Jan. 6th Committee Holds 7th Hearing, GOP Senate Candidate Joe O’Dea says Trump is not Responsible
The U.S. House Committee responsible for investigating Jan. 6th will be holding its seventh hearing today to focus on the coordination between Trump and extremist militia groups who stormed the Capitol. Despite growing evidence that links Trump to Jan. 6th, GOP Senate candidate and Trump acolyte Joe O’Dea “said Trump does not deserve blame — even in part — for the events that unfolded on Jan. 6.” He later doubled down and said he “would support Trump for president if he is the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.”
“Joe O’Dea is ignoring glaring evidence and blindly following the MAGA Republican agenda to absolve Donald Trump of his connections to the insurrection. O’Dea is out of step with the majority of Americans who want Trump to be held accountable. This is a clear warning sign that O’Dea would put Trump ahead of working Coloradans every single time.” – Colorado Democratic Party spokesperson Nico Delgado.
While O’Dea thinks that Trump bears no blame, 63% of Americans are in support of the U.S. House Committee’s investigation into Jan. 6th and 59% would support the Department of Justice filing charges against Trump after hearing the most recent testimony from the public hearings according to a recent Navigator poll.
GOP Senate Candidates Too Far Right on Guns
GOP Senate candidates Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea are both too far right on guns and they offer no promise of supporting gun safety legislation to help prevent future tragedies caused by gun violence.
Both candidates said that they would oppose the bipartisan Senate framework on new gun regulations which enhance background checks and allow states to enact red flag laws.
“Colorado’s last spineless Republican senator was a puppet for the NRA and a rubber stamp for the far-right Republican agenda. Coloradans will reject any Republican who will take millions from the gun lobby and oppose common sense background checks.” – Colorado Democratic Party spokesperson Nico Delgado
Candidates on the Second Amendment:
Ron Hanks
Claimed that he defended the Second Amendment and blew up a copy machine with a semi-automatic rifle in a campaign launch video.
Sponsored bills to repeal a ban on magazines and allow anyone 21 and older to carry a firearm without a permit.
Endorsed by the Gun Owners of America
Joe O’Dea
Said that “we don’t need more [gun control] laws.”
Opposed the bipartisan gun safety law that passed the Senate with 15 Republican votes.
Said he’s an “advocate” for the Second Amendment and used crime as a reason why people should practice their Second Amendment right.
Backed by the NRA’s Colorado affiliate group.
Lawsuit Alleged GOP Senate Candidate and CEO Joe O’Dea Discriminated Against Workers
“Johnson claimed she was told that the company ‘need(ed) to get rid of these old sick people’”
GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea’s treatment of workers at his business Concrete Express is being scrutinized as he calls himself “The Boss” and touts his business in campaign ads.
A lawsuit, that has not been previously reported, from former Concrete Express employee Barbara Johnson alleges that O’Dea discriminated against workers based on age and disability. According to the lawsuit, O’Dea “asked the General Superintendent if the ‘old guys were a liability’ and then became determined to “make [elderly workers] disappear.”
O’Dea then allegedly targeted Johnson after she was diagnosed with cancer and terminated her employment. Johnson claimed O’Dea went further and blocked her from receiving unemployment benefits.
O’Dea claims that he’ll defend workers, however this disturbing report from Colorado Newsline raises serious questions about his true record and sends a clear message to voters that he won’t be a voice for working people.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea’s construction company last year settled a lawsuit brought by a former employee who alleged a pattern of age and disability discrimination, federal court records show.
Barbara Johnson of Loveland, who worked as a human resources manager for O’Dea’s Concrete Express Inc. for five years beginning in 2011, sued the company in U.S. District Court of Colorado in 2019.
Johnson alleged that she had her bonuses reduced and faced a hostile work environment following a cancer diagnosis in 2014. She further accused O’Dea and other CEI executives of dissuading employees from filing workers’ compensation claims and terminating older employees, a pattern she said she was pressured into facilitating in her role as HR manager prior to being fired in December 2015.
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O’Dea, a first-time candidate, has made his private-sector experience a centerpiece of his pitch to Colorado voters ahead of the June 28 Republican primary, in which he faces far-right state Rep. Ron Hanks, and a potential general-election matchup against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in November. “He’s not a politician — people call him ‘The Boss,’” boasts one O’Dea campaign ad.
In her lawsuit, Johnson alleged that when she raised the issue of potentially illegal terminations of older workers to CEI leadership, O’Dea not only ignored her concerns but said the firings served to bring down the company’s insurance premiums.
“O’Dea asked the General Superintendent if the ‘old guys were a liability.’ The General Superintendent replied, ‘Yes,’” Johnson’s lawsuit alleged. “O’Dea told the General Superintendent to take care of it and ‘make it disappear.’ Johnson told O’Dea that she did not want to participate in the illegal activities but O’Dea made Johnson process the terminations.”
Read more in Colorado Newsline.
Coloradans Rejected the Last Republican Senator Who Took Millions from the NRA – They Will Do the Same to Hanks or O’Dea
Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea only offer condolences and no promise for gun safety laws including background checks
Colorado’s former one-term Republican Senator Cory Gardner put the gun lobby ahead of Colorado and accepted nearly $4 million from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Gardner was far to the right of Coloradans because he opposed common sense background checks and he voted against a bipartisan bill to prevent terrorists from buying guns – and Hanks and O’Dea have shown they will do the same.
“Colorado’s last spineless Republican senator was a puppet for the NRA and a rubber stamp for the far-right Republican agenda. In the face of a horrific school shooting, Hanks and O’Dea only offer condolences and prayers. Coloradans will reject any Republican who will take millions from the gun lobby and oppose common sense background checks.” – Colorado Democratic Party spokesperson Nico Delgado
In the aftermath of the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, GOP Senate candidates Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea only offered prayers and condolences – and no promise of supporting gun safety legislation to help prevent future tragedies caused by gun violence.
Candidates on the Second Amendment:
Ron Hanks
Claimed that he defended the Second Amendment and blew up a copy machine with a semi-automatic rifle in a campaign launch video.
Sponsored bills to repeal a ban on magazines and allow anyone to carry a firearm without a permit.
Joe O’Dea
Said that “we don’t need more gun control laws.”
Said he’s an “advocate for the Second Amendment” and used crime as a reason why people should practice their Second Amendment right.
Frontrunner Ron Hanks Slams Joe O’Dea in Nasty Primary Ahead of Republican Rumble Debate
The GOP Senate primary has soured ahead of tomorrow’s GOP Senate debate as grassroots leading candidate and election denier Ron Hanks blasts Joe O’Dea over abortion, donations to Democrats, Russian jets, and infrastructure.
Yesterday, Hanks claimed he was the “only pro-life candidate on the ticket now” and attacked O’Dea in a press release. Hanks went further and dragged O’Dea for cozying up to elitist politicians while hiding from the conservative base.
Hanks criticized O’Dea for his “anti-Republican donations” to Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.
Hanks mocked O’Dea for including Russian military aircraft in a TV ad and blasted him for his support of the bipartisan infrastructure law. Hanks said O’Dea’s “support for President Biden's unthinkable multi-trillion dollar omnibus bill, well, that's an ugly bird that's gonna come crashing down.”
It’s clear that GOP candidates will be coming into the debates focused on tearing each other down and they will offer nothing but a far-right agenda that is too out of touch for Colorado. Whoever emerges from the nasty primary will be weakened and go on to lose to Michael Bennet in November.
GOP Senate Candidates on Abortion
The Supreme Court’s leaked draft majority opinion on overturning Roe confirms what a majority of Coloradans already know – if elected, Republicans will stop at nothing to strip away reproductive rights including abortion.
GOP Senate candidates on abortion:
Ron Hanks:
Sponsored an extreme bill to abolish all abortion access in Colorado.
Labeled himself as a “defende[r] of the unborn” in his campaign launch video.
Joe O’Dea:
Opposes Colorado’s law that guarantees the right to an abortion.
“Ron Hanks and Joe O’Dea are enemies of abortion rights and their extreme views go against the majority of Coloradans. Their embrace of anti choice views disqualify them from serving in the U.S. Senate.”
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O’Dea Stumbles in Desperate Attempt to Catch Up to Leading Far-right Candidate Ron Hanks
Roll Call: GOP Senate candidate touts military support with image of Russian jets
Colorado Times Recorder: Senate Candidate O’Dea Opposes CO Law Protecting the Right to an Abortion
First-time GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea is stumbling through the primary trying to keep up with far-right frontrunner Ron Hanks.
O’Dea’s incompetence was on full display when he tried to compare his support of the military with Air Force veteran Ron Hanks. However, Roll Call reported that his TV ad used what military experts confirmed to be Russian jets. O’Dea’s managed to insult Colorado veterans and military families in one fell swoop.
O’Dea stumbled again at a campaign meet and greet where he confirmed that he opposes a recent Colorado law that protects a woman’s right to an abortion. O’Dea’s opposition to protecting women’s healthcare, including the right to an abortion, is more evidence that this primary will be a race to the right that leaves the eventual nominee battered and out of step with Colorado voters.
Read excerpts below:
Roll Call: GOP Senate candidate touts military support with image of Russian jets
Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea promises to “support the police and military,” in a television ad that featured footage of a half-dozen planes flying in formation against a backdrop of fluffy, white clouds.
Only, those weren’t American planes. Three experts on military aviation, after viewing the ad, concluded independently that the aircraft used in the ad by a Republican vying to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet are a mix of Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets — possibly flying in a Russian military parade.
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“Claiming to support our troops over footage of Russian fighter jets is a slap in the face to Colorado veterans, service members, and military families — not to mention the height of political negligence,” Yoo said.
Read more in Roll Call.
Colorado Times Recorder: Senate Candidate O’Dea Opposes CO Law Protecting the Right to an Abortion
Appearing at a campaign stop at the Copper Rail Bar and Grill in Brighton on Wednesday, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, who will be competing against election conspiracist and insurrectionist Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Cañon City) in the June 28 primary, denounced Colorado’s newly passed law that guarantees the right to an abortion in state statute.
“Well, actually, if [Roe v. Wade] gets overturned, it’s going to push it to the states,” said O’Dea in response to a question about what kind of legislation he would support around abortion. “And this bill [Reproductive Health Equity Act] that just came through at our gold dome, that Polis signed a couple of weeks ago, to me, it’s reckless, it approves third-term abortions, and I’m not in favor of that. So it’s going to be a local-level issue.”
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“Joe O’Dea’s opposition to the Reproductive Health Equity Act means he does not agree with the vast majority of Coloradans on abortion access and reproductive rights, at a time when the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and take those rights away. O’Dea’s opposition to RHEA and abortion rights are disqualifying for anyone running for elected office in Colorado.”
Read more in the Colorado Times Recorder.
Majority of GOP Grassroots Voters Back Insurrectionist Ron Hanks
Hanks takes top spot on Republican primary ballot for Senate
Insurrectionist and U.S. Senate candidate Ron Hanks cleared a field of several well funded candidates and won with 38.96% of the delegate vote. Election denial was at the center of the Colorado GOP’s chaotic state assembly where Hanks, along with other election conspiracy theory candidates, rode that wave to victory.
Hanks and wealthy CEO Joe O’Dea, who petitioned on to the ballot via signatures, will be the only two Republican candidates for Senate. The primary will take place on June 28th.
Watch CBS Denver’s reporting on the GOP state assembly below:
Read more in the Associated Press, Vice News, Denver Post, Colorado Sun, Colorado Politics, Colorado Newsline, CPR News, Axios Denver, CBS Denver, KRDO Colorado Springs
What They’re Saying:
Jesse Paul, Colorado Sun: “The thread that carried across the 2022 Colorado Republican state assembly was election denialism, from calls to abandon electronic voting for delegates, to the candidates selected and the party platform that was adopted. #copolitics”
Nick Riccardi, AP: “Skepticism about the election/’election integrity’ has been the biggest applause line for just about everyone at the CO GOP Assembly”
Quentin Young, Colorado Newsline: “Now there is no doubt. The election-denial faction of the Colorado Republican Party has the most momentum. Conspiracist candidates are in the lead. Moderating forces in the party establishment have lost control of the narrative. What does this mean for the state?”
Trish Zornio, Colorado Sun Columnist: The @cologop is in complete shambles. Their “best” candidates for Secretary of State, U.S. Senate and Gov are extreme conspiracy theorists who deny 2020 election results. It’s embarrassing, and bad for democracy.
Heidi Beedle, Colorado Times Recorder: “I’m not at all surprised that Ron Hanks won. This has largely been a one-issue primary for the Republicans. Ron Hanks has been leading the charge on that in Colorado. The fact that it is overwhelmingly nonsense from grifters and bad actors shouldn’t be concerning, right?”
Sara Loflin, Progress Now Colorado: “‘Colorado Republicans are once again indisputably the party of Donald Trump, Ron Hanks, and Tina Peters. Hanks and Peters can no longer be dismissed as ‘fringe’ when they represent the views of a majority of Republicans’”
MORE: Read what Coloradans are saying about Hanks in letters to the editor in Mountain Jackpot, CS Indy, Longmont Times Call, and the Greeley Tribune.