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DENVER — Colorado Democrats, who have already lambasted GOP U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner for supporting his party’s government shutdown last fall just weeks after devastating floods, are now leveling the same charge at Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Beauprez.

The party released a new video Wednesday featuring images of last fall’s floods and audio of Beauprez saying on conservative talk radio at the time that he’s “been very, very proud” of his Republican colleagues in Washington, who voted to shutdown the government for 16 days — this, as federal disaster relief was being directed to Colorado flood victims — in a failed attempt to stop the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

“Politics before disaster relief,” reads the white text that appears over a black background on the screen.

“When thousands of Coloradans were ravaged by historic floods, Congressman Beauprez put Washington politics before the needs of the people of our state,” Rick Palacio, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, said in a statement.

“Instead of standing up for the hard working people devastated by natural disaster, Congressman Beauprez defended his Tea Party friends and rooted for Washington, D.C. dysfunction.”

As a result of the shutdown, federal disaster relief to Colorado was slowed; and Rocky Mountain National Park, the economic engine for Estes Park, one of the communities hit hard by the floods, was closed.

Hickenlooper used state funds to reopen the park before the shutdown ended to avoid losing millions in tourist dollars.

Beauprez’s campaign quickly fired back, blasting Democrats for politicizing the natural disaster.

“This attack is absurd and grossly misleading,” said Allen Fuller, Beauprez’s communications director. “John Hickenlooper is hiding behind his party and is more than happy to let them do his dirty work.

“That the Colorado Democratic Party would politicize these devastating floods where people died and lives were destroyed is appalling. We have been very clear contrasting Bob Beauprez’s plan for a stronger Colorado with John Hickenlooper’s indecisive, weak leadership. That Hickenlooper’s operatives are slinging mud just for the fun of it is outrageous, and Coloradans should be appalled.”

Fuller also pointed to a Men’s Journal profile of Hickenlooper published this week in which the governor is quoted telling a staffer that he likes the optics of assisting with the recovery efforts, arguing that the governor’s view of the situation was more cynical and self-interested than altruistic.

“A governor on crutches helping flood victims isn’t a bad shot for television,” Hickenlooper reportedly says.

The Colorado GOP also blasted Democrats for politicizing the floods on Wednesday afternoon.

GOP Chairman Ryan Call took issue with Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall’s campaign for criticizing Gardner’s response to the floods months after the two toured the flood zone together; and he blasted Hickenlooper for a comment to FOX31 Denver Sunday on #COpolitics: From The Source when he attributed his hesitancy to declare his support for the Keystone XL pipeline to a pragmatic decision not to antagonize the Obama administration, which he noted went “above and beyond” for Colorado flood victims last fall.

“If I came out and was more direct, and said that Keystone Pipeline was a great thing, would I still have those opportunities? I don’t know,” Hickenlooper said. “It’s a possibility that they would be a little, you know, they might think twice.”

Call asked Hickenlooper and all Democrats to stop using the floods for political gain.

“As the flood waters ripped through Colorado, Republicans and Democrats united to do what’s best for our state,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that some of those very same politicians are now exploiting these tragedies to avoid answering tough questions, and even worse, to score cheap political points. Colorado deserves better.”