The race to be the next leader of the Colorado Republican Party just got a lot more crowded and no less conspiratorial.
The announcement came in an afternoon Facebook post by the Colorado Hispanic Republicans: “Get your popcorn guys! 3 more candidates joined the race for State Chair… you won’t want to miss this first debate!”
According to a Facebook post by the Colorado Hispanic Republicans, the group hosting next week’s debate for aspiring party chairs, three new candidates declared their intentions to run today: former state Rep. Dave Williams, former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, and former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.
All three have stated publicly that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, which means that out of the now seven total candidate for Colorado GOP chair, six are election deniers.
While still serving at the state legislature Williams promoted the “Standing For Trump” petition which alleged widespread voter fraud and “deep state” interference. Lundberg has promoted the debunked conspiracy of election fraud nearly every week in his “Lundberg Report” newsletter.
Peters, the poster child for election denying elected officials, currently faces multiple felonies for her involvement in tampering with her own county’s election files. Her trial was scheduled to end the day before the state GOP Central Committee meeting at which the leadership election will take place, but was recently delayed until the summer. Peters did not immediately respond to a text message request for comment. This article will be updated with any response received.
Of the four previously declared candidates, Aadland, Stockham, and Wood are all well-documented election deniers. Aadland said that the 2020 election was “absolutely rigged.” Stockham made the same claim during his last run for state chair in 2021. Wood doesn’t just support Tina Peters and believe Dominion Voting systems rigged the 2020 election, but he insists the Colorado GOP rigged its own state assembly last year to prevent Danielle Neuschwanger from getting on the gubernatorial primary ballot.
Newly elected State Board of Education Member Stephen Varela, who switched parties last year for his unsuccessful run for state Senate, is the only current candidate who hasn’t publicly claimed the 2020 election was fraudulent.
CORRECTION: a previous version of this article stated incorrectly that Peters’ trial was scheduled for early March. It has been delayed per her attorney’s request.
