With the 2023 session of the Colorado General Assembly well underway, a conservative group known as Colorado Liberty Republicans has released a scorecard of all 100 Colorado House and Senate members ranking their “vote[s] according to Constitutional Principles: Individual Rights, Free Markets and Limited Government.” A fair amount of work went into tracking each lawmaker’s status on an exhaustive list of bills, so whether you agree with their slant or not it’s a wealth of data worth a glance at least.
So who, you ask, is the most unshakable liberty-loving conservative Republican in the Colorado legislature today? The answer might surprise you based on the recent headlines:
It’s no coincidence that these lawmakers have been involved with some of the greater embarrassments so far this session, like turning the debate over a resolution in support of the Equal Rights Amendment into a circus of transphobia. Reps. Ken “Skin” DeGraaf and Scott “There Is No” Bottoms have emerged as the leading public faces of the House GOP minority caucus by turning the incendiary rhetoric up to 11 at every opportunity. But while DeGraaf and Bottoms hog the spotlight, it’s Rep. Stephanie Luck easily besting all of them as the ideological pole star of the caucus–and it’s not close.
Rep. Luck was one of only two non-freshman lawmakers to vote in support of Bottoms’ failed and widely-criticized bid for House speaker, which was also a vote of disloyalty to GOP House Minority Leader Mike Lynch. Together with DeGraaf and Bottoms, Luck represents the “next generation” leadership of the former hard-right GOP caucus faction once led by ex-House Minority Leader Patrick Neville.
And making Neville proud, they’re the tail wagging the dog. When the time inevitably comes for the caucus to get publicly upset about the lack of spirit in the House micro-minority’s resistance, here’s where the belly-thumping will begin.
I have to wonder about the voting thus far… Lowest scoring among Republicans:
* In the House, with a score of 45, Rep. Rick Taggart.
* In the Senate, at 46, Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer.
Going to be interesting to see results at the end of the session.
Who knew! Kirkmeyer is really a RINO!
It’s not bad enough that Fremont County had to give Colorado certified lunatic Ron Hanks, but now they’ve inflicted this lady on the state. It’s so embarrassing.
Naturally, these were the same voters who were proud to have Kevin Grantham leading the State Senate while he played defense and covered up for sexual abusers in his caucus.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most batshit crazy of us all?
I’m surprise Elisabeth Epps scored 23. I figured with her reputation as a socialist, she would be in single digits. Maybe she’s more moderate than I thought she’d be.
As you probably know, these scorecards aren't hard science, they're just "voting record compared to the organization's position." Nobody got below 14 on this one (a 3-way tie). Just for example, Epps probably got some of her goody-goody points for agreeing on bills like SB40, which passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
But it seems to me she does have something like a maverick streak, and will buck Dems time to time. Liberty scorecards like this do reward libertarian positions, and it is possible to hold far left and libertarian positions within the same corporal body.
I'm actually not surprised at all. Along with the economic "limited government" bills listed that she did not support (as one of our most left-wing members), she's highly skeptical of using police power, most any type of felony incarceration, and the like…one of our most staunch civil libertarians. So those noes would count as "small government" because they shrink the scope of governmental interference (especially in things like drug laws). My Rep. Woodrow, isn't quite as high, but I think the same logic applies to him here, as well.
Shouldn't this group more accurately be called "Colorado Tyranny Republicans"? I know those last two words together are redundant at this point.
The scorecard that counts for me is the one done by Conservation Colorado at the end of the session.
The “Liberty” scorecard is suspect anyway. Kirkmeyer isn’t the only R “scoring 60 or below.
Just the latest Nevilleish goad to keep the flock in line and laser-sight focused on gun legislation opposition.
Kevin Van Winkle’s once safe red House seat has been flipped to blue and is part of the Senate District he currently represents. Could be problematic when he’s up for reelection in 2024.
He's not up until 2026.
All the more time for it to become a little bluer. He's still in trouble.