Progressive House Democrats didn’t wait until the last day of the session, as they did last year, to accuse their caucus leaders of slow-walking their priority legislation and coddling Republicans – one, in particular – who, they said, have bullied members.

The same scene unfolded at the last day of session last year, when a progressive Democrat accused House Speaker Julie McCluskie of not doing enough to “defend” Black lawmakers and not calling out Republicans’ alleged offensive remarks.

Unlike last year, the Democratic leaders pushed back, suggesting their party isn’t all innocent.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the progressive Democrats took aim, in particular, at Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park, describing her as a “bully.”

Bradley replied she had been at the receiving end of a barrage of labels coming from Democrats, including being described as a bigot and racist.

Thirteen Democrats — almost all lawmakers of color — met with House McCluskie and Majority Leader Monica Duran behind closed doors on Wednesday morning. The meeting was not announced, so reporters from Colorado Politics and The Denver Post entered the room to observe.

The members said they are frustrated by the leaders’ decision to remove two bills from Wednesday’s calendar: House Bill 1460, which deals with police misconduct, and House Bill 1373, which delves into alcohol beverage licenses.

Both were slated for a debate but were pulled off the calendar.

Duran told the group she needed more time to understand HB 1460, partly because of a phone call she received from her county’s district attorney on Tuesday night.

That did little to appease the group, which called for more accountability and communications.

“This is the hardest part of the session,” McCluskie said in response to frustrations over delaying the bills. “We have to hang in there with one another, keep talking to each other about the bills that are in front of us. There are never enough hours in the day.”

McCluskie then asked for patience.

Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, replied, “We are struggling. Some of us are very hurt, some of us feel we continue to be harmed. We want to give you all the opportunity to support us now.”

Duran responded that she will have to impose House rules — presumably, House rule 14 that limits debate — on HB 1460, despite a previous agreement with House Republicans to not do that.

Duran said she felt ambushed by the accusations.

“This is not an indictment of you and your leadership,” said Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. “This is saying that we have things on the table that we need to understand how we’re going to resolve because of the consequences of how it’s impacting us.”

She added that this is an urgent request to resolve issues.

“We cannot do everything that we set out to do, but we do keep working, and that is the strongest commitment I can make right now,” responded McCluskie.

Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, one of the sponsors of HB 1373, pleaded for her bill to get a vote. Time is running out and she described the bill as big for minorities, small business owners and people in her district. She said she has the votes to advance the bill but she worries the clock would run out and the alcohol industry would be devastated.

‘Enough blame to go around’

The Democratic rank-and-file didn’t just complain about the state of their legislation.

Led by Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, they said that some — she didn’t specify who —  are out to physically harm them and argued that such individuals shouldn’t get any of their legislative priorities passed.   

“It is my belief that people who inspire violence against us outside of this building should not be rewarded with legislative wins,” a reference to Rep. Bradley.

In the back of the room, Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, sat quietly, tears running down her face. This did not go unnoticed.

Willford and Bradley have been sparring on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for weeks, with Bradley accusing Willford of protecting pedophiles because she voted against one of Bradley’s bills.

It has led to threats from Bradley’s followers against Willford, her husband, and her children, according to Bradley.

Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, also has attacked Willford on X. Willford responds to those attacks but with much less vitriol.

“This thing has been toxic in a way that I don’t understand. What are you two doing between (Willford and Bradley) to help, I don’t know, find a solution, reach the gap, or however it is so that I don’t have colleagues who are just devastated about being here,” Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, said. 

Two Democratic lawmakers resigned last year, citing the toxic environment in the state House.

These interactions have happened not only on social media, according to Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, who also criticized the Democratic leadership for “embracing” Bradley after she took a moment of personal privilege last year to complain about people being unkind to her online. 

Epps was reprimanded for joining pro-Palestinian protesters in the House gallery back in November, a move that halted the chamber’s business. At the time, Epps called fellow lawmakers “fascist.” The reprimand from House Speaker Julie McCluskie included a sternly-worded warning that such actions in the future could lead to more serious consequences.

During the meeting, Epps said Bradley takes pictures of lawmakers when they’re in committee in a way that is not normal. Epps called it “insidious.”

“There’s enough blame to go around on both sides,” Duran responded.

Duran noted that the lawmakers appeared to be asking for Bradley’s bills not to proceed. Bradley has legislation awaiting a floor debate this week.

Willford replied: “It’s more than that.”

“The reality is that our workplace harassment policy does not cover any activities outside of this building,” she said, adding, “The term means absolutely nothing in these halls anymore. And that is a travesty.”

Epps added that it’s not just social media. It’s also about Armagost, who chairs the workplace harassment committee, and how he interacts with people online, she said.

She said how Armagost “behaves online” is why people are “not safe reporting” what goes on at the state Capitol.

It’s cyberbullying, Willford said.

McCluskie said they’ve talked to Armagost and are not ignoring the problem.

“We are holding our schools to a higher account when it comes to bullying and harassment than we are holding ourselves,” Herod said, adding that some members have faced such harassment that they don’t want to be “on this planet.” 

Rep. Regina English, D-Colorado Springs, who has been a co-sponsor on some of Bradley’s bills and who had listened to the interaction silently, said the relationship she has with Bradley is different than anyone else.

But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care, she said, adding she advocates for Bradley to treat people with dignity and respect, even telling her Republican colleague to knock off her attacks on Twitter. English added she cannot dictate how someone behaves, but she does not condone Bradley’s “bullying and harassment.”

All this fight on social media needs to stop, she added.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, concluded that there are two key issues — accountability and communications. It’s almost impossible to hold people accountable for their actions outside the Capitol, she said, adding the second issue is communicating to members where their bills are in the process and the decisions being made.

As for harassment, Garcia said there is an expectation that people who serve in the House come with a “level of maturity and decency on how you want to treat people and how you want to respect each other.”

“That goes a long way when we’re not being given the same respect or treatment that we believe that we deserve,” she said. 

Garcia pressed Democratic leaders on their next steps.

Herod pointed out that the House has acted on controversies that erupted outside of the state Capitol, most notably, the expulsion of Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton, for sexual harassment of a fellow House member and lobbyists.

“We just pick and choose when that’s acceptable, and it’s not acceptable,” Herod said.

As for bills getting delayed or moved, Duran said she communicates that with each member.

“I never just take a bill off the calendar without telling the member and calling them first,” including on Wednesday, she said.

To Garcia, Mccluskie said, “Point heard, point taken.”

Another unannounced meeting

But the speaker also pleaded with the group to “show up on social media at the level of respect and civility that we’re expecting of our colleagues, even if they fail. And they have been awful.”

It’s been challenging to address what happens on social media in the House, and she asked them all to “rise above” it. 

McCluskie also aired her own gripes, one of which was about the meeting itself.

“I would’ve preferred this happened in a different way. But we’ve had the conversation, and for that, I will express my own respect and gratitude to each of you for showing up here. I would’ve preferred a much more constructive way. Let’s try to do that moving forward,” she said. 

Reporters learned about the unannounced meeting by noting that several Democrats walked off the floor during a third reading vote. Several were fined for missing the vote. They then were joined by about 10 more for the meeting, along with McCluskie and Duran.

When asked for a response, Bradley told Colorado Politics she had been called names and Democrats have shut down Republicans’ speech.   

“(Rep. David Ortiz) “called me xenophobic in committee last year on the record and since they have called me transphobic, bigot, racist, and come after my parenting ability and called me a bully,” she said.

She said Democrats have stripped out the Republicans’ First Amendment rights to speak for their districts, using certain House rules, but that Democrats “stand up for the rights of people chanting ‘from the river to the sea.'”

The river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, between which lie Israel and the Palestinian territories. Palestinian activists say it’s a call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli statehood and decades-long Israeli military rule over millions of Palestinians. Jews hear a clear demand for Israel’s annihilation.

Editor’s note: Rep. Elisabeth Epps’ comments have been updated in this current version.