Angela Giron
Giron in 2011
Member of the Colorado Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
January 12, 2011 – September 10, 2013
Succeeded byGeorge Rivera
Personal details
Born (1960-05-12) May 12, 1960
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseSteve Nawrocki
Alma materColorado State University Pueblo

Angela Giron (born May 12, 1960) is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the Colorado Senate representing District 3 from 2011 until she was recalled on September 10, 2013, by groups opposed to her gun control legislation.[1] Giron is the second ever Colorado legislator to have been successfully recalled in the state's history.[2]

Early career

Senator Giron was appointed to the Colorado State Senate (from District 3) in August, 2010. She replaced Senator Abel Tapia, who resigned to become the director of the Colorado Lottery. She was re-elected later in 2010 and in 2012. At the time of her appointment, District 3 encompassed 89% of Pueblo County and included most of the City of Pueblo, Pueblo West and Beulah.

Prior to her Senate career, Giron worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Pueblo, helping greatly expand and develop the organization.[3] She also served as a congressional aide to U.S. Senators Ken Salazar and Michael Bennet.[4]

2013 recall

On June 10, 2013, some constituents of Giron turned in 13,466 signatures to recall her from political office, passing the threshold of 11,285 signatures needed to trigger a recall election. Of those 13,466 signatures, 12,648 were found to be valid and a recall election was allowed to proceed, making her the second politician in the history of the state of Colorado to be subject to recall.[5] The recall election took place on September 10, 2013, and Giron was recalled by a margin of 56 percent to 43.9 percent, making her the second politician in Colorado state history to lose a recall election; John Morse, recalled on the same day, was the first.[6]

Senator Giron made unsubstantiated claims after her surprising loss that her opponents had engaged in "voter suppression" to oust her from office. She was favored by many to win the election, and her 12-point defeat was a substantial surprise. Senator Giron stated during a CNN interview by anchor/correspondent Brooke Baldwin shortly after her ouster "'We know what really happened here ... ,' Giron said. 'What this story really is about, it's about voter suppression.'" CNN's Baldwin moved the interview away from the alleged suppression back toward the issues that led to the recall.

The unsubstantiated suppression charge had initially been raised by Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman-Schultz said in a statement released by the DNC on September 11, 2013: "The recall elections in Colorado were defined by the vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way of voters for the purpose of reversing the will of the legislature and the people. This was voter suppression, pure and simple."

Colorado's largest newspaper, The Denver Post, whose editorial board has supported the gun control measures championed by Senator Giron, took issue with the Senator's accusations. In an editorial published September 13, 2013, the Post noted: "We opposed the recall, but we also oppose lurid attempts to portray Colorado's recall elections as somehow illegitimate." The editorial also took exception to Giron's charge that her supporters were not able to get to the polls: "People who supported her 'weren't able' to get to the polls? Nonsense. They were no less able to get to the polls than folks on the other side. If a disproportionate number of her supporters failed to vote, it's because they chose not to."[7]

Subsequent career

Giron considered running for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State in the 2014 elections,[8] but she decided against it.[9]

Personal life

Giron has a daughter, Melanie, and a son-in-law, Adam; she is married to Steve Nawrocki, a former Pueblo City Councilman. She spoke at the Latina Youth Conference in Wyoming in 2017[10]

Electoral history

Colorado State Senate District 3, 2013 Recall Question: "Shall Angela Giron Be Recalled?"[11]
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 19,451 55.9
No 15,376 44.1
Total votes 34,827 100.00
Colorado State Senate Election District 3, 2010[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Angela Giron 24,827 55.0
Republican Vera Ortegon 20,313 45.0
Total votes 45,140 100.0
Democratic hold

References

  1. ↑ "Two Colorado lawmakers who backed strict gun control laws ousted in recall". NBC News. 11 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Lee, Kurtis In Sen. Angela Giron recall, organizers say they’ll submit more than 13,500 signatures, Denver Post, June 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Meet Angela". angelagiron.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Senator Angela Giron's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Kurtis Lee (June 24, 2013). "Angela Giron recall effort moves forward with signatures certified". Denver Post. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ Lynn Barels, Kurtis Lee and Joey Bunch (September 10, 2013). "John Morse, Angela Giron ousted in historic Colorado recall election". Denver Post. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ The Denver Post Editorial Board (September 13, 2013). "Voter suppression in Angela Giron recall? Hardly". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  8. ↑ Lynn Bartels (December 19, 2013). "Recalled Colorado state Sen. Giron polls, mulls secretary of state race". The Denver Post. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ Eli Stokols (January 12, 2014). "Recalled lawmaker Giron will stay out of Colo. Secretary of State race". KDVR. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Senator Angela Giron". coloradosenate.org. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Colorado Recall Election Results 2013". State of Colorado. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  12. ↑ "Colorado General Election Results 2010". State of Colorado. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
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