BRIGHTON, Colo — Members of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee (CRC) are trying to advance plans to remove GOP Chairman Dave Williams. The leaders gathered at Harvest Church in Brighton on Saturday to criticize his leadership.
The meeting was initially supposed to include an unofficial vote to decide Williams's fate, but an Arapahoe County judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the vote.
Williams filed the petition on Friday and named Nancy Pallozzi, chairwoman of the Jefferson County Republican Party, and Todd Watkins, vice chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, as defendants.
Politics
Judge blocks meeting to decide fate of Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams
"Shenanigans," said Kathleen Chandler, a member of the GOP's state executive committee. "Leadership is our biggest problem right now."
The backlash against Williams follows a June blast email from the Colorado GOP that was signed by the chairman, in which the party accused the LGBTQ+ community of being “godless groomers”who want to harm children. On its official profile on X, formerly Twitter, the Colorado GOP also called for the burning of Pride flags.
State Republican leaders issued a statement condemning the chairman’s behavior, saying he is “continually encouraging division instead of unifying the party." Additionally, the statement said that the email signed by Williams “is not in alignment with the voices of over one million Republicans and Conservatives in the state of Colorado.”
“We as Republicans feel like the current leadership is not serving the party well, and therefore, it's not serving us," said Chandler.
State representatives Mike Lynch, Gabe Evans, and Richard Holtorf attended Saturday's rally, as did Brighton mayor Greg Mills.
Chandler said the rally served as an opportunity to introduce replacement candidates for Williams. Potential candidates include Rep. Holtorf and Brita Horn, the fire chief for Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Department. Eli Bremer, a former El Paso County GOP chairman, also announced his bid for chairman.
“I have the relationships I can bring in on day one to fix this process and help our candidates," said Bremer. "I've got a relationship with the candidates as well to rebuild their trust.”
Bremer said it was important to choose a new chairman soon, with the election on the horizon.
Bremer also criticized the TRO filed by Williams. He argued that it violated the constitutional right to assembly and said that the listed defendants on the petition, Todd Watkins and Nancy Pallozzi, were not properly served.
"We're confident it'll get thrown out," said Bremer.
We reached out to Dave Williams but have yet to receive a reply.
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