Colorado Republicans vote to remove their state party chair

A group of Colorado Republicans voted Saturday to remove state party Chair Dave Williams from his leadership position, though the decision is almost certainly to be challenged.

About 160 people, those physically present and via proxy, voted to oust Williams after three hours of deliberation in a Brighton church. They also voted to remove Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman and Secretary Anna Ferguson.

“The chairman has taken extensive, unprecedented action to attack Republican candidates and fellow Republicans, rather than support them,” Michael Allen, the 4th Judicial District Attorney, said while calling for Williams’ removal.

“The chairman’s actions have alienated candidates and grassroots activists, and he cannot lead us to victory in November due to his failure of duty and unethical behavior,” he said.

Before the vote over Williams’ leadership, the group had to decide how to interpret the relevant section of the party’s bylaws, which states that “three-fifths of the entire membership of the (state central committee) eligible to vote at a meeting” need to vote to remove an officer. That can be interpreted two ways. Those present voted that the rule refers to people actually present at a meeting, not the entire 400-plus-member central committee.

There were about 180 eligible voting members at the meeting, meaning at least 108 people needed to vote for removal. A different interpretation of the rule would mean around 240 votes are necessary to vote out Williams, Scheppelman and Ferguson.

Earlier this summer, El Paso County Republican Party Vice Chair Todd Watkins and Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi said they gathered and submitted enough signatures to force a meeting to vote on the executive committee’s leadership.

The group first attempted to meet over the issue at the end of July, but Williams sued and an Arapahoe County judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the meeting. The judge ultimately concluded that the courts do not have jurisdiction over the internal party matter.

Williams and other state party leadership continue to call Saturday’s meeting illegitimate and maintain that only a vote at a meeting scheduled for Aug. 31 will be valid.

Williams was elected to his post in March 2023, and party members were quickly dismayed over poor fundraising from the party, which has persisted.

Then, Williams used the party email to announce his entrance into the Republican primary for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District after U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn announced his plan to step down.

Anger over his leadership boiled over this spring and summer as the party endorsed candidates in competitive Republican primaries and spent money supporting those candidates, including Williams over his opponent. Williams lost the primary by a wide margin.

Additionally, Republicans have taken issue with various state GOP communications, including a June email that railed against LGBTQ people and urged people to burn Pride flags, as well as a recent email that deadnamed and misgendered a Democrat running in a competitive state Senate district.

“They are speaking for the Colorado Republicans and saying things that we all don’t agree with,” Delta County Republican Party Vice Chair Leslie Parker said during Saturday’s meeting. “We are not the ones destroying our party. We are the ones standing up for what is right.”

Also on Saturday, the El Paso County Republican Party was scheduled to meet to vote on Watkins’ removal as vice chair.

The state Republican group also chose new leadership on Saturday to serve until the party’s next organizational meeting. They voted in former El Paso County Republican Party Chair and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate Eli Bremer as chair, former Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn as vice chair, and former Mesa County Republican Party Chair Kevin McCarney as secretary.

In a message to Colorado Newsline, Williams said that a Republican National Committee parliamentarian had already decided that the meeting organized by Watkins and Pallozzi is illegitimate and “any action taken there was or will be null and void.”

“A fringe element of our state party, who has now proven that they do not care about electing Trump this November, held a fraudulent meeting today with 77 people in actual attendance,” he wrote.

A spokeswoman from the National Republican Congressional Committee, however, endorsed the vote.

“It is our understanding that today’s Colorado GOP vote is in accordance with party bylaws. We will recognize the new party leadership and look forward to working with them to grow the Republican House majority,” NRCC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said in an email.

The NRCC works to get Republicans elected to the U.S. House.

The party discord comes two months before the general election in November. Republicans are trying to flip the 8th Congressional District in favor of state Rep. Gabe Evans, who is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, and prevent Republicans from slipping further into the minority at the state Legislature. The House currently has a 46-19 Democratic majority and the Senate has a 23-12 Democratic majority.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:06 p.m., Aug. 24, 2024, to include a statement from NRCC Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and X.