CO-04 (Special Election) See Full Big Line

(R) Greg Lopez

(R) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Biden*

(R) Donald Trump

80%

20%↓

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

90%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

90%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(D) Adam Frisch

(R) Jeff Hurd

(R) Ron Hanks

40%

30%

20%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(R) Deborah Flora

(R) J. Sonnenberg

30%↑

15%↑

10%↓

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Dave Williams

(R) Jeff Crank

50%↓

50%↑

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

90%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) Brittany Pettersen

85%↑

 

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

(R) Janak Joshi

60%↑

35%↓

30%↑

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
May 15, 2012 09:28 PM UTC

"Kill Committee" Actions May Lead to Death of GOP Control in House

  • 24 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols begins to tally the damage:

On Monday morning, as supporters of civil unions rallied on the Capitol’s west steps, Dan Ritchie and Greg Stevinson, two reliable, deep-pocketed GOP donors, stood with them.

Sources have told FOX 31 that Stevinson, along with Charlie Gallagher, another big GOP donor, are so upset with McNulty’s handling of the civil unions bill they may not donate to his GOP Majority fund this fall [Pols emphasis] – this as the Democrats’ main money man, Tim Gill, who made a point of showing up for Monday’s hearing in person, is likely to write even larger checks to help Democrats win back a House majority.

—–

Last night House Speaker Frank McNulty used a “kill committee” to end the hopes of civil unions legislation in the 2012 Colorado legislative session. We continue to be baffled by McNulty’s political rationale behind this move; while McNulty’s maneuvering to prevent the bill from reaching the House floor may galvanize a portion of the GOP base, he also handed Democrats a ginormous stick with which to pummel Republican candidates in the fall.

We were reminded of a telling statement from Public Policy Polling in April when they released new survey results showing that a whopping 62% of Colorado voters support civil unions (compared to 32% opposition). As PPP noted in their April memo:

We already see Colorado shading bluer and bluer at the Presidential level and this is one of the issues where Republicans seem to be stuck behind while the electorate is moving forward.

There was no way that McNulty and friends were going to come out of the Special Session looking good after last week’s end-run around the House floor to prevent a vote on civil unions, but there was a way to reduce the damage. McNulty should have let the bill go to the floor and let any Republican ‘YES’ vote become available for the public record.

What happened instead is that McNulty turned a single issue — civil unions — into a broader narrative of Republicans refusing to even give legislation a fair up or down vote. While that 62% of Colorado voters who support civil unions will no doubt be reminded again and again of McNulty’s tactics as we approach November, the GOP is also going to lose a lot of votes from people who may have been indifferent to the issue but really don’t like seeing the Democratic process being tossed in the trash. A loss of votes in November from opposition to civil unions was probably inevitable. Losing voters because McNulty’s maneuvering was altogether avoidable.

It was this kind of behavior that ultimately led to Republicans losing control of the legislature in 2004, and it’s a good bet that history will repeat itself come November.

 

Tweet
Share

Comments

24 thoughts on ““Kill Committee” Actions May Lead to Death of GOP Control in House”

  1. When even your own House members are on record as saying you’re abusing the political process and making a mockery of the rules of the chamber – that’s not a good thing.

    And McNulty’s continually referring to “gay marriage” rather than letting the words “civil unions” pass his lips is outrageously dishonest. It is a “big lie” tactic perpetrated by McCarthy and worse. The civil unions bill was fundamentally different from marriage, and McNulty knew it. But to him, apparently, the ends justify the means.

  2. … wasn’t this kind of behavior, but rather the Republican insistence on passing fringe “morality” bills when there were more important things to do. If Democrats want to capitalize on that, they’ll have to remind voters of the water projects bill that the GOP left on the table rather than considering the civil unions bill. Seems like a hard sell on insider baseball.

    This situation isn’t the same.

    1. The part you’re leaving out is the fact that Republicans are always punitive and restrictive with their moral agenda. Democrats want to lift people up, Republicans want to curtail freedoms. That was the case in 2004, and it’s the case today.

      I don’t think it’s as simple as “wasting time on wedge issues.” The issues matter, and compassionate versus restrictive policy matters. I will always believe that love triumphs over hate, even if we sometimes have other things to deal with.

      Signed,

      Pollyanna

    2. The overarching theme in 2004 was that Republicans were just screwing around with control of the legislature. McNulty has opened them up to similar charges.

  3. And it’s not that the legislation died.

    It’s how.

    People not inclined to dismiss this egregious subversion of the rules by the duplicitous Mcnulty as “OK because he’s a red” look at this and see the undermining of the will of the people by a small number of committed ideologues.

    South Africa saw similar “shenanigans” lead to the end of Apartheid, albeit, through a long, bloody route.

    The ballot box is the greatest form of showing discontent.

    1 State Rep flips the House.

    This hugely disappointing bastardization of the process by the republicans yesterday could, and should, contribute largely to a huge Democratic landslide victory in November.

    Registration and activism.

    The Democrats must take this injustice and turn into the best thing that ever happened.

    But a person can’t help if they’ve been pulled off the rolls by Gessler.

    Go to gottaregister.com.

    Make sure.

  4. went into this year’s attempt for justice.

    Justice will come to CO. Do not accept defeat.

    In light of yesterday’s defeat of Civil Unions in Colorado, I am rewatching a movie that had very personal connections for me (I married a couple in the movie) about the long struggle for equality in Massachusetts from 2003-2007. MA was the first state to legalize gay marriage, and it was a long and arduous journey to get it done. The movie is encouraging — no matter how difficult the struggle — being on the right side of history is always worth the heartache and the frustration. NEVER GIVE UP ON JUSTICE. Colorado’s day will soon come.

    Just found out you can download the movie for FREE here. http://www.ionlinemovie.com/Mo…

    1. Sorry. No, I don’t have anything to do with that company. I’ll look for it on Hulu. It is an inspiring movie, though. Like all my favorite movies, it has a happy ending!

  6. Can you or Eli Stokols produce ONE Republican major donor who is willing to publicly say he is cutting off Republicans over this?

    Until you can, I call BS. I don’t believe it.

    1. I’m still waiting for your pre-programmed response from the RomneyShip on veteran and military issues.

      You do know I will keep posting after every one of your bs posts, right?

  7. Where is Joe Coors on this issue? I am sure that he defines marriage as a man and a women, but his family’s company has provided same sex couples benefits for quite a while. Sounds like he might support civil unions, but that may be wishful thinking. At a minimum, given the fact he is running self-funded campaign, for all intents and purposes, maybe he will not feel the need to kowtow to the haters.

  8. McNulty is itching to go to Congress, and with redristricting, Douglas County has SOLE control of CD4

    I don’t think McNulty cares about GOP control – if he can run in Douglas as the man who killed Civil Unions, he’ll run away with the election (and note to Cory Gardner – watch out for the primary monster!)

    Take heart fellow activists – civil unions didn’t happen this year but they will happen soon – I promise – don’t lost faith  

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

166 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!