November 21, 2013 02:37 PM UTC

Angela Giron May Run...for Secretary of State?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Former Democratic Sen. Angela Giron was the surprise story of the September 10 recall election. Much of the attention was on Senate President John Morse, whose district (SD-11) is significantly more competitive in terms of voter registration numbers than Giron's former district (SD-3). Morse was recalled by a scant 343 votes, while more than 4,000 voters ousted Giron, (the total margin of defeat was 54-46 for Giron).

Much has been written here and elsewhere about Democratic infighting playing a significant role in Giron's loss, with a sizable portion of the blame apparently falling on Giron herself. Stories emerged before and after the recall that Giron was a demanding and difficult Senator to work with in her short time at the Capitol (she was elected in 2010). Some Democrats have privately opined that the silver lining from the recall is that SD-3 will likely elect a new Democratic Senator in 2014.

We may not have heard the last from Giron, however. The word on the street is that Giron is considering mounting a campaign for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State, where CU Regent Joe Neguse has been running as the only Democrat since last summer. Neguse has widespread support among Democratic officials and had a good first fundraising quarter, so it is certainly a surprise to hear that another Democrat might be looking at the race — particularly Angela Giron.

We hear that Giron has gone far enough in the process that she even has a poll in the field testing the waters for SOS, which is not out of the question given that her campaign account may have had some surplus of funds. A poll this early in the race is likely to show relatively weak numbers for Neguse, only because he hasn't yet had time to really raise his name ID, which could give Giron some false hope if she does intend to enter the race. We have a hard time seeing how Giron could win a Democratic primary when she couldn't prevent a recall in a solidly-Democratic Senate district, but that doesn't mean she won't try anyway.