Voters must do the heavy lifting this election season and solicit promises from state lawmakers to complete their term of office, and then hold their feet to the fire.
It’s only a two-year term for the state House, and four in the Senate. But nowadays, that’s become too much to ask.
Politicians are getting in the bad habit of quitting their jobs mid-term. So now it’s up to constituents to hound them to very depths of Hell for bailing on voters.
The problem in Colorado is that nearly one-third of all lawmakers serving under the dome were not elected by 89,000 people in a House district or 165,000 in a Senate district, but by a few dozen party insiders on a vacancy committee.
Democrats in particular are using the vacancy committee more often to stack the deck in their favor and thwart the Democratic process.
This way, their successor is guaranteed to be a Democrat replacement by a vacancy committee, rather than face an election against a Republican.
Colorado Politics reports:
Of the 29 appointed seats at the Capitol, eight came from the 2022 election and into the 2023 session. Six seats were vacated in the House and two stepped down in the Senate.
Seven of the eight lawmakers who gained their seats through vacancies since the 2022 election have yet to face voters. They will do so in 2024.
While Democrats are the primary offenders, there are also several Republicans in the legislature appointed through vacancy committees.
Colorado Politics takes a deep dive into these shadowy committees and the problems they face, and shares some handwringing from House Speaker Julie McCluskie who frets there’s just nothing to be done about it.
So, while the problem persists mainly from the party in charge, the party in charge is unlikely to do anything about it.
But this is an issue that crosses party lines, and Coloradans should be mighty pissed that lawmakers have found a way to bypass the voters to elect representatives and senators with just a couple dozen party insiders.
The only way to hold them responsible, is to hold them responsible.
Demand they sign a pledge committing to finish the job they start and hold their feet to the fire if they break their word.