Democrat state Rep. Matt Gray of Broomfield is taking matters into his own hands and writing legislation to kick Rep. Steve Lebsock out of the state house.
“At this point I have enough information, and I’ve seen enough information to know that I don’t believe that any woman who wants to participate in the lawmaking process in Colorado should have to interact with Steve Lebsock,” Rep. Matt Gray (D-Broomfield) told 9NEWS.
The action requires a super-majority vote, two-thirds, so it would actually be up to the entire House to take expel the lawmaker.
The vote would have no authority to prevent Lebsock from running for another office, state treasurer, which the embattled politician still plans to pursue.
It’s an interesting avenue for Democrats to pursue, but we’re going to have to disagree with them on this plot.
The state legislature did not elect Lebsock, the voters did, and the voters are perfectly capable of organizing a recall election.
But here’s Gray’s response to that:
“I don’t think taxpayers should have to pay for an election to hold Rep. Lebsock accountable when members of the general assembly are perfectly capable of holding him accountable ourselves.”
Therein lies the problem. It sounds like the Democratic delegation did not hold Lebsock accountable when they heard the accusations, they only want to now that the public is aware of it.
It’s not a precedent we’d like to see, and has the potential to spark future partisan battles with Democrats trying to kick out Republican members, for example, over a legislative issue.
Lebsock’s constituents voted him into office, and it’s up to them whether he should ride out his term while he’s also campaigning for the office of state treasurer.