Following allegations of election fraud, abuse of power, and broken bylaws at last weekend’s Colorado Republican state assembly, some GOP activists and candidates are calling for Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown to step down.
One group of activists involved in this demand for new leadership is MyColoradoGOP, which describes itself as “a group of GOP State Central Committee Bonus Members with a passion to save our state.”
One of the group’s founders, former Boulder County GOP Bonus Member (and former Chair) Peg Cage told the Colorado Times Recorder that she was involved with creating a flyer circulating on local conservative activist Telegram channels titled, “KBB Had a Fair Chance, But Now It’s Time For Her to Go.”
Cage expressed frustration over Burton Brown’s refusal to allow discussion on a motion to use paper ballots as the state assembly’s official voting method, an option she says worked flawlessly for the Eighth Congressional District GOP Assembly the previous week.
“As a member of the CD8 Teller Committee, we put all the tables up on stage in front of everyone, says Cage. “We counted everything by hand and the ballots never left anyone’s sight. We knew it could work and we came prepared to do it the same way, though we’d still use the clickers provisionally so people could get results quickly, but the paper ballots would be the official count. But we weren’t allowed to explain it to everyone [the delegates]. Kristi didn’t even want to give the mic at first.”
Cage says her group of paper ballot advocates came arrived with 45,000 preprinted color-coded ballots and were prepared to replicate the CD8 process at the state assembly, despite the event being over ten times as large.
The flyer lists five reasons for removing Burton Brown, three of which at least partially relate to “election integrity.” Activists frustration over Burton Brown’s preference for an electronic voting system over paper ballots and her public statement calling on conspiracist clerk Tina Peters to end her campaign for Secretary of State is ironic considering Burton Brown herself campaigned for the party chair position on two main points- raising doubts about the 2020 election and promising to get grassroots activists more involved with the party.
“Kristi Burton-Brown has done her best,” states the heading for the MyColoradoGOP flyer, “it’s just not good enough for the Colorado GOP.”
The text of the flyer continues:
“While the party shrinks year to year, we cannot continue with a chair who does these things:
“1. IMPARTIALITY. While sitting in judgment of others, KBB and other officers issued an illegal press release critical of a primary candidate for Secretary of State.
“2. REDISTRICTING. Through an unlawful edict, KBB dissolved 107 republican organlzations, removed 328 recently elected officials, and replaced their established bylaws with the state’s bylaws.
“3. ELECTION INTEGRITY. The chair has dismissed evidence of problems with colorado’s election systems, making it more difficult to examine the system, identify problems, and correct them.
“4. OPEN PRIMARIES. Despite a resolution adopted by a near unanimity of the state central committee, the chair slow-walked the effort to sue to overturn the unconstitutional open primary system.
“5. DISREGARD OF BYLAWS. In many respects the chair has disregarded the Colorado GOP bylaws.
“What can you do? If you agree it is time for new leadership of the Colorado GOP send an email to [email protected].”
Explaining her group’s call for Burton Brown to resign, Cage said, “We wanted to work with her. That was our first choice, of course, but now…”
Asked specifically who comprises “we,” Cage declined to name individuals but characterized those wanting to replace Burton Brown as “a broader group of patriots than just MyColoradoGOP.” She said she only met some of those individuals in the week preceding the assembly.
Cage is both a QAnon supporter and is associated the election fraud conspiracy group USEIP. Last year she hosted a USEIP forum for the then-candidates for Colorado GOP chair: Scott Gessler, Casper Stockham and Kristi Burton Brown.
Another longtime conservative, former state Senator Kevin Lundberg, who chairs the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, suggested in his newsletter that Burton Brown “get in step with the active members of the party or step aside and let someone take that role who is willing to govern the party according to the conscience of party members.”
Cage and her fellow Patriots aren’t the only ones upset with Burton Brown. In a complaint filed today with the Secretary of State, Stanley Thorne, who received a floor nomination for Attorney General, alleged misconduct and abuse of power by Burton Brown and other party officers.
Thorne was initially allowed on the ballot and earned over 40% of the vote, setting up a primary with 18th District Attorney John Kellner, but was later disqualified by the party which claims he wasn’t a registered Republican.
Thorne disputes this, claiming he should have been registered as a Republican, though acknowledging his address may have been out of date. In updating his address, screenshots of which appear in an April 12 blog post by Ashe Epp, Thorne lists the street address of Bandimere Speedway as his residential address. He also claims that his registration was later changed to Unaffiliated by an unknown person.
Thorne did not immediately respond to an email asking for clarification as to the timeline of his voter registration and the apparent location of his residence at a drag racing strip. This article will be updated with any response received.
UPDATE: Thorne still hasn’t replied, but in another post, Ashe Epp reported yesterday that he rents a lot for his mobile home on the Bandimere property.
Reached for comment, Secretary of State spokesperson Annie Orloff confirmed that the office has received and is in the process of investigating Thorne’s complaint.
Another former candidate, Danielle Neuschwanger, who narrowly missed the vote threshold for the gubernatorial primary ballot, also criticized Burton Brown’s administration of the election, making various claims about the electronic tabulation and handheld voting clickers. She has threatened legal action and told Chairwoman Burton Brown that she would “make sure, if you committed any fraud, that you are behind bars.”
