The big story out of Colorado last Tuesday was Republican Rep. Cory Gardner’s victory over incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. But on a more local level, Democratic candidates triumphed over pro-gun GOP lawmakers who were elected to the state Senate last year in contentious recall efforts.
The New York Times pointed out Tuesday that Colorado Democrats reaped the benefits of increased turnout in the midterms thanks to mail-in ballots and the draw of the Gardner-Udall showdown. By contrast, low turnout in the recall elections of September 2013, which targeted legislators who voted for stricter gun measures, had favored conservatives.
State Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) knocked out former Colorado Senate President John Morse (D) in those recall elections. Ironically, it was an associate of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control advocacy group that handily defeated Herpin on Nov. 4. Democrat Michael Merrifield (pictured), a former state representative who once worked as a coordinator for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, took 52 percent of the vote to Herpin’s 42 percent, according to the Times.
State Sen. George Rivera, a Republican who ousted Democratic state Sen. Angela Giron in a recall, also lost Tuesday to his Democratic opponent by a 10-point margin, according to the newspaper.
“It was vindicating,” Giron told the Times.
