By JUAN ESPINOSA
When she announced her candidacy for Pueblo County Commissioner, former State Senator Angela Giron says she knew she was in for a fight.
for Pueblo County Commissioner
“I’m a fighter! I fight for what’s right and I don’t back down and that’s what I’ll do at the County,” she said in an interview with La Cucaracha News.
Thirteen years ago, Giron’s tenure as a state senator ended abruptly when she was defeated in a recall election sparked by her votes on three gun safety bills.
“I wasn’t a prime sponsor on the bills, but I certainly voted for them, supported them and I’m glad they’re still on the books,” she said. “I think it was a small personal price to pay, to be recalled for that.”
Since the recall, the laws that were the focus of the recall have not been overturned. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett and Gov. Polis have touted the state’s gun laws as national models.
When she was approached to run for county commissioner, Giron knew the issues of the gun legislation and recall would resurface. Though it was a painful experience personally, she decided to stand her ground like she did 13 years ago. What she learned from the experience is to listen.
“I never want people to feel like they aren’t being heard. When I was a senator, I was one of the few people in the state who consistently held town halls to listen directly to people. And still, I know some walked away feeling unheard,” she said. “That’s the real lesson, doing everything I can to make sure people feel heard, even when we disagree, and that’s what I would bring to this county commissioner seat: a deep commitment to creating real opportunities for people to be heard.”
She says there were many myths that were being spread during the recall and that some people believed. Critics were saying, “Angela was coming for your guns.”
The bills in question were “minimal legislation,” she said. They banned ammunition magazines over 15 rounds, closed some loopholes in gun registration, and charged a fee of $5 to do a background check.
“I believe in the second amendment and I also support common sense measures that do not limit law abiding citizens’ ability to protect their families,” she said.
The issue of low voter turnout was another factor in determining the outcome of the recall. A significant contributing factor was that mail-in-ballots were not approved for a recall election.
“We went to court because mail-in-ballots weren’t in a voter bill that had just been passed (that I had sponsored),” Giron said. “There was nothing in the bill about recall elections. We went to court to extend the bill to include recall elections and the Republicans opposed us and were able to stop the use of mail-in ballots. The next year, the legislature fixed it.”
As a result, the 2013 recall election had the lowest turnout ever. It was a special election and was not in November or a time when we normally would have an election. It was Sept. 11, 2013. The voter turnout was 36 percent of the registered 97,260 eligible voters — 19,451 (20 percent of eligible voters) in favor of the recall, 15,376 against.
In general, the higher voter turnout favors the more progressive issues and candidates and the smaller turnout, favors the more conservative issues and candidates.
Colorado is consistently one of the top states for voter turnout. In 2026, 73 percent of registered voters in Pueblo County voted, more than double the turnout of the recall election.
However you analyze the recall election, it was ugly. One group at the town hall meeting held at the Rawlings Library chanted, “Bring back the hanging tree and hang that sp*c.” The night of the recall election, the Colorado State Patrol had to stay at Giron’s home because people were driving back and forth in front of her home honking their horns and shouting obscenities.
Over 700 people attended the town hall at the library. “When my husband and daughter walked in, they were spitting on them and shouting racial slurs,” she said “It’s not unusual for a woman to hear that and it didn’t bother me, but when your daughter and husband have to hear that — it impacted them in a big way.”
Recall aside, Giron had a remarkable run in the Colorado State Senate where she sponsored, championed, and passed nearly 50 bills, many of them directly benefiting Pueblo.
She secured millions of dollars to build the General Education building at CSU–Pueblo, passed a comprehensive package of election reforms that made Colorado elections a national model, and brought the Asset Bill over the finish line, providing in-state tuition for undocumented students after seven previous failed attempts.
In addition to her legislative record, Giron has demonstrated strong executive leadership as CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Pueblo County. Over eight years, she increased the organization’s revenue by 500 percent, expanded services from three sites to twelve, including the organization’s first site in Pueblo West, and managed a multi-million-dollar budget with perfect audits and zero deficits. Before jumping into the commersioner’s race, Giron had already planned to retire from the Boys & Girls Clubs in June.
“What I hope people understand is that my first priority as County Commissioner is to ensure Pueblo County’s finances are on solid footing and to rebuild trust by making sure county government is transparent, accountable, and actually working for the people it serves.”
Giron went on to say “I am a leader who works hard and knows how to bring people together to solve problems. And we are going to need that kind of leadership in the County.”
That makes her “the right person at the right time for Pueblo County,” supporters have said.
Pueblo County is facing a significant budget shortfall of more than $10 million heading into the 2026 fiscal year, putting pressure on core county operations. Compounding that challenge, the County also has roughly $2 million in unpaid bills that are more than 90 days past due.