Colorado state Sen. Randy Baumgardner survived a Democratic push Monday to expel him from office for sexual harassment, with one of his Republican colleagues calling it “a public lynching.”
The Senate voted 17-17 in a near party-line vote against a resolution to expel the Republican from northwestern Colorado after three hours of debate, in which Democrats suggested the inaction sent a devastating message to victims.
“People are watching. And if we continue to do nothing, if we continue down the path of inaction, it just further engrains that this is normal behavior — that it’s the cost of doing business,” said Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder.
Sen. Ray Scott, a Grand Junction lawmaker in a tough re-election fight, is the only Republican who supported Baumgardner’s expulsion, and the resolution fell well short of the 24 votes needed in a rare evening session with most Republicans saying the evidence didn’t adequately support the allegations.
“Frankly, what we are engaging in is somewhat of a public lynching,” said Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, who described the hurtful effects the allegations have had on Baumgardner’s family. “I’ve never supported that. I hope you haven’t either.”
The dramatic debate came seven weeks after Republican leaders dismissed the complaint against Baumgardner without taking disciplinary action — a move that prompted Democrats to call for his ouster.
An independent investigator determined that it appeared “more likely than not” that Baumgardner grabbed and slapped the buttocks of a legislative aide for a Democratic member four times in 2016. Two other formal complaints for harassment are pending.
Senate President Kevin Grantham — the top Republican lawmaker in Colorado — blasted the outside investigation of the complaint and closed the case in February, citing “inaccuracies, bias, conflicts of interest and inconsistencies” in the report. He refused to introduce the Democratic resolution to oust Baumgarder for seven weeks and hastily scheduled the debate Monday.
Baumgardner, a former Republican whip and unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Senate, watched the debate stone-faced from his seat on the chamber’s back row as all but one Democratic lawmaker read details from the complaint and called for expulsion.
In front of the chamber, near the end of the debate, he read from a statement and once again denied the allegations against him, offering a conditional apology if his behavior ever unintentionally offended someone. Baumgardner did not vote on the resolution, and after the vote said, “It’s time to go home.”
Baumgardner voluntarily has relinquished his chairmanship of the transportation committee. But he still remains in positions of power as chairman of the Capital Development Committee and vice chairman of the Agriculture Committee.
The Senate’s action stands in stark contrast to the 52-9 vote in the House to expel state Rep. Steve Lebsock, a former Thornton Democrat, for allegations of sexual harassment. He was the first lawmaker ejected from the Colorado General Assembly in more than 100 years.
The outcome in the Senate appeared clear from the start, as the Senate’s 16 Democratic lawmakers needed support from seven Republicans and one independent lawmaker to reach the two-thirds threshold for expulsion.
Sen. Cheri Jahn, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who became an independent this session, said before the vote that she didn’t believe Baumgardner’s action rose “to the ultimate level of expulsion.”
And she expressed concern about the current political climate and the numerous sexual harassment complaints being filed against lawmakers. “I think we have to be very careful,” Jahn said.
Five Colorado lawmakers have faced allegations of harassment since November amid concerns of a toxic culture at the Capitol.
“There’s a dark cloud that’s haunting the Senate when it comes to sexual harassment,” said Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, in calling for Baumgardner’s removal. “It’s time for us to move and blow — and get rid of the dark cloud because there’s no place for sexual harassment.”
