Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

Colorado Senate Republicans claim that a collection of bills they plan to introduce will save an average family about $4,500 per year by repealing numerous fees and regulations.

The bills target housing, transportation, groceries, utility bills and other everyday expenses.

“People are facing an economic reality that grows more daunting by the day,” Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said Tuesday during a press conference at the Capitol. “This affordability crisis is a direct result of the misguided policies that were created in this very building.”

Part of the solution, he said, is to claw back the various fees Democrats in the Legislature have passed in recent years. Fees are distinct from taxes in Colorado because they are not subject to voter approval under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Colorado collected about $23.3 billion in fee revenue in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the right-leaning Common Sense Institute.

Lundeen unveiled a literal pile of cash at the press conference — $4,500 stacked in a neat tower — to illustrate the potential savings Republicans want to see.

One bill, set to be sponsored by Sen. Mark Baisley, a Sedalia Republican, would get rid of a 27-cent delivery fee, 10-cent shopping bag fee and 75-cent electric and gas utility bill fee, and it would repeal the power of local governments to place a special sales tax on products with nicotine.

Republicans calculate that repealing the shopping bag fee, for example, would save people $90 annually. That assumes an annual use of 900 non-reusable bags per year. The Legislature approved a plastic bag ban in 2021 and imposed a fee on paper bags, and it went fully into effect last year, with an exemption for smaller stores.

A repeal of the delivery fee would save Coloradans $45, Republicans say, assuming about 166 deliveries through services like DoorDash and Uber Eats per year.

“It may seem like these fees only make a few dollars difference in the grand scheme of things, but these pennies really do add up,” Baisley said.

Those fees affect a consumer’s total bill, but they also fund various projects in Colorado that might not otherwise have the money. The retail delivery fee, for example, goes into a cash fund to pay for transportation infrastructure including improvements for electric vehicles and public transit electrification. Over half of the bag fee revenue goes to local governments to pay for administrative costs connected to recycling and compost programs.

Another bill would repeal fees related to transportation, such as a waste tire fee, the state’s 22-cent per gallon gas fee and a $2 per day short-term car rental fee. The bill would also create a rebate program using money from an existing enterprise fund — the Nonattainment Area Air Pollution Mitigation Enterprise created in Senate Bill 21-260 — to “help offset the rising costs of cleaner fuel,” sponsor Sen. Scott Bright, a Platteville Republican, said. He did not say how much the rebate would be, how the amount would be determined or who would be eligible.

Sen. Janice Rich, a Grand Junction Republican, will run a bill to repeal various business regulations including a 2020 law that imposes emissions fees.

A bill from Sen. Byron Pelton, a Sterling Republican, would get rid of state income taxes on social security payments. Last year, lawmakers expanded an income tax exemption for people 55 years and older who make up to $75,000.

“All of these fees are hurting fixed-income folks. People who have worked their entire lives putting money into the Social Security account should not have to pay state income tax on their payments,” Pelton said.

Lundeen plans to run a bill on housing costs that would repeal a bill that requires mediation for low-income people facing evictions and a bill that imposes tougher warrant of habitability requirements. Those laws increase litigation and operating costs for landlords, he said, that get passed to renters. Lundeen’s bill would also include language similar to a provision in a construction defect bill he ran last year that modified requirements for a homeowner association to bring a defect action against a builder.

Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez, a Denver Democrat, said he looks forward to weighing the introduced legislation to see where Democrats and Republicans might find common ground to bring down costs.

“What’s encouraging is that we share a priority of making our state more affordable,” he said in a statement. “We also must be thoughtful as we consider these policies … As we consider this legislation while navigating a challenging budget year, we must take into account what impacts they could have on programs that allow Coloradans to drive on safe and well-maintained highways, heat our homes in the winter, and move around the state using public transit.

Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to slash regulations — but not fees, many of which are tied to hallmark legislation he backed as governor like a 2021 transportation bill. During an address to the Legislature last week, he challenged Lundeen and other lawmakers to work with the Colorado Chamber of Commerce to identify potential laws and regulations to repeal in order to “unleash small businesses and drive economic growth.”

Republicans hold a minority in both legislative chambers.

Courthouse staff in Mesa County have received multiple threats following last week’s sentencing of former Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters to nearly nine years in prison for her role in an elections systems security breach.

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the threats, and extra security measures are being implemented, according to spokesperson Wendy Likes.

She did not describe the number or nature of the threats and did not disclose the additional security measures in order to “ensure their effectiveness.”

Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters on Thursday. During that proceeding, he twice called Peters, a Republican, a “charlatan” who peddled snake oil.

In 2021, Peters allowed access to a county election systems upgrade to an unauthorized person, a security breach intended to find evidence of voting machine fraud or manipulation. She was found guilty in August of three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one misdemeanor count of official misconduct, one misdemeanor count of violation of duty in elections, and one misdemeanor count of failure to comply with the secretary of state.

Peters’ lawyer, John Case, told Colorado Newsline on Monday that he had not heard of any threats to Barrett or Mesa County courthouse employees.

“Obviously, I condemn any threats to anyone in this case on either side,” he said.

After the sentencing, many far right personalities criticized the result online. Colorado conservative activist Joe Oltmann posted on Facebook that he seeks to “hold the corrupt trash judge and the treasonous traitors accountable for what they did to Tina.”

Julie Kelly, who has over 700,000 followers on X and is known for promoting election denial conspiracy theories, called Barrett “one of many dangerous and unaccountable judges criminalizing free speech in America.”

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.

The district attorney for Colorado’s 7th Judicial District is resigning from his seat and not seeking reelection for a second term, he announced earlier this week.

Seth Ryan, a Republican, announced on Monday that he plans to resign at the end of October. He then withdrew his candidacy for the November election with the secretary of state. The Republican was running unopposed.

“The COVID pandemic and the political aftermath of current events has made it extremely challenging to find, recruit, and retain qualified attorneys,” he said in a statement. “It is no longer sustainable for me to cover the daily requirements of court schedules across our nearly 10,000 square mile District while effectively managing, developing, and supervising staff; circumstances beyond my control cannot be overcome.”

The attorney turnover rate in the office was over 50% this year.

He also cited physical and mental health concerns.

Ballot content was certified on Sept. 9, so that means voters in the 7th Judicial District, which includes Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties, will still see Ryan’s name on their ballots.

The Colorado Republican Party has the ability to nominate a replacement candidate to fill the vacancy, and votes for Ryan will be counted towards that replacement candidate. It is too late for a write-in candidate to enter the race.

Because Ryan is resigning before the end of his term, Gov. Jared Polis will need to appoint his replacement to serve the remainder of the term.

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.

An El Paso County judge determined that opponents of Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams did not have enough votes to remove him during an August meeting.

That means Williams is likely to remain chair for the foreseeable future, even as a faction of the party view Eli Bremer as their leader and a chorus of elected Republicans call on Williams to resign.

El Paso County District Judge Eric Bentley wrote in an order on Wednesday night that actions to remove Williams as chair and install Bremer at an Aug. 24 meeting in Brighton were not valid. He specifically decided on a grammatically-confusing party bylaw that outlines the number of votes needed to remove an officer.

That bylaw states that “Any elected officer of the CRC may be removed from office at any time for whatever cause the CRC may deem sufficient, by a vote of three-fifths of the entire membership of the CRC eligible to vote at a meeting called for that purpose.”

Bentley decided that three-fifths of the entire 414 member Colorado GOP central committee — 248 people — would need to vote on Williams’ removal, not just three-fifths of the members present at the meeting as the Brighton organizers determined. About 160 people voted to oust Williams at that meeting.

The meeting attendees also voted to remove Hope Scheppelman, the vice chair, and Anna Ferguson, the secretary.

“Defendants’ interpretation of (the bylaw) is straightforward and does not require the court to insert words that were not used or to ignore words that were used. Simply put, in order to remove an officer, there must be a vote of 3/5 of the entire eligible CRC voting membership, and the vote must take place at a meeting called for that purpose,” he wrote.

A quorum is one-third of the entire committee. So if three-fifths of that quorum could vote on an officer’s removal, Bentley wrote, that would give a minority an implausible amount of power.

“The reference to the ‘entire membership’ signifies the seriousness with which the drafters appear to have considered the prospect of a vote to remove any of the CRC’s elected officers before completion of their two-year term,” he wrote.

One week after the Brighton meeting, Williams led another meeting in order to hold a vote to affirm his as chair.

The order came in a lawsuit between Williams and Bremer to settle who is the rightful GOP chair. It was set to go to trial in mid-October, but now the primary legal questions posed by Bremer and his allies have been settled in the order. The trial is still listed in the case schedule as of Thursday afternoon.

Critics of Williams have been seeking his removal from the chairmanship since June, motivated by his handling of party finances, use of party resources to prop up his failed congressional run, endorsements of favored Republicans in primaries, and homophobic comments during Pride month. At the August meeting, there was an optimistic atmosphere that Bremer could right the ship ahead of a handful of consequential congressional and state house races in November. Bremer has since worked with candidates and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Bremer said the order was unexpected and that he is conferring with his attorneys on next steps.

“The idea that (bylaw writers) would make it so difficult to remove a chair that a that a quorum couldn’t conduct the business — I think that that’s an irrational position,” he said. “If you look at the bylaw in the context of history, I’m not even sure there’s doubt about this.”

In an email to the central committee after the order, Williams wrote that the “true” state party officers will seek legal accountability against “those who worked in the shadows to sow chaos and orchestrate an unlawful coup against the majority will.”

“While we will seek legal accountability against these failed usurpers, the rest of our state party must unite to defeat the radical Democrats with the remaining time we have left before November,” he wrote.

The next reorganization meeting to choose leadership for the Colorado GOP will be in March 2025.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. on Sept. 26 to include comments from Bremer.

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.

Two months ahead of the November presidential election, Colorado officials are warning that refusal by local election canvass board members to certify results fuels misinformation and threatens voter trust in the entire election process.

Republicans on three local canvass boards voted against certifying the June primary results, according to the secretary of state’s office. It is a tiny percentage of the 64 three-member boards in each Colorado county, but it occurred in the context of a growing national movement by conservative activists to use the once mundane, administrative task of verifying vote tallies to protest shortcomings they see in how elections are run.

“There is harm in allowing these protest votes and by consistently voting against certifying. These officials are sowing distrust. They’re sowing doubt about the integrity of Colorado elections, and they are signaling that this sort of conduct is OK,” Nikhel Sus, the deputy chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, told Colorado Newsline.

“By getting on the ground level, at the county level, not only are you potentially disrupting the certification process, but you’re also creating a foundation (for election deniers) to later dispute the results in Congress on January 6, 2025,” he said of the nationwide trend.

The tactic is part of a larger national movement to erode trust in elections through various methods.

CREW identified 35 election officials who voted against certifying results between 2020 and 2023, including three in Colorado: Nancy Pallozzi in Jefferson County, Candice Stutzriem in El Paso County and Theresa Watson in Boulder County. Pallozzi and Stutzriem also refused to certify the June primary, along with Watson’s successor, John Barrett, in Boulder County.

Local canvass boards are made up of the county clerk and appointees from the Democratic and Republican parties. Those parties must assign their canvass board members within 24 hours after Election Day. Their primary job is a numbers matching task, checking that there weren’t more ballots counted than cast in an election and that there weren’t more ballots cast than registered voters. A majority must vote to certify the results. For a long time, it was an uncontroversial duty that rarely made headlines or bubbled up to the general public’s interest.

Since 2020, however, more canvass board members across the country, often Republican, have refused to sign off on their county’s election certification.

The CREW report also identified officials who refused to certify election results in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

“Prior to 2020, this had not been an issue. This only became an issue in connection with former President (Donald) Trump’s election denial movement and stop-the-steal movement,” Sus said.

Trump falsely claimed that the 2020 election saw widespread voter fraud and was rigged in favor of President Joe Biden. His election denial resulted in a fake elector scheme in seven states, the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, and continued distrust on the right in the nation’s election process. Trump is the party’s presidential nominee this year and has refused to commit to accepting the election results.

“After Donald Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, some extreme Republicans have refused to sign off on elections based solely on conspiracy theories and lies,” Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said in a statement. “I led a new law in 2022 to ensure these tactics cannot slow election administration in Colorado. I will not give election deniers any opportunity to undermine confidence in our elections.”

Claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent or compromised have been debunked by elections officials, experts, media investigations, law enforcement, the courts and Trump’s own campaign and administration officials.

Members not ‘following responsibilities’ of canvass

In 2023, former Colorado state lawmaker and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate Ron Hanks used the official state GOP email to instruct canvass board members to vote against certification of the November 2023 municipal elections.

“Nothing has changed since the 2020 elections,” he wrote, citing debunked criticisms of voting machines’ security, messy voter rolls and other concerns over election integrity.

Five Republicans subsequently voted against certifying results.

The immediate risk in Colorado that these election officials could delay or derail the post-election process is low. In the instances where the Republican official refused to certify, the Democratic official and county clerk affirmed the canvass and sent it up to the secretary of state. Colorado also has a legal remedy, created in 2022 through a bill on election security measures, in which the secretary of state can certify the election if the county board refuses to do so.

“The real risk is the message that it sends to the public,” Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick, a Democrat, said. “The real risk is when you have folks that are responsible for helping conduct the election or certify the election who clearly aren’t following their responsibilities. What does that say to the voter?”

Colorado’s election code spells out the limited duties for canvass boards as certifying the official abstract of votes, reconciling the number of ballots cast with ballots counted and the number of ballots cast with the number of registered voters, and observing any necessary recounts.

The Republican officials who refused to certify, however, cite concerns beyond that narrow scope. Pallozzi, for example, told Colorado Newsline her hesitancy in the last few elections stemmed from issues with the ballot chain of custody and how non-returned ballots were stored.

“I still encourage everyone to vote,” she said. “It’s our responsibility, those of us in the background, to watch the process and do what we can to help and make sure it gets done properly.”

But Fitzpatrick, who is president of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said county-level certification is not the right venue for process concerns.

“Take those grievances to the Colorado Legislature,” she said. “It is not what we’re here to do. We’re here to certify the election.”

Stutzriem wrote in an April column in the Denver Gazette that she did not vote to certify the March presidential primary because of statements made by Griswold after the 14th Amendment lawsuit by Colorado voters seeking to bar Trump from the ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was ineligible to be on the ballot because of the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision. Griswold publicly applauded the state supreme court’s ruling.

“The secretary was tireless in her ambition to deny millions of voters in Colorado the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice in the presidential primary,” Stutzriem wrote. “It is impossible to identify, isolate and remove the full impact of Secretary of State Griswold’s influence upon the March 5 presidential primary.”

Stutzriem signed off on every individual component of the canvass that compared ballot numbers, but not the canvass as a whole. She noted on the actual certification that there were “insufficient grounds to certify this election.”

Stutzriem and Barrett did not reply to requests for comment.

El Paso County Clerk Steve Schleiker, a Republican, said the canvass process is not an avenue for a political statement.

“They’re taking things out on Jena Griswold, who has zero authority over this process,” he said. “They’re bringing in a political aspect that has nothing to do with verifying numbers. You can have any feelings you want against state or local elected officials, but what you’re certifying is that the numbers are correct.”

Fitzpatrick and Schleiker both said voters should feel confident in Colorado’s voting system and comfortable asking their local county clerks about how ballots are processed, counted and audited.

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.

A coalition of Colorado religious leaders on Tuesday endorsed a ballot measure that would remove language in the state Constitution banning same-sex marriage.

Amendment J, referred by the Legislature to the November ballot, seeks to remove a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2006 that defines a marriage as only between a man and woman.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Colorado and at the federal level because of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. State leaders worry, however, that the court could reverse the decision just as it overturned the right to abortion enshrined in Roe v. Wade.

In a concurring opinion in the decision that overturned Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court could reconsider rulings such as Obergefell.

“We are one bad decision away from overturning (Obergefell),” Susy Bates, the campaign director for Freedom to Marry Colorado, told reporters on a Tuesday call. “If that happens, the 2006 ban would go into effect and marriage for LGBTQ couples would immediately be at risk. We have to take action now to remove the ban and ensure protections for our communities.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is in a same-sex marriage. He married his longtime partner in 2021.

Nearly 40 religious leaders from churches and temples across the state signed a letter in support of the ballot initiative, writing that it is in line with their faith tradition and values.

“If indeed we are all created in God’s image, then laws which exclude and discriminate against one’s ability to express and sanctify their love and relationships violate basic principles of fairness and equality that are central to who we are. My tradition teaches this,” Joseph Black, the senior rabbi of Temple Emmanuel in Denver, said.

The leaders criticized people, including those on the far-right, who use religion as justification for discrimination.

“These efforts stand in stark opposition to our core religious and spiritual convictions, which compel us to forge a beloved community that rejects the misinformation and rejects divisions that fuel hostility, misunderstanding, fear and hatred expressed toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary persons,” the letter reads.

Constitutional amendments need to be approved by 55% of voters. Voters will decide on seven other constitutional amendments in November, including one over the right to an abortion.

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.

Eli Bremer and a group of newly selected leaders in the Colorado Republican Party are moving forward with plans to rectify the “damage” done by the previous members of the executive board, even as those same people reject the results of the party central committee vote that sought to oust them, Bremer said.

“I don’t believe they will go quickly or peacefully. We’re expecting them to exhaust all of their legal resources,” Bremer told Colorado Newsline.

Bremer was elected chair by a group of Colorado Republican Party central committee members on Aug. 24 right after that group voted to remove former state Rep. Dave Williams as head of the party. It was the culmination of a months-long effort by a pair of disenchanted Republicans to get rid of Williams and his executive committee. The group also voted to remove and replace the party’s vice chair and secretary during the meeting.

The result is that Bremer and Williams are simultaneously calling themselves the duly elected chair of the state GOP.

Williams, who was elected to the chairmanship in March 2023, has called the Aug. 24 meeting illegitimate, leaning on an opinion from a parliamentarian who has worked with the national Republican party. An Aug. 31 meeting in Castle Rock, William says, is the only valid venue for a vote on his removal to take place.

“Your State Party Leadership will respect the results of August 31st no matter how you choose to move forward. You’re the boss,” Williams wrote in an email to Republicans on Wednesday.

An emailed agenda lists an item for “Consideration of Removal of Elected Officers” at the Aug. 31 meeting.

But Bremer’s camp claims their meeting and subsequent election are legally sound and follow party bylaws. El Paso County Republican Party Vice Chair Todd Watkins and Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi gathered enough signatures to force a meeting to consider Williams’ leadership, they say. At that meeting, an overwhelming majority of the credentialed members present — about 180 people of the 400-plus central committee membership — decided to remove Williams. They also voted to cancel the Aug. 31 meeting.

Bremer, former chair of the El Paso County Republican Party, does not have access to the state party’s bank account, Greenwood Village headquarters or official email. That is not preventing him, however, from reaching out to Republican candidates and campaigns and acting as chair.

“There will be a fight in court at every step of the way. They will have to be evicted. They’re basically squatters at this point,” he said of Williams and the ousted executive committee.

“We don’t need to get the email account. I have the email list of all the chairs in the state and we’re already communicating. So whether it comes from my personal email or the one that says ‘Chairman of GOP,’ they know I’m the chairman,” he said.

He has set up what he calls a “satellite” office in Colorado Springs and is working with county chairs to order yard signs and handouts for former President Donald Trump’s campaign. He sees his role as working with and supporting candidates so Republicans are elected this November, and he has met with the National Republican Congressional Committee to begin coordinated efforts.

The NRCC has its eyes on Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, where Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans is running against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo. Under Williams, the Colorado GOP endorsed and financially supported primary candidates, including Evans’ opponent, for the first time.

The NRCC recognizes the results of the Aug. 24 meeting and Bremer as chair.

“(Candidates) feel like they’re always looking behind them to see if they’re going to get stabbed in the back, and they’re waiting for that email to come from the state party that is going to derail them for the day and cost them donors,” Bremer said.

The state party has sent a series of emails under Williams’ leadership that target LGBTQ people, including a message in June that railed against Pride Month and encouraged people to burn Pride flags. Many elected officials and other Republicans encouraged Williams to step down in the wake of that email. Then, this month, the party sent another email misgendering and deadnaming a Democratic state Senate candidate without approval from the Republican in the race.

“It’s as if they were trying to cause problems for our candidates,” Bremer said.

The Republican National Committee could become the arbitrators of the issue, as they did in Michigan earlier this year when a former state party chair did not accept the results of a vote to remove her from office. In that case, the RNCformally recognized former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra as state party chair about one month after members voted out Kristina Karamo. A court then affirmed Hoekstra as chair. Karamo is appealing the decision.

The RNC still listed Williams as state chair as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.

In an email to party members Wednesday, Williams wrote that he plans to file criminal charges against Bremer and his allies over a “false social media post of (his) account that attempted to mislead our members and the public.”

It is unclear what the social media post consisted of. Williams did not immediately return a request for comment.

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.

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.

The crowded pool of Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District met for the first time Thursday as the race to replace outgoing Rep. Ken Buck begins.

It was also the first major forum in which Rep. Lauren Boebert faced her opponents — and her potential voters — as she tries to make the case for her candidacy in a new district across the state from her current one.

“I’m here to earn your support and earn your vote,” Boebert said. “This is not a coronation.”

In the end, Boebert fell short with the crowd, mostly composed of candidates’ family members, staff and people involved with the local Republican party. She got fifth-place among nine candidates in the evening’s straw poll, placing her behind Logan County commissioner and former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, state Rep. Mike Lynch, radio host Deborah Flora and state Rep. Richard Holtorf, in that order.

The race is open this year after Buck announced his retirement late last year. It immediately became a crowded race, and was shaken up even further when Boebert joined in late December. In 2022, Boebert barely held on to her seat when challenged by Democrat Adam Frisch, and this year would likely have been a rematch if she survived a primary challenge. Boebert, citing a desire for a “fresh start” for her family after her divorce, moved into the much more Republican-leaning 4th District.

Whoever wins the Republican primary is all but certain to win in the general election. The district covers the Eastern Plains and includes some communities along the Interstate 25 corridor.

Thursday’s debate was hosted by the Republican Women of Weld at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center, which actually sits in the 8th Congressional District but is 10 miles from the border between the two districts. A debate among the Republicans for the 8th District seat immediately preceded the 4th District debate. State Rep. Gabe Evans beat out Scott James, a Weld County commissioner, and Joe Andujo in a straw poll.

The entire event was streamed on the Republican Women of Weld’s Facebook page.

Colorado’s congressional primaries are on June 25.

Here are four takeaways from the 4th District debate.

Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District debate in Fort Lupton on Jan. 25, 2024. The candidates are, from left, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Trent Leisy, Deborah Flora, state Rep. Mike Lynch, Chris Phelan, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, former state Sen. Ted Harvey, Peter Yu, and state Rep. Richard Holtorf. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

Boebert grilled on district switch

As expected, Boebert faced sharp questions about her decision to move into a new congressional district to escape a rematch with Frisch.

“Could you give the definition of carpetbagger?” Lynch asked Boebert.

Flora also asked a similar version of the question and referenced Boebert’s criticism of a Democratic opponent from the 2022 cycle who lived outside of the 3rd Congressional District post-redistricting.

Boebert said she is proud to be Weld County’s “newest resident.”

“My boys and I needed a fresh start. That’s been very public of what home life looked like,” she said. Boebert is newly divorced, and her ex-husband was recently arrested for alleged domestic violence incidents involving her and her son.

“I tried to put it into a very pretty package and bring my ex-husband lots of honor. But since there is nothing private about my personal life, it is out there and my boys need some freedom from what has been going on,” she said.

But in a telling moment, no other candidate said they would support Boebert in the primary if they were not running. Four people said they would support Sonnenberg.

Boebert also argued that by switching districts, it puts Republicans in a stronger position to hold on to the 3rd District. Jeff Hurd, a remaining Republican in that race, has strong backing from establishment members of the party.

Split support for federal abortion ban

The candidates were split on whether they would support an abortion ban at the federal level following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision that vacated the national right to abortion.

Since the decision, states have enacted various laws to restrict or protect abortion access. In Colorado, lawmakers have expanded protections and put protections for reproductive care, including abortion, into state statute. This year, there could be competing ballot measures in the state to either put the right to abortion in the state Constitution or ban it outright. Colorado voters have historically voted against bans.

Holtorf, Lynch, Weld County Council member Trent Leisy, Chris Phelan and Peter Yu all said abortion policy should be left to the states.

“The last thing you want is the federal government running your life. The same way you don’t want the government to tell you to get the vaccine,” Yu said. “Regardless of how heinous you think abortion is, you don’t want the federal government telling you how to live your life.”

Boebert, Flora and former state Sen. Ted Harvey and Sonnenberg said they would vote in favor of national restrictions on abortion.

“Any legislation that comes in front of me to vote on that limits abortion, I will vote in favor of it,” Boebert said.

‘Securing the border’ the top issue

There was wide agreement among the candidates that immigration and border security is a priority. They cited a need to prevent migrants and drug traffickers from crossing the southern border.

“The border is the number one thing we have to get under control right now, primarily because of the flow of fentanyl that we see coming in and killing our citizens,” Lynch said. “Not only do we need to shut the border, but we need to modify and change and make (the laws more strict).”

Sonnenberg called immigration a “humanitarian issue” because of the number of migrants being transported to cities, including Denver, without resources to be safely and adequately housed.

There were fewer concrete ideas about how to handle the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the country. Holtorf said there should be a pathway to citizenship through military service or a 10-year period of employment. For Flora, the country needs to “secure the border” and stop funding sanctuary cities before figuring out how to proceed with immigrants already here.

“We always do this backwards. We always talk about how we’re going to reform immigration while the border is open,” she said. “If we do it in the wrong order, it will continue to be an incentive.”

Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District during a debate in Fort Lupton on Jan. 25, 2024, were asked if they had ever been arrested. Raising their hand to indicate “yes” were, from left, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Trent Leisy, state Rep. Mike Lynch, Chris Phelan, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg and state Rep. Richard Holtorf. (Screenshot from Republican Women of Weld’s Facebook)

Arrest records draw crowd laughter

Six of the nine candidates on Thursday raised their hand in response to a question of whether they have been arrested at some point.

That included Boebert, Holtorf, Leisy, Lynch, Phelan and Sonnenberg.

The question was prompted by recent news of Lynch’s 2022 arrest for drunk driving. He stepped down this week as the state House minority leader amid the revelations.

“We need people (in the seat) that understand people are human and make mistakes. It’s not about how you get knocked down and the mistake you make. It’s how you get back on your feet, learn from that and move forward,” Lynch said.

The crowd and candidates laughed during the question, and candidates injected humor into the explanation of their arrests.

“I’ve been arrested twice and every time it was for fighting, because somebody needed a little attitude adjustment,” Holtorf said. “I told my dad both times that I was winning until the cops showed up.”

Boebert said she had been arrested for missing a court date for a driving-related charge, but she did not mention arrests for harassment, disorderly conduct and failure to appear.

Sonnenberg said he was arrested as a 19-year-old for speeding.

Leisy was arrested for a harassment incident involving a child in 2016, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.

The Colorado Republican Party is advising county canvass boards to not certify results from the Nov. 7 statewide election, alleging without evidence that the process is a “rigged system” and promoting debunked conspiracy theories on election insecurity.

In an email sent to GOP supporters on Nov. 22, former state Rep. Ron Hanks, who now serves as the party’s Ballot and Election Security Committee chairman, wrote that certifying the election would imply the party’s “acceptance of a disastrous process and declare we acquiesced to their systemic fraud and personal corruption.”

Coloradans voted on two statewide propositions and various local issues in the Nov. 7 election.

County canvass boards are made up of members from both parties and look at data to check for accuracy of election night results. They are in charge of certifying the official abstract of votes by reconciling the number of ballots counted with the number of ballots cast, and the number of ballots cast with the number of people who voted. It is typically a non-controversial and simple process.

Hanks compared the canvass boards, however, to a “facade of citizen oversight and a rubber stamp.”

He also criticized Colorado’s use of Dominion Voting Systems machines and a mistake from Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office last year when 30,000 noncitizens received voter registration information. Election security experts have repeatedly defended Dominion machines in the wake of misinformation since the 2020 presidential election, and the postcard mixup from Griswold did not result in any noncitizen successfully registering to vote or voting.

Hanks, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, is one of the state’s loudest deniers of the 2020 presidential election results. He attended the pro-Donald Trump rally in Washington, D.C., that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He served one term in the Colorado House of Representatives.

The email is the latest example of the far-right, conspiratorial leanings of the state Republican party since former state Rep. Dave Williams took over as chair earlier this year. Hanks tied its message to the 2024 election, which he said “will be an epic battle.”

“Our standing and credibility will be upheld if we reject the corruption of the unchanged voting process — in Colorado and throughout our nation,” he wrote.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Griswold called Colorado’s elections safe and secure.

“I encourage members of the canvass board to follow election rules and procedure. We will not allow bad actors to interfere with the will of voters,” Griswold said.

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