A petition seeking the recall of Democratic state Sen. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood has been withdrawn by its proponents due to an error in the recall statement – an error first reported by Colorado Politics.

The recall statement claimed Pettersen voted on House Bill 1312, a bill that would have modernized Colorado’s immunizations standards. However, the state Senate never voted on that bill; it was laid over until after the end of the session. A recall statement is included on the petition.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the measure, but Pettersen is not a member of that committee.

The petition was filed by the Resist Polis PAC, the same group responsible for the recall petition against Gov. Jared Polis. The group intends to refile the Pettersen petition.

Filed July 12, the Pettersen petition will need to draw at least 18,376 valid signatures. Organizers had said they would try for 25,000 signatures, a margin that is intended to cover any invalid signatures.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) blasted the PAC for the error and noted the DLCC had already contributed $135,000 to state Democrats to fight the recall efforts with “decline to sign” campaigns. 

“Radical right-wing groups have drawn the Colorado Republican Party into a full-blown dumpster fire,” said DLCC press secretary Matt Harringer in a statement Monday. “Embracing these anti-democratic recall attempts won’t win them back control of the legislature in 2020 – it will cost them more seats.”  

In addition to Pettersen, a recall petition has also been filed against Democratic Sen. Pete Lee in Senate District 11. The person listed as the filer of that petition, Scott David Fisher of Colorado Springs, has a history with paramilitary groups such as the III% United Patriots of Colorado, which has conducted paramilitary operations at the U.S. border in Arizona.