Washington, D.C. – Colorado Citizen Press recently took a poll of our readers that should be a warning for Republicans in Congress, and really at any level, not to cross the Republican base.
We asked our readers: Regardless of Party if your elected officials support Red Flag Gun confiscation, will they lose your vote?
The response was an undeniable yes. Our readers will buck their party if their representative supports Red Flag laws. Out of 486 of our readers who took the poll, 463 (over 95%) said they would not vote for any candidate who supports Red Flag.
Of course, this is not a scientific poll and more of a vote by our readership (in the ten’s of thousands), but that does not necessarily make the outcome less impactful.
Yes, we’ve seen the “scientific polling” on the issue. Frankly, we’re not sure the pollsters polled the question correctly. Not to mention, after 2016, you have to take anything those pollsters say with a grain of salt (or possibly a jar).
The Base
Our audience is fair a snapshot of the Republican base in Colorado, and Republicans everywhere may want to check before they consider any level of support for Red Flag laws and other forms of gun-control.
Especially, Senator Cory Gardner, who is likely facing the toughest Senate race in the country this cycle. Gardner may not be the top ticket race in 2020, but crossing notoriously picky Republican voters might be all his Democratic opponent needs to win.
There is a history of Red Flag support earning Colorado Republicans an undervote in their elections. Former Rep. Cole Wist fell from grace in a solidly Republican district after sponsoring Red Flag at the end of the 2018 legislative session. Ex-congressman Mike Coffman, who was a notoriously strong campaigner, failed after supporting Red Flag. George Brauchler supported (and still does support) Wist’s Red Flag legislation, but lost his election to a liberal activist with almost no court record.
It may also be pertinent to note that Mike Coffman lost his election in a Democrat-leaning district after shifting to the center by supporting Red Flag. Obviously, that didn’t win him enough Democrat votes. One of our writers even opined last month that if President Donald Trump supports Red Flag, it will not help him win in 2020.
Gardner is mostly keeping mum on the issue as Congress heads back to work with plans to discuss further gun-control. His Republican base may not like that strategy very much, but he still has an opportunity to win them back if he comes out strong in opposition to the entire gun-control package.
Crossing the Republican base on this issue will almost certainly earn most candidates an undervote, and will not pull in new voters. Independents who strongly support Red Flag laws will most likely vote on other liberal issues and for Democrat candidates anyway.
The truth is, every candidate in Colorado who thought they could steal home with Red Flag support got thrown out at the plate in the last election. Hopefully, Republicans in 2020 won’t repeat the same mistake.
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