Colo. Senator Says He 'Cannot Continue' to Be a Republican Due to Party's Jan. 6, Stolen Election Claims

Jim Anderson/AP/Shutterstock Colorado Republican Sen. Kevin Priola, left, Democratic House Speaker KC Becker, center, and Democratic Sen. Lois Court discuss a proposed ballot initiative to let the state keep excess tax revenue in Denver on March 20, 2019. Citing alarm toward the Republican Party's widespread embrace of 2020 election conspiracies, a moderate GOP Colorado state senator has switched his affiliation to Democrat. Priola's decision, announced, enhances Democrats' chances of retaining their majority in the chamber in the November midterms Colorado Legislator-Party Switch, Denver, United States - 20 Mar 2019

Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola says he is switching his party registration from Republican to Democratic, citing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continued claims by Donald Trump and his supporters that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."

In a statement released Monday and shared by Axios, Priola says he first became a Republican in 1990, at a time when President Ronald Reagan was "looking out for American interests, not cozying up to Russia" and working "across the aisle on immigration issues."

"I haven't changed much in 30 years, but my party has," Priola — who represents Colorado's 25th District — adds.

Elsewhere in his statement, Priola writes that the modern-day Republican Party is facing a number of "existential" crises, from a failure to distance itself from Trump to a failure to act on climate change.

"I cannot continue to be a part of a political party that is okay with a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen," Priola writes.

He continues: "For these reasons, today, I'm announcing that I have changed my party registration from Republican to Democrat."

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Priola writes that he will begin caucusing with Democrats, but will "not be changing the way I vote on legislation," adding that he continues to be pro-life, pro-school choice and pro-Second Amendment.

"Even if there will continue to be issues that I disagree with the Democratic Party on, there is too much at stake right now for Republicans to be in charge," he writes.

As Axios notes, Priola's announcement decreases the chances that the GOP could retake the Democrat-controlled Senate in Colorado, a goal of many in the party.

Priola assumed office in 2017 and was reelected in 2020. His term expires in 2025.

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, took to Twitter after the announcement to welcome Priola to the party.

"Proud to welcome @KevinPriola to the Democratic Party," Polis wrote. "We are a broad tent party, always seeking good ideas from the left and right to move CO forward. Senator Priola is a strong leader on climate issues & will hopefully be even more effective on the Democratic side of the aisle.

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Since he left the White House amid controversy, Trump has remained extremely relevant in Republican politics, despite being impeached twice and being mired in a number of scandals during and after office.

Post-presidency, Trump has continued wading into state and national politics, endorsing candidates he supports — and who support him — while often speaking out against those he considers disloyal.

Ten Republicans crossed party lines in 2021 to vote against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate twice after being impeached. Some of those Republicans have used similar language to Priola when describing how their party has changed due to Trump.

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Rep. Liz Cheney — who recently lost her bid for reelection despite being a longtime Republican and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney — has said the GOP has become a "cult of personality."

"The Republican party today is in very bad shape. And I think that we have a tremendous amount of work to do," Cheney said. "I think that it could take several election cycles, but the country has got to have a Republican party that's actually based on substance, based on principles."