Tom Sullivan came to the state Legislature and did what he said he was going to do.

That's how Sullivan, state House representative for Centennial, describes his actions on what's known as the “red flag” law that allows law enforcement to temporarily take firearms from people deemed a risk to themselves or others.

The Democrat's son was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, and he campaigned on passing that law and sponsored it at the Capitol during this year's legislative session.

But Kristi Brown, state Republican Party vice chairwoman, has brought forth an effort to remove Sullivan from office, and she says her reasons go far beyond the red flag law.

“Democrats in the House, including Rep. Sullivan, shut down the voice of parents at the Capitol again and again,” Brown said. “Citizens were subjected to the worst legislative session in Colorado history.”

Did 'what I had told them'

The petition to recall Sullivan, if successful, would lead to an election likely in late summer or fall to decide whether Sullivan would keep his seat in House District 37. That district encompasses east and central Centennial, nearby unincorporated Arapahoe County areas and the Town of Foxfield.

The petition, approved May 13 by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office, requires about 10,000 signatures by voters in that area by July 12 to secure a recall election.

Brown's petition comes after rumblings about recalls for Sullivan's fellow Arapahoe County Democrats, state Sen. Jeff Bridges of Greenwood Village and state Rep. Meg Froelich of Englewood, among other politicians.

On the red flag law, Sullivan maintains that supporting it is a campaign promise he kept.

“Every single person who cast a ballot in November knew that that's what I was going to do because that's what I had told them,” Sullivan said. “The people in this community — certainly, I believe in this state — should know by now that if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it.”

But Brown, who said she backs the recall as “a citizen and a parent from HD 37” and not in her official role as GOP vice chair, said Sullivan and his fellow Democrats “rammed through legislation that negatively affects our children.”

Among the bills at issue for Brown is this year's sex education proposal — which succeeded — that requires including information relevant to LGBT people's experiences and health needs. It also requires teaching consent and bars shame-based language or gender stereotypes. The standards apply only if schools teach sex ed, which they can choose not to teach at all.

“Others include the anti-parental rights forced vaccine bill,” Brown said, referring to an unsuccessful bill that would have made it harder to opt children out of vaccinations.

'Join the ground team'

But the red flag law is one that's sure to dominate the conversation around this recall given the history in House District 37, where Republican former state Rep. Cole Wist fell to an unlikely defeat after a gun-rights group set its sights on taking him down.

Wist was one of the few Republicans to vocally support 2018's version of the red flag bill, which had some technical differences from this year's. As a consequence, the prominent Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group made him a target last year, labeling him a him a “mole in the ranks.”

In November, Sullivan pulled off an unexpected win against Wist — by about 8 percentage points — in a district considered reliably red. Now, RMGO has announced its support of the recall.

“RMGO fully supports the #RedFlagRecall against Tom Sullivan!” the group said on its Twitter and Facebook pages, inviting followers to "join the HD 37 Recall ground team."

Wist announced he doesn't support the recall effort.

“Last year, state GOP leadership failed to speak up to defend me when RMGO carpet-bombed my house district with negative flyers. Now, these same leaders pledge to work with RMGO to take out my successor in a recall,” Wist said on Twitter. “It is unfortunate but crystal clear. RMGO owns the Colorado Republican Party.”

But Brown responds that the recall “is not about RMGO or even the Republican Party.”

“I was elected to GOP leadership about 30 days ago and was considering filing the Sullivan recall before that, as a citizen and a mom,” Brown said. “RMGO did not bring this recall forward.”

In opposing Sullivan, she also called out an overhaul of Colorado's oil and gas rules that handed local governments new authority to regulate drilling, which she argues will cause industry workers across Colorado to lose jobs.

Sullivan contends that he has served constituents well, noting he holds multiple town halls each month, has taken notes on concerns from those who contact him and sends out a weekly newsletter.

“I had countless people who would tell me this is the first time that they have actually felt attached to what was happening at the state Capitol on a daily basis,” Sullivan said.

Whether the recall can succeed is particularly unclear in a district like Sullivan's, where he won by a wide margin but did so amid a Colorado “blue wave” that analysts said was buoyed by opposition to President Donald Trump.

Sullivan remained confident but also seemed unshaken by the possibility of the recall succeeding.

“Just to make it very clear to everybody, Tom Sullivan is going to be on the 2020 ballot as a candidate in HD37. Don't think that that's not going to happen, whether it's as an incumbent or as a Democrat running for the seat again,” Sullivan said. “I'm not going away.”