According to the Durango Herald, the race to recall Democratic State Representative Mike McLachlan (Durango) was neck in neck in fundraising until New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg-backed America Votes infused McLachlan’s defense fund with $30,000. David Saleh, executive director of the San Juan Freedom Basin Committee, which is spearheading the recall effort, downplayed the impact of the money, but shared:
“But it’s worth noting that we made a concerted effort to ensure that the recall effort was entirely grass-roots, just people from the district who think he doesn’t represent us, whereas he is being supported and richly funded by out-of-state groups.”
McLachlan’s freshman term in the Colorado State House has been frought with controversial decisions. In fact, McLachlan was the legislator who proposed a 15-round magazine ban, which eventually was signed into law. This move was not popular with his constituents.
A March 7th reader poll in theDurango Herald asked McLachlan’s constituents whether he should be recalled. Nearly two-thirds of the readers who voted in the poll affirmed that he should “absolutely” be recalled.
McLachlan is not the first Colorado recall candidate to be the beneficiary of Bloomberg’s generosity. Earlier this week, it was reported that the Morse and Giron also received major cash from Bloomberg-associated anti-gun organizations, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Citizens for Integrity, and Mainstream Colorado. The combined donations of these groups have totaled approximately $70,000 to each recall target.
While the McLachlan recall effort didn’t succeed, it was a nearly impossible task in a rural district like HD59. Nonetheless, it has to make you wonder: if the Democrats who voted to restrict gun rights had so much local support, how come all their money is coming from elsewhere?