The Republican Party wields no official power at the state level in Colorado. Since 2020, the GOP has been shut out of every statewide office and control of either chamber of the state Legislature. Despite the party’s ouster from official authority, though, one group of Colorado Republicans has figured out how to work within the new reality, and has succeeded in driving conservative issues forward at the state level without a governor, attorney general, or state Legislature on their side.
If you’ve been following the race to be the new leader of the Colorado Republican Party, you know there’s plenty to drop your jaw over: the fight among the candidates over who’s closest to convicted election conspiracist Tina Peters; the competition over who can hate trans kids the most; the culty Trump love fest. And more.
Heidi takes you inside the race for Colorado GOP chair. Firebrand anti-trans activist Darcy Schoening is facing former Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn, Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine, and others. During last week’s debate in Sedalia, Schoening describes her approach to public education, immigration, and more, while Saine takes shots at Schoening’s record.
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 2025 race for Colorado GOP Chair is heating up. Last week, Brita Horn, a former Routt County treasurer, announced intentions to challenge incumbent Dave Williams for the role, and today the Colorado GOP’s director of special initiatives, Darcy Schoening, announced her candidacy.
With the threat by the Colorado GOP to sue a Durango school district over a resolution that would allow teachers to display a version of the LGBTQ+ pride and Black Lives Matter flag as protected government speech, they are continuing their campaign of using transgender identities as a political tactic.
While conservatives are celebrating the victory and impending inauguration of Donald Trump, they are also preparing for 2025’s school board elections. Recent media appearances from some of Colorado’s most vocal conservative education activists indicate that the playbook for 2025 will focus on three tried and true issues — diversity programs, transgender people, and unions.
Montezuma County Republican Party Chair Lenetta Shull chastised Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams over the “transphobic email” the state party sent out last week during a Sunday evening “grassroots town hall meeting” held via Zoom. According to a recording of the event obtained by the Colorado Times Recorder, Shull raised concerns about the impact the email is having on the Senate District 6 race.
In another targeted attack against transgender people, the Colorado GOP, represented by Director of Special Initiatives Darcy Schoening, sent an email calling on the state’s school boards to resist enacting recent updates to Title IX that protect transgender students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Williams' fearmongering follows the legacy of the Colorado Ku Klux Klan before him.
