Tomorrow evening at the Town of Parker Arts Center, Republicans in Douglas and Elbert counties are teaming up with far-right group FEC United, led by conspiracist Joe Oltmann, to screen a QAnon election fraud conspiracy movie. The Trump Administration’s FBI labeled QAnon a domestic terror threat in 2019.
The emailed announcement about tomorrow’s showing in Parker comes the same day that Republican strategist and former state party chair Dick Wadhams penned a column for the Denver Post titled, “Colorado’s GOP must not be consumed by conspiracies and constriction.”
“Unfortunately, a large number of Republican activists across the state are more interested in refighting the 2020 presidential election they claim was stolen,” Wadhams wrote. “They refuse to accept the fact former President Donald Trump lost not because of election fraud but because of his own actions and words that alienated many of the voters who voted for him in 2016.”
Yesterday, CU Regent Heidi Ganahl launched her campaign to become the Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee yet refused to answer multiple reporters’ questions about whether she believes the 2020 election results are valid.
Following Ganahl’s dodge, Wadhams today told talk radio show host Perter Boyles, “I honestly think we’ve got to have strong candidates who were willing to say, no, the election was not stolen because that’s the only way they can be credible in a general election.”
Douglas and Elbert Republicans aren’t the first Colorado Republicans to publicly promote this movie. On a radio show back in July, state Rep. Ron Hanks and the Fremont GOP Vice-Chair discussed an upcoming screening of the film. The director’s previous works include a movie claiming that aliens were responsible for the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
The names of both local parties appear on the FEC United email. The Elbert County GOP is promoting the event on its website, which also features a letter from Chair Tom Peterson, arguing that while Elbert County’s elections were fair, “we should have concerns” about counties with Democratic majorities both in Colorado and nationwide.
The Town of Parker’s Arts Center, known as the PACE Center, has hosted several FEC United events. A PACE spokesperson confirmed that the Douglas & Elbert Republicans rented the space and noted that as a public venue, the Center is not permitted to discriminate against private groups who wish to use its facilities.
Parker Mayor Jeff Toborg is a former FEC United Board member who publicly promoted QAnon conspiracies, including the election fraud Big Lie. Toborg later told 9News’ Kyle Clark that he regretted those posts and that he is no longer on the board of FEC United. Toborg attended the FEC United GOP candidate event from which this reporter was ejected and at which Oltmann threatened to doxx journalists who write negative stories about the group, saying he’d “put them on billboards.”
Neither the Elbert nor Douglas County GOP returned requests for comment. This article will be updated with any response received.
