Colorado voters on Tuesday punished a pair of Democratic sta𝓀te lawmakers who backed tighter gun laws in 𝕴the aftermath of mass shootings, voting to kick them out of office in a recall election pushed by grassroots activists and bankrolled by the National Rifle Association.
Senate President John Morse lost by just 343 votes Tuesday in a swing district in the Republican stronghold of C😼olorado Springs, home to many Evangelicals and the US Air Force Academy.
Sen. Angela Giron lost by a bigger margin in a largely blue-collar district in Pueblo that fa꧂vors D☂emocrats.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg🏅 contributed more than $300,000 tꦦo support the pair, while the NRA spent about the same to back the recall.
The NRA said the election sent a message to lawmakers that they should protect gun rights and be accountable to their constituents, not to “anti-gun billionaires” — a swipe at Bloomberg.
Deꦏmocrats will still maintain control of the state Legislature and the laws are expected to remain in pꩵlace.
“The loss of this senate seat is purely symbolic,” Morse said.
Angered by new limits on ammun💯ition magazines and expanded background checks, gun-rights activists tried to recall a total of four lawmakers but were only able to launch recalls of Morse and Giron.
The pair supported the tougher laws, w🅺hich were enacted after mass ﷽shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Both legislators voted for 15-round ꦛlimits on ammunition magazines and for expanded background checks on private gun sales after the 2012 mass murders.
Reported contributions to Morse and Giron totaled about $3 million, dwarfing the amount raised by gun activists who petitioned for the recall, though some independent groups didn’t have to report spending. Both the NRA and Bloomberg contributed more than $300,000 to the pro- and anti-recall campaigns.
Morse, a former police chief in a C⛎olorado Springs suburb, was first elected to the Senate in 2006. He will be replaced by Republican Bernie Herpin. Giron will be replaced by former Pueblo police officer George Rivera.