Facing a recall effort for her part in last spring’s controversial Colorado gun control law, State Senator Evie Hudak announced on Wednesday that she is resigning. Fell on her sword for the good of the Democrat party may be more accurate.

The recall of state senators John Morse and Angela Giron in favor of Republican replacements in September meant that a successful recall of Hudak would have given control of Colorado’s Senate to Republicans.  The deadline for the recall petitions Hudak was coming up and the indications were that her opponents would have the needed signatures.

Instead of going all-in and risking a Republican takeover of the senate in the early months of a midterm election year, Hudak is playing it safe.

By resigning before the signatures are turned in, she assures that a Democratic vacancy committee will appoint her replacement, keeping the seat – and the senate – in the party’s hands, at least through November, when her successor will be forced to win reelection.

Hudak’s snarky exchange with rape victim Amanda Collins, a Nevada woman who testified that she felt she could have defended herself against her attacker if she had been carrying her weapon, earned Hudak national notoriety earlier this year.