax relief for homeowners and businesses.

TABOR Refund Checks

The bill they are referencing was a bill that put a measure on the 2020 ballot for voters to decide on whether refunds should be reinvested in services like public schools. Referring this question to voters is the responsible thing to do to allow voters to have their say—this is specifically outlined by and endorsed by TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

 

Senator Priola's Rebuttal Statement

Special interests with deep pockets filed this recall as personal and political retribution for my decision to put people over partisan politics, and I have confidence you will see through their deceptive tactics. 

• Ask yourself why these special interests are just now calling for my recall over votes I took over a year and a half ago, and in some cases four years ago. This is clearly not about my voting record.

• Be wary of the circulators asking you to sign this petition. I caution you in providing them with any of your personal information. This effort is being paid for by agents of special interests; you cannot know what they will do with your information. 

These hyper-partisan political insiders are wasting hundreds of thousands of your taxpayer money on a special election to punish me for serving you as an independent voice. Their descriptions of the votes I took are false and extremely misleading. I’m proud of my votes to:

• Fix our state’s roads and bridges and make them safer, 

• Clean up our air for our communities and our families; and

• Help those struggling with substance abuse get the treatment they need.

They won’t tell you I’ve actually voted twice to lower your property taxes, securing over $1 billion in property tax relief for families and businesses. I’m proud to be one of the most bipartisan legislators in our state. I care deeply about finding solutions to the problems facing our community. No political party has a monopoly on the truth. I will continue to think critically about every policy that comes across my desk and truly represent you in the State Senate.