Station: KNUS, 710 am

Show:     Wake Up! with Randy Corporon

Guests:  Burton Brown, Kristi

Link:      https://omny.fm/shows/wake-up-with-randy-corporon/wake-up-with-randy-corporon-april-25-2020-hr-3

Date:       April 25, 2020     

Topics:    Due Date Too Late, Initiative 120, Ferrigno Warren, Democratic Senate Primary, Late-term abortion, Pain, Survive, National Committeeman, Colorado Supports Trump, Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, Petition Circulators, Signature Gathering, Giuliana Day, Cure Period, Substantial Compliance

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HOST RANDY CORPORON [00:00:00] [Vice-Chair of the Colorado] GOP, Kristi Burton Brown. Good morning.

VICE-CHAIR OF THE COLORADO GOP, KRISTI BURTON BROWN [00:00:04] [Good] morning, Randy and congratulations! [referring to the election of Randy Corporan as GOP National Committeeman for Colorado] 

CORPORON [00:00:06] Well, thank you. It’s been amazing. My phone is just blowing up, the text to studio app, e-mails coming in, the whole nine yards. And the thing that makes me really happy, Kristi — I mean, you know, 41% is a pretty significant victory in a five man race. But what it tells me is that liberty and the liberty movement is not only alive and well in Colorado, but it’s also alive and well in the activist base of our Colorado state GOP.

BURTON BROWN [00:01:14] Oh, yeah!

CORPORON [00:01:14] And that is very, very important for people to know, especially people who’ve been turned off by the party in past years under past leadership.

BURTON BROWN [00:01:23] Yes, I entirely agree with you. I’m pretty excited to see it, too. It’ll be great to have you.

CORPORON [00:01:28] Yeah. Yeah, it’s gonna be fun. And, you know, Viera, who all won reelection as national committeeman, has already reached out. I’m talking with prior committee man — [ correcting himself] committeemen — and our current committeemen to really — [correcting himself again] committeemen — man. I’ll get that straight before I’m done. But, you know, I just want to know everything there is to know to figure out a way to make a difference. And that’s just gonna be very, very exciting.

BURTON BROWN [00:01:52] Yeah. Oh, yeah!

CORPORON [00:01:52] But I am just so — I think it was Ken Buck that brainstormed this idea. You can correct me if I’m wrong, but ‘Due Date Too Late’ is the movement to get Initiative 120 on our ballot in November, to stop late-term abortion in Colorado. They turned in a ton of signatures, but the secretary of state disallowed enough of those signatures that they need 10,000 good signatures, which means we need to probably collect 20 [thousand] to make sure we meet the ten thousand threshold. Because of the Chinese Communist Party Wu Horn virus, a court has continued to grant extensions to the 15-day period to gather signatures under current rules and orders and expectations. Now, the 15-day effort to gather signatures does not start until May 15th. And you or Ken [Buck] or somebody at the GOP came up with a great idea to make sure we were ready to hit the ground running when we finally get to that signature cure period, which right now we think will begin on May 15th. Tell us about it.

BURTON BROWN [00:02:57] Absolutely, yeah! I mean, there’s — what’s exciting about this is there’s so much grassroots support for this initiative. We’re talking to a political operative the other day about this initiative. And he said it’s just amazing to see how many people have taken a hold of this and gotten activated on it, because, I mean, come on, we’re talking about babies who can feel pain, who can survive. These are babies that absolutely deserve a chance at life. Whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice — that’s the thing — people are agreeing on [unintelligible] in Colorado. And so what we’re doing is — it’s possible to identify known pro-life voters across the state of Colorado. There’s a lot of great data on that. And some of these known pro-life voters haven’t signed a petition yet. So it’s really as easy as, like, making a call for them and saying, “Hey, when this petition comes to your area, likely later in May, would you be willing to sign it?” And so if we can get that kind of information, known pro-life voters who are willing to sign this when it comes to their area, it’s going to make it so much easier to gather those extra — yeah, you’re right, it’s going to be like 20,000 [signatures] that the campaign is saying they’re going to shoot for just to ensure they get the right number.

CORPORON [00:04:07] Yeah. So this is fantastic. And I — you know, you get early in each year or late in the prior year before an election, you get bombarded with petitions. And I was just sure that I had signed this one appropriately. You don’t want to sign them twice because those are guaranteed signatures to be disallowed.

BURTON BROWN [00:04:24] Right.

CORPORON [00:04:25] And so I was able to reach out to Giuliana Day and she’s got a database and an ability to check. So if people are wondering, “Dang, did I sign that one? Did my signature count?” That can be verified now as well as we wait for this — what is it, the 25th? So we’ve got a three-week basic — a three-week period before the 15-day cure period begins. So people can find out if their signatures counted and they can let everybody know that they are ready to not only sign a petition, but download petitions and do the same thing with their own circle of influence, their family and friends.

BURTON BROWN [00:05:02] Yeah. And the way that they — if they want to collect signatures, which I know the campaign is looking for people to do that also — they have to get one mailed to them. So the website is DueDateTooLate-dot-com. And there’s a specific button on the website where you can request a circulator form and then you get a petition mailed to you, you can collect [signatures] from anyone in your circle who hasn’t signed it yet. Or if anyone wants to help make phone calls the campaign is making or help in other ways, [they way they can do so] is to contact us [by using] the button at the bottom of DueDateTooLate’s home page. So, yeah, like if someone wants to get their signature checked or a volunteer to help us find — would help the campaign find more people, that would also be excellent. I can tell you, I have been told that the secretary of state threw out a number of signatures that absolutely should not have been thrown out. Interestingly enough, they told the campaign that if people who live in an apartment got everything else right and just didn’t put their apartment number but had the right street address, all that, they would count the signature. But they didn’t. It didn’t count all of those, and some are being thrown out on that kind of a basis. Or if someone is called by their middle name and signed like middle name, last name they throw it out, even though their database absolutely shows that that is the right voter. So, there’s a number of people who should not have gotten thrown out that did. And I believe the campaign’s attorney is going to do something about that.

CORPORON [00:06:22] Well, that was going to be my next question, because, you know, I’ve been focused on this campaign and trying to keep my auto repair [business], my law firm businesses afloat, my family healthy. You know, just living our lives like we are often required to. But I heard yesterday that in the Democrat primary that a woman who got less than 30% of the vote, — you know, we had one of these happen in the Republican Party. There was a candidate who got less than 30%, and there was a determination made that the election was mishandled such that you couldn’t tell for sure [if] the results of that election were accurate. So it was ordered that that candidate be put on the ballot. That’s going to be a court hearing on Monday, for people trying to keep a grassroots activist off. That’s one thing. But on the Democrat side, I heard a woman who didn’t get close to the number of votes or signatures that she made, and a judge found that the purpose of, you know, elections and of getting people on the ballot and these rules is substantial compliance — that the goal is to empower people to get on the ballot, empower people to be able to vote. And so when I heard that yesterday, I thought, “My God! In light of some of these technical reasons that the secretary of state disallowed the Initiative 120 petition signatures, shouldn’t there be a lawsuit moving forward to try and attack this from both ends?” Not only do we need to get 20,000 new signatures — good signatures — to meet the 10,000 threshold, but we should also be challenging this legally. And I’m so grateful to hear that maybe that’s happening. Do you know who the legal team is? Because I’d love to talk to them. You don’t have to tell me [unintelligible].

BURTON BROWN [00:08:04] Yeah. Suzanne — oh! no, you’re fine.  She’s public on it, too. Suzanne Staiert–

CORPORON [00:08:08] Oh! Suzanne Staiert is doing it.  Okay, well, I talk to her all the time.

BURTON BROWN [00:08:10] –who — she is the attorney for Initiative 120.

CORPORON [00:08:10] Sure!

BURTON BROWN [00:08:10] Yep, she’s doing a great job and I’m not sure — I know the campaign is definitely discussing specific legal plans. I’m sure Suzanne would love to hear from you. But yeah, that’s the thing, I read through that case you’re mentioning. It’s like a 28-page ruling, but as attorneys we like lookng at that stuff, as you know. And it was very interesting. I mean, the standard of substantial compliance, in that case, when a Senate candidate got less than half of the required signatures,it is fairly surprising the court would let her in.

CORPORON [00:08:40] Unbelievable.

BURTON BROWN [00:08:40] But I mean, Initiative 120 turned in over the number of signatures and it’s very close to valid number, matching up to the 125,000 required. I mean, if you want to use this substantial compliance standard, Initiative 120 is so much closer than the Senate candidate. I mean, in my view, yes, absolutely, the court should be looking at that and should allow Initiative 120 on the ballot — I mean, without a doubt, really. We’ll see. We’ll see what they do. You know how some of the courts operate in Colorado, allowing Democrat candidates on and, you know, pro-life issues, who knows! But then you get into discrimination and all that. So, there’s a lot of options I think to be pursued.

CORPORON [00:09:23] Yeah, good!

BURTON BROWN [00:09:23] I think Initiative 120 is going to get on the ballot, one way or another, I’m pretty sure.

CORPORON [00:09:27] Well, if it’s on the ballot. it wins. There’s no question, because as you said at the start of our conversation, this is a bipartisan issue. Everybody knows that babies are feeling pain.

BURTON BROWN [00:09:37] Oh, yeah!

CORPORON [00:09:37] And, you know, I’ve taken flak — and legitimate, heartfelt flak — from people who say “no compromise,” you know, “pro-life from the moment of conception,” and I get that.

BURTON BROWN [00:09:48] Yeah.

CORPORON [00:09:48] But in a political world with divergent viewpoints, if you can take a bite out of the number of abortions and cut down on pain and all of those kinds of things. I don’t think you ignore taking that big step, just because you didn’t get the whole walk done. You know?

BURTON BROWN [00:10:05] Well, right. Well, and the thing that I think, Randi, you’re probably aware of but a lot of people aren’t, [is that] Warren Hern — the main late-term abortionist in Colorado who operates out of Boulder — he publicly admits that one out of every four late-term babies he aborts, he aborts them because they’re diagnosed with Down’s syndrome in utero. So this is even a targeting of the disabilities community, which I think a lot of people in Colorado would be super concerned about if they knew that was going on. And to your point of being bipartisan, about 38% of the people signing this when the signatures were being validated, were unaffiliated voters and Democrat voters. This is by no means solely a Republican issue. Of course, the Republican Party always take a strong public stand on the side of life. But this issue, banning late-term abortion, is extremely popular across the board.

CORPORON [00:10:52] That’s great. So it really feels like shenanigans from the secretary — the Democrat partisan secretary of state of Colorado, to just use the tools that they have to run interference for us and  try and keep it off the ballot.

BURTON BROWN [00:11:06] Yeah.

CORPORON [00:11:06] And once again, you know, agree or disagree, should this decision not be left to the people of the state of Colorado? Why would you, using these hyper technicalities, fight so hard to keep this off the ballot unless it’s hyperpartisan and you’re doing what your socialist and Communist Party bosses tell you to do?

BURTON BROWN [00:11:28] Well, precisely. And that’s the thing: if the secretary of state were really doing her job, she would find a way to allow ballot initiatives to operate in Colorado, in the midst of a pandemic. And instead, I know this campaign is having to continually go to the secretary of state and say, “You know what? Maybe you shouldn’t be out there in the public collecting signatures on Monday when the governor is asking people to still stay home.” And that’s what they were going to make the campaign do. And the campaign had to go to court to get an agreement to postpone again, to keep people safe. So, it should be the secretary of state’s job, but instead, you know, [unintelligible].

CORPORON [00:11:59] Yeah. it’s sick! Sick, sick, sick! Well, I’m glad — thank God for the Colorado bench to step up and do the right thing, because we don’t always get great, appropriate and fair rulings from our court system either here in Colorado. So I’m glad to hear that and see it. Are you — do you have any thought about attending the Melania Trump private video shoot tonight at Evie’s house? Do you know about that?

BURTON BROWN [00:12:24] You know, I am not personally going to be able to make that. But I’ve heard about it. And it sounds like a great opportunity for — I heard that Evie is doing a really good job complying with, even social distancing, keeping people safe, but still doing something that can really empower the base and send a real message, that Colorado supports Trump!

CORPORON [00:12:42] She’s got the room for it, too!

BURTON BROWN [00:12:43] She does!

CORPORON [00:12:45] There’s no doubt about that.

BURTON BROWN [00:12:46] She does, a good lady. I love her.

CORPORON [00:12:47] Well, last thing I’ll say: Kristi, thank you for your time. Thank everybody at the GOP for their hard work in this election, under these grueling circumstances. There were election challenges. I was a part of two of those hearings. I watched some of the mail ballot vote counting and it was grueling because there were a 159 people just running for delegate, plus the two committeeman positions, plus the U.S. Senate race and 14 resolutions. So, it took a ton of work just to get through a relatively small number of paper ballots and put all this together. But it went without — it seems to have gone off without a hitch. And I’m grateful to you guys for that. And last thing I’ll say to you is, you know, for all the detractors that we still hear about the Republican Party, [that] it’s really kind of living in the past, our chairman is the guy who wrote the book on draining the swamp in D.C. and who still stands up for fiscal sanity. You have been an activist, prolife, constitutional attorney, liberty activist for ever. You’re the vice chair of our party. A liberty activist, Tea Party leader was just elected statewide to become the Republican National Committeeman. And so I just want –.

BURTON BROWN [00:13:55] By a lot.

CORPORON [00:13:56] Yeah. I just want — Yeah, 41%. I just want — I just want people to give our party a break and get on board to help us try and advance the cause of liberty here in the state. And of course, get Senator Gardner and President Trump reelected. We’ve got our work cut out for us, especially in light of all of these new restrictions, and inability to congregate and move forward.

BURTON BROWN [00:14:20] Yeah, well, but you’re right, Randy. And you’re going to be a great voice, adding to that as our new committeeman.  I know Ken and I and the whole party is very excited to have you on board. And we’re going to keep casting that positive vision about what Republicans are. We fight for the people and the Democrats hold on to lies and trample all over people’s rights. But what we have to do together — and I think we’re going to do this with you and Ken and myself and so many people — is [to] cast that positive vision forward about what Colorado could look like if Republicans were in charge.

CORPORON [00:14:49] Absolutely. Well, I know I’ll see you soon. God bless you. [I] appreciate everything that you do. And thanks for spending some time with us this morning on ‘Wake Up! with Randy Corporon. .

BURTON BROWN [00:14:58] Thanks, Randy, and congrats again.

CORPORON [00:14:59] Thank you.

BURTON BROWN [00:15:00] See you soon!

CORPORON [00:15:01] The vice-chair of the Colorado state GOP, Kristi Burton Brown. The last few minutes of the show coming up, […]