February 01, 2016 01:10 PM UTC

Dems Roll Priola Over "Family Values" Hypocrisy

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• by: Colorado Pols

GOP Rep. Kevin Priola, looking to trade up to the Senate this year in a competitive race to succeed outgoing Democratic Sen. Mary Hodge, did himself no favors last week after requesting a delay in voting on a parental leave bill to take his own child to a doctor’s appointment–and then voting no on the bill.

Priola’s gaffe opened up a line of attack from Democrats and allies that he and Republicans hoping to hold the Senate in 2016 do not need. In a press release from liberal group ProgressNow Colorado today:

“As the parent of a Jeffco public school student, being there for my son’s educational needs is personally important,” said ProgressNow Colorado political director Alan Franklin. “As a fellow family man, Rep. Priola should be able to appreciate the difficulty we face being there for our kids. But not only did Kevin Priola vote against parental leave for school activities, he did so after hypocritically asking to be excused for a child’s doctor’s appointment.”

“It’s just another example of the right wing’s hostility toward the ‘family values’ they claim to champion,” said Franklin. “When families are in conflict with corporate special interests, the ‘party of family values’ leaves the families of Colorado out in the cold. By delaying his vote against parental leave with the excuse of needing to take care of his own children, Rep. Priola exposes hypocrisy much greater than his own.”

The Democratic Senate Campaign Fund sent this statement to us over the weekend with a knock on Priola from Democratic opponent Jenise May:

Representative Kevin Priola who is running for Senate District 25 believes that parents should be able to take unpaid time off from their job for their children, but only if it is for him to spend time with his children. Last week it was reported that a vote on unpaid time off in the House Education Committee was delayed as Rep. Priola had to take his child to the doctor. After taking time off to deal with his family issues, Priola made his position very clear. He and his family are worthy of earning unpaid leave to deal with family issues. However, hardworking Colorado families are not so worthy in Priola’s eyes. On Wednesday, he voted ‘No’ on House Bill 16-1002 in Committee.

This hypocritical behavior did not end on Wednesday. After all of this, Priola then attacked teachers saying that they should “hold parent-teacher conferences on weekends” supposedly to allow for parents to be able to attend, regardless of their work schedule. Not only does this weekend parent teacher conference policy hurt the already overworked and under-paid teachers across the state, but it also would not be necessary if the bill that Priola voted ‘No’ on became law.

Former Representative Jenise May, who is running for Senate District 25 against Priola, said on Friday “It is sad that hardworking Colorado families are not able to take advantage of the same unpaid time off that Representative Priola uses at the Capitol. I knew he would be against any paid leave, but he should understand that many parents are unable to even take one shift off a year to help their children succeed academically.”

This unforced error by Rep. Priola carries more than the usual messaging danger for Republicans, since the parental leave issue plays very well with swing suburban constituencies like the voters of SD-25. Control of the Colorado Senate in the 2016 elections boils down to just a few races, and with Democrats keen to retake the Senate in a presidential year, the margin for error is perilously small.

And folks, this was definitely an error. Priola would have been far better off to simply let the vote proceed, since it would have passed committee with or without his vote. By vividly expressing the hypocrisy of “family values” Republicans opposing actual “family values” proposals, Priola is now the poster child for something voters really don’t like about them.

And that is not good for any politician’s upward mobility.