The battle for control of the Colorado Republican Party is coming at a measurable cost to its fundraising, both at the state and local level.
According to self-described “MAGA Grassroots Patriot” Mark Hampton, the attempted ouster of current Chairman Dave Williams has cost the party.
Along with his wife, the Douglas County activist has given nearly $10,000 to the county and state GOP this cycle, according to publicly available state and federal campaign finance records.
In an interview with the Colorado Times Recorder, Hampton confirmed that the contributions totals determined via public reporting is accurate, but declined to say how much more he and wife had planned to donate this year. He also confirmed that their reasons for not giving to the Douglas County GOP is because Chairman Steve Peck is “part of the instigating team that is trying to remove Dave Williams. Hampton did note that he and wis wife instead plan to give directly to candidates.
“It’s not that I don’t support Dave [Williams]- I’m a Dave supporter,” said Hampton. “If all this comes to pass, and Eli Bremer and this group of fascists go away, I can always catch up on giving back to the state party. I’m just not going to give any more at this point. Not with this uncertainty. And while I think it’s far-fetched that it will happen. —but I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen when you go to court— if [Bremer] would stay in power, there’s absolutely no way I would give to the party. None. And I would give them zero support out of my organization as well.”
Via text, Bremer declined to comment.
Reached for comment, Colorado GOP Director Darcy Schoening praised the Hamptons and blamed former El Paso County Chair Eli Bremer, who was elected state Chair last week at a meeting Schoening and Williams consider illegitimate, for hurting the party.
“Mark Hampton’s statement echoes the sentiments of so many hard-working Republicans across Colorado,” said Schoening. “They elected grassroots leadership because they were tired of establishment Republicans who cave to Democrats; and now, those same weak Republicans are attempting to usurp the votes of people like Mark & Pam Hampton via a coup. Congratulations to Eli Bremer for electing himself the new Chair of Peak Republicans, an organization that in 2021-2022 was formed to launch an El Paso County coup. It is time to end the charade and focus on beating Democrats. Get elected the right way: at the 2025 election. In the meantime, stop hurting the GOP and help us, help people like Mark Hampton who have been putting in the work for years and faithfully and legally voted for Chairman Williams.”
Bremer, along with fellow Republican leaders Todd Watkins and Nancy Pallozzi, went to court Wednesday to ask a judge to declare legitimate their Aug. 24 meeting and vote, at which state GOP Central Committee members replaced Williams with Bremer, and force Williams to hand over state party bank accounts and property. Williams is likewise awaiting a court ruling endorsing his position that the same meeting and vote were, in fact, illegitimate.
