DENVER — An Arapahoe County judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking members of the Colorado Republican State Central Committee (CRC) from holding an unofficial meeting to decide the fate of state party chairman Dave Williams.
The petition was filed by Williams on Friday and names Nancy Pallozzi, chairwoman of the Jefferson County Republican Party, and Todd Watkins, vice chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, as defendants.
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.
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In a lengthy statement at the time, state Republican leaders decried the chairman’s behavior, which they said was “continually encouraging division instead of unifying the party" and added 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.”
“As County Republican Party leaders, the time has come for us to say we have had enough,” the statement from Jefferson County Republicans reads. “We are asking Mr. Williams to immediately resign his position as Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. We urge him to step down to allow us to bring in a new Chair who will help build our party, support all our candidates and county organizations, and bring unity.”
The Colorado GOP chairman said in a blast email he would not apologize and planned to publicize the list of those who signed the letter calling for the special meeting.
"Again, we make no apologies for standing against those who would groom or confuse children into transgender procedures that would mutilate and chemically castrate them," the Colorado GOP email, which was signed by Williams, reads.
According to the court order, on June 7, Pallozzi demanded Williams's resignation and threatened to call a special meeting. This triggered the party's formal county-level internal controversy procedures, which are outlined in the CRC's bylaws. Six days later, the Jefferson County Republican Party executive committee censured Palozzi and declared her call for a special meeting to be null and void.
The court order states Pallozzi and Watkins continued to call for a special meeting, which was scheduled to be held on July 27.
Members of the CRC began the formal dispute process on June 29 to challenge the special meeting request. Per its bylaws, the CRC's state executive committee held a party controversy hearing on July 9 and deemed the July 27 special meeting to be "invalid and illegal." However, according to the court, Pallozzi and Williams continued to plan and publicize the July 27 special meeting.
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In their ruling, an Arapahoe County judge concluded there would be "immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage" if the July 27 special meeting happened. The judge agreed with Williams's argument that the meeting would call the leadership of the Colorado Republican Party into question, "leaving the party in disarray roughly one hundred (100) days before election day on November 5, 2024." The judge concluded that the TRO would "preserve the status quo pending a trial on the merits."
Under the TRO, Pallozzi and Watkins, as well as anyone acting in concert with them, are not allowed to hold any meeting purporting to be an official CRC meeting without proper authorization. The two, however, are allowed to continue to use official communication channels and make press releases, according to the order.
Denver7 spoke with Watkins by phone on Friday. He said he was never served with the lawsuit and did not get a chance to respond to it.
Watkins contends that the proper protocols were followed when the meeting to oust Dave Williams was planned. He said the Colorado Republican Party will respect the judge's TRO but many members met in an unofficial capacity on Saturday to discuss the future of the party.
Watkins said Colorado Republicans are still interested in ousting Dave Williams and there is also interest in removing the party's vice chair and secretary.
Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams said the TRO only delays an inevitable vote to remove the chairman.
"He tried to incite hatred against the LGBTQ community. He tried to manipulate primaries," said Dan Williams. "I think the delay of a few weeks to the end of August will have the exact same outcome, that Chairman Williams will be removed from his seat."
In a post on Facebook, Representative Lauren Boebert slammed Williams for his "failure... to lead after our Primary Election." Though she agreed a change in leadership within the Colorado GOP would be "disruptive and damaging," she said Williams "has put himself in this situation."
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