A Colorado state senator has switched from Republican to Democrat due to multiple “existential threats” from the GOP.
Colorado state senator Kevin Priola announced his defection in a letter posted on social media, citing political and environmental threats from the Republican party.
“I cannot continue to be a part of a political party that is okay with a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen,” Sen. Kevin Priola said.
Priola also cited the Republican party’s lack of action on climate change, saying that his GOP colleagues proudly seek to impede any progress.
The announcement matters because it represents a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump and the national Republican Party. Furthermore, and more specifically, it deflates GOP hopes in Colorado of retaking the Democrat-controlled state senate, which is one of the most targeted legislative battles in America.
“I have become increasingly worried about our planet and the climate crisis we are facing,” Kevin Priola said.
“The Republican party I joined decades ago created national parks, preserved federal lands, and protected wildlife. President Nixon signed the legislation that created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today, my Republican colleagues would rather deny the existence of human-caused climate change than take action.”
Priola said inaction by Republicans, who are attempting to block “reasonable climate measures,” would affect Coloradans already subject to near year-round wildfires and a never-ending drought. He said this meant he could no longer stay silent.
Priola was elected in 2020 in the 25th senate district within the Denver suburbs and is meant to carry his term until 2025.
Priola went out of his way to advocate against his party in the 2022 midterms, saying: “Democrats in charge because our planet and democracy depend on it.”
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