The Colorado Republican Party will elect a new leader by the end of March. Dave Williams, the incumbent chair, announced two weeks ago that he would not seek a second term.
The next chair will be selected at a statewide reorganization meeting on March 29 in Castle Rock. A handful of Republicans have put themselves forward for chair. So let’s take a look at who they are:
Brita Horn
A former Routt County treasurer, Brita Horn announced her bid to lead the state GOP in January and was immediately met with a flurry of endorsements.
Horn has been endorsed by the University of Colorado, as a Republican candidate for governor Heidi Ganahl, and former congressional candidates John Fabbricatore and Steve Monahan.
Other Horn endorsees include: Rep. Ryan Gonzalez (R-Greeley); state House Minority Whip Ryan Armagost (R-Bethoud); former House Minority Leader Mike Lynch (R-Wellington); El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf and his wife and activist Betsy VanderWerf; and other activists like Natalee Tennant, Jennifer Baker, and Lesley Hollywood.
Horn created a fire department in her hometown of McCoy, CO, and has served 19 years as a fire chief. Horn has opposed Williams and tried to oust him last year.
Richard Holtorf
Holtorf was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from a district that spans the Northeastern corner of the state. He is a cattle rancher and army veteran who ran an unsuccessful bid to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District in 2024, ultimately losing to Lauren Boebert, whom Holtorf said dressed like a sex worker.
During that race, Holtorf billed himself as a “no-nonsense conservative”, saying Congress is full of “doormats” who don’t stand up for conservative values.
In 2020, Holtorf was the prime sponsor of a failed measure to ban abortion after 22 weeks, although he later revealed he helped finance an abortion for a former girlfriend of his. Holtorf has referred to abortion rights supporters “godless heathens.”
Holtorf made further headlines in 2022 when he dropped his handgun in the state Capitol as he rushed to cast a vote against abortion rights.
Holtorf recently made an appearance on KNUS’ Jeff & Bill Show with Danielle Neuschwanger, who is running for vice chair, where he lambasted current state GOP leadership.
“Right now, we have a top-down system. It’s a failed system,” Holtorf said. “We have somebody that’s leading that has been trying to force and push and change and do things from the top down, almost like a dictator. When Danielle and I take over the state party, her working with me, we are going to invert that. … The state party chair isn’t going to demand anything from a county.”
Holtorf and Neuschwanger committed to not endorsing candidates during a primary if they were to lead the Colorado GOP.
Kevin McCarney
Former Chair of the Mesa County GOP Kevin McCarney was among the first to announce his candidacy in January.
Similar to Horn, McCarney has clashed with Williams, telling the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in 2024, “Right now, we’re controlled by idiots”, referencing state GOP leadership.
Back in 2021, McCarney defended his vice chair who had a history of making racist and inflammatory social media posts.
McCarney called on former Mesa County Clerk and now-convicted felon Tina Peters to resign due to her attempts to undermine election safety during the 2020 election.
Additionally, he was the chairman of the Freedom Colorado Tea Party and the Western Slope Conservative Alliance from 2011 to 2018.
Lori Saine
Of all the candidates, Saine has the most experience as an elected official. Most recently, Saine was a county commissioner in Weld County, but she served eight years in the Colorado House of Representatives and was a member of the Dacono City Council.
In 2022, Saine ran for Congress in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District (CD8) but lost in the Republican primary to state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, who was beaten in the general election by Democrat Yadira Caraveo.
A staunch conservative, Saine drew criticism in 2019 when she equated the lynching of African-Americans with that of white people after the Civil War.
That same year, as an early vaccine skeptic, Saine hosted a “Vaccines and Health Care Choice Summit” at the Colorado Capitol. The event featured leading anti-vaccine groups and activists.
She was also among the first Republican elected officials in Colorado to back Donald Trump, whom she backed starting in early 2016.
When she was running for CD8, Saine posted memes mocking LGBTQ+ people and calling abortion murder and referring to ‘the media’ a “shadow government … that really is helping the socialist-communist party.”
Darcy Schoening
Schoening is the state GOP’s director of special initiatives who was a co-chair of the El Paso County Moms for Liberty chapter, an anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-government extremist group.
Moms for Liberty has extensive ties to other groups like the Proud Boys and Gays Against Groomers and has been criticized for launching harassment campaigns against teachers, school board members, and staff.
Schoening has taken the mindset of Moms for Liberty with her work for the Colorado GOP. Schoening spearheaded a campaign to defund a school district in Durango over allowing the pride flag in classrooms, during which she referred to members of the school board as ‘pedophiles’ and spread misinformation that trans people were more likely to be school shooters.
Schoening threatened to “professionally and personally” bankrupt the district.
In an interview with the Colorado Times Recorder at the time, Schoening expressed disgust with transgender people: “There is no such thing as a transgender. Every single transgender person is suffering from drastic mental illness. Transgenderism is a fetish. …”
In the same interview, Schoening went on to add that these people should “be ostracized and jailed”.
When there was controversy over the Colorado GOP bringing Trump advisor Steve Bannon to their annual fundraiser after he end his speech at CPAC with a Nazi salute, Schoening dismissed those criticizing of Bannon as “destructive groomers and political terrorists”.
Schoening continues to cast doubt on the 2020 election and has rallied for the release of Tina Peters, who was convicted of a slew of felony charges for trying to undermine the election in Mesa County.
Republican Leaders in CO
Fellow Republicans tried to oust Williams and replace him with Eli Bremer in August 2024.
Other state GOP leaders have also faced attacks, but, unlike Williams, some were forced out. During the past 14 years, six party chairs were run out of office, the last four after just one term each.
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