(The Center Square) – A special election to recall state Sen. Kevin Priola would cost an estimated $200,000, the Colorado secretary of state’s office said Monday.

The office said it consulted with the state attorney general’s office to determine signatures can be collected in the new Senate District 13, which Priola will represent following redistricting. Priola currently represents Senate District 25.

Supporters of the recall effort will have to turn in at least 18,291 valid signatures to force the special election.

The cost of the special election would be covered by the counties involved, an SOS spokesperson said.

Michael Fields, who leads the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado Action and is backing the recall, called the secretary of state’s announcement “good news” in a statement to The Center Square.

“The voters of SD 13 should get to to decide who represents them for the next two years,” he said. “Priola’s record of raising fees and taxes, and of voting for bills that make Colorado less safe, is too extreme for his new district.” 

The recall comes after Priola last week announced he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, citing the GOP’s response to the 2020 election and the January 6 Capitol riot.

“There is too much at stake right now for Republicans to be in charge,” Priola wrote in a letter announcing his decision last week, adding, “we need Democrats in charge because our planet and our democracy depend on it.”

The recall’s backers will have 60 days to collect signatures once a petition is approved for circulation.