Liberal rising star Nicole Johnston outed herself in the wake of being charged with Driving While Ability Impaired after a dinner over a few hours that led to her getting stuck in mud. More on that in a second. Johnston blew a .05 in blood alcohol level, which is the entry point for DWAI. In what has to be the biggest boneheaded political move this year, Johnston appears to have called the police on herself (unless there’s more to the story that she hasn’t shared).
Here’s what the Aurora Sentinel said about her adventures:
“Johnston said she was headed to her home in an East Aurora subdivision after a dinner where she had a couple of glasses of wine ‘over the course of several hours’ when her car got stuck in mud…. A Colorado State Trooper responded to the call and asked if Johnston had been drinking. She said she told the officer she had and agreed to a breathalyzer, which registered a .05 percent blood alcohol level — just high enough to qualify as a DWAI in Colorado.”
Say what? It sounds like she skipped a few steps there. Step 1: Go to dinner party. Step 2: Have a couple of glasses of wine. Step 3: Get stuck in mud.
Did she swerve off the road? Were there massive mudslides we didn’t hear about in East Aurora that night? Was she riding a bike (no, you cannot drink and bike, which, yes, takes away any incentive to actually ride a bike instead of drive)? Are the wild streets of East Aurora suburbs comparable to the deepest parts of the Amazon during rainy season? Was she driving a Prius down a dirt road – that’s really inadvisable. How does one get stuck in mud driving home from a dinner party?
Earlier this year, Johnston was touted by the Colorado Democratic Party as one of its brightest stars and a graduate of Emerge Colorado, an organization dedicated to elected liberal women to state and local positions. Johnston was honored along with Crystal Murillo and Allison Hiltz for being “breakout stars” within the party at the inaugural Obama Dinner in February.
Complicating matters, Johnston is running in a contested race for mayor pro tem, which is selected by fellow council members, against Bob Roth, who did not call the police on himself after drinking at a dinner party.
Hey, next time you get stuck after you’ve been drinking, maybe consider calling the police after you’ve sobered up? Better yet, it might be better just to not drive home.