Hickenlooper: Colorado Voters, Not NRA, Recalled State Senators

Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper on Sunday played down last week's recall of two Democratic state senators whose votes for stricter gun-control laws cost them their jobs.
"I'm not sure it has a national message or even a statewide message," Hickenlooper said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The recall of state Sens. Angela Giron and John Morse were orchestrated by the National Rifle Association in response to their stances on universal background checks and high-capacity magazines.

"That seemed to be what people were really trying to turn out the vote on to recall the two individuals," Hickenlooper said.

The NRA spent a reported half-million dollars to oust the senators in the state's first-ever recall election. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who contributed $350,000 to save the political pair, was outspent.

“Like a lot of western states, we're very self-determinant," Hickenlooper said. "We like to solve our own problems with our own people. There is a certain resentment when any outside money, whether it's from Bloomberg or from the National Rifle Association – outside money coming in is generally not welcomed from the middle-of-the-road voters who help decide these things."